We played a 4-3-3 formation that’s been tried before this season with mixed success. This meant we dominated the middle, but looked very lightweight up front. Cotterill, Congreve and Lloyd are very accomplished at this level and peppered the Cardiff goal with shots in the first half. This masked the fact that most of our moves broke down once we reached the penalty area. Cardiff missed a sitter in the first 5 minutes, but their 38th minute long range goal came completely against the run of play.
The 2nd half was more even, but another soft goal sealed matters. We had our chances, but changes to the forward line came too late to save the game and the visitors could’ve made matters safe with better finishing. Cardiff’s attacking midfielder Cian Ashford looked the pick of the Cardiff side.
The positives were definitely our midfield. Cameron Congreve in particular now looks strong enough to battle his way through opposition. The challenge will be sensibly managing our talented midfielders’ transitions to the U23 side.
Our Under 23 have a home friendly with Llanelli on Thursday evening.