Hughie Ferguson, Graham Moore, Brian Clark, Peter Sayer, Nathan Blake, Scott Young and Andy Campbell – all of them scorers of goals etched deep into Cardiff City folklore and now there’s a new name to add to the list, Jack Bycroft.
It was Bycroft whose late, late goal confirmed that less than a year after that afternoon when Aaron Ramsey’s Cardiff City dropped into the lower divisions for the first time in twenty two years with a tame 0-0 draw against West Brom, they returned to the Championship at the first attempt.
If you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly a City fan and you’ll, surely, know who Bycroft is by now, but, if you don’t, then he’s Exeter City’s second string goalkeeper, who, with his side 3-2 down well into added time against Stockport, came forward to bullet in an excellent near post header from corner.
Bycroft’s goal wasn’t enough to take his team out of the bottom four, but it removed any last doubts that there may be about a sensational end to the season which would see City denied the automatic promotion they deserved.
Two equally dramatic lunchtime matches ensured that, by the time we kicked off, only Stockport could deny us. Bolton yet again scored in added time at home, this time against the team who can’t stop conceding added time equalisers, Huddersfield. Reduced to ten men early in the second half, Bolton went from 1-0 up to 3-1 down, but then battled back for a 3-3 draw.
Meanwhile, Bradford were at Barnsley where, again, the home team again had a player shown a red card, this time within the first ten minutes. However, it was Barnsley who broke the deadlock early in the second half, only to concede a couple of goals late on, but there was a twist on ninety six minutes when Barnsley snatched an equaliser.
The two draws left City needing to better Stockport’s result to guarantee finishing above them and this they did because of Bycroft’s heroics.
City got the job done with a 3-1 win where, after a careless start that was very much like Tuesday at Huddersfield, they grew into the game to the extent that, by the end, it was a lot more like Bolton a week ago even if they never quite reached those heights.
With just the one change to the starting line up, Gabriel Osho for Will Fish, it was a vote of confidence really by BBM for the team that gave what I thought was our worst performance in months on Tuesday.
However, with Dylan Lawlor caught in possession twice early on and Osho hardly suggesting cool authority at times, it was a concerning opening period as Reading, having switched to a back three from their usual flat back four, caught City on the hop to some extent.
Just as at Huddersfield, City had their woodwork hit early on, but this time a linesman’s flag meant that it wouldn’t have stood anyway, but they had a bona fide scare when defender Jeriel Dorsett turned really well only to then blast over from close range.
City began to piece things together though and home goalkeeper Joel Pereira had to make good saves to deny Ollie Tanner (with ex City man Andy Rinomhota doing really well to deny Chris Willock from the follow up) and Alex Robertson.
City kept up the pressure and took the lead on forty minutes when a cross was headed out to Ryan Wintle who clipped in a precise cross that was headed in superbly by someone in an orange shirt. For a mere fraction of a second, I thought Osho had netted his first goal for the club, but, no, it was the captain Rubin Colwill which means that the last two goals he’s scored for us have been with his head.
However, if the one he scored at Exeter was simplicity itself, this was a classic old fashioned centre forward’s header in the mould of Ron or Wyn Davies or our own John Toshack – David Turnbull’s goal against Chelsea was a very good header, but, off the top of my not very talented head, Colwill’s is the best one we’ve scored this season.
Having worked hard to take what was a deserved lead, City were almost pinned back seconds before half time as Paddy Lane’s well struck effort from fifteen yards got a slight deflection which made Nathan Trott’s save to turn it on to the top of the net one of his best of a superb season for out goalkeeper.
I know I’m getting a bit boring carrying on about the number of brilliant goals we’ve scored this season, but the one Omari Kellyman scored ten minutes after a half time was a classic of its type. We worked our way out from an awkward situation near our corner flag to hit Reading on the break to such an extent that Wintle’s `perfect pass put Kellyman free to run from half way and calmly place the ball beyond Pereira – it was a goal which summed up what we’re all about at our best. I should say at this point that having said I’d vote for Joel Bagan as our Player of the Season last weekend, I now finding myself opting for Wintle seven days later!
Not long after that, news came through that Exeter, 2-0 down after half an hour, had levelled things up at 2-2. It was fairly typical of how things have gone lately that the euphoria quickly died – firstly, Turnbull, on for Robertson, gave Lawlor a hospital pass with what his first touch i believe. Lawlor was penalised for handball and booked as Lewis Wing, who had scored for Reading from thirty five yards at Cardiff City Stadium, looked at the free kick from ten yards closer. Wing’s shot was certainly well struck, but Trott will I’m sure be disappointed to palm the ball straight into the path of Daniel Kyerewaa whose shot found the far corner of the net.
Soon after, the news came through that Stockport had regained the lead and when Osho made a mess of a straightforward long ball forward by the Reading keeper, Trott reacted quickly to keep out an effort by Reading’s top scorer Jack Marriott.
Perry Ng helped quell any nerves though with a fine left footed shot on eighty seven minutes to complete a performance that was much more to the standard he’s set in recent months and certainly a lot better than what we saw from him on Tuesday.
The result was not in doubt after that and, the truth is that, given our far better goal difference than Stockport, we were as good as up then, but Bycroft’s goal was the cherry on top of the cake.
My plan is to write a piece on our promotion early next week once I’ve collected my thoughts a bit more. Therefore, for now, I just want to say to BBM, his coaching staff and the whole squad, congratulations and thank you for a season which ranks right up there with my favourite ever ones. You didn’t just get us straight back up, you did it playing a great brand of front foot football with a team that always had a group of talented home grown players at its heart.
