Weston-super-Mare AFC 1-4 Cardiff City U21s

By Josh Harris

Weston resumed this year’s pre-season at home to Cardiff City under 21s

With it being just over two weeks until Weston’s season opener here at The Optima, Scott Bartlett and his coaching staff will be keen to get further insight into his side’s fitness and performance levels. Tonight’s friendly affair would be split up into two matches of 60 minutes where two XIs will feature for both teams.

The first game of 60 kicked off, it was made apparent that both sides were eager to impress their managers early on. Cardiff’s keeper Jake Dennis was called into action prematurely after some intricate play down Weston’s left-hand side which set Weston’s ‘Trialist A’ in behind. The keeper eventually got down well to deny Weston the opener.

Weston were then threatened when defence turned into attack for the away side. After keeper Harry Lee pushed away the initial effort, the ball was then heroically blocked by midfielder James Dodd to keep it level, but not for much longer. Highly sought after academy prospect Eli King floated in a ball which found Isaak Davies who gave the visitors the lead early on.

The score was level after 27 minutes. When captain Dayle Grubb opened his body up before curling a beauty into the top right corner to level up the match.

Cardiff were ahead again. This time through Chanka Zimba. The 21-year-old slotted his effort past Harry Lee to give his side a 2-1 lead going into the interval.

Cardiff claimed their third shortly after the break. After Humphries tackle, the ball fell to Caleb Hughes who caressed the ball into the far corner to give Cardiff breathing space.

Cardiff made absolutely sure of the win when the unnamed number 9 grabbed the fourth with a low driven shot past Lee.

With little to report in the last 30, the game finished 4-1 to Cardiff.  With lots of trialists and academy players getting minutes in the tank. Plenty for both managers to ponder just a few weeks away from their respective league openers.