Tuesday night’s home game against Derby wasn’t a pretty affair. Derby dominated the midfield and played with a relaxed free style which arose from their assured mid table position; Cardiff on the other hand were nervy, afraid of making a mistake, however the tense atmosphere on the pitch didn’t filter onto the terraces. The Bluebird supporters had taken it upon themselves to turn out in force to both bolster the team and to pay a personal old fashioned supporters informal tribute at the first opportunity to former manager and Cardiff City legend Eddie May who sadly passed away at the weekend.
The first twenty minutes were all Derby and they soon had the ball in the back of the net causing City fans to hold their breaths. The goal had been offside but decisions hadn’t gone Cardiff’s way, including what looked to be valid appeal for a penalty! A sigh of relief reverberated throughout the stands when the goal was disallowed.
Joe Mason, against the run of play opened the scoring for Cardiff pouncing on and slotting home a rebound off a Kenny Miller shot that had rattled the woodwork, chants of Eddie May’s Barmy Army resonated though Cardiff city stadium that could be heard in the houses on the Canton Road…. Derby however hadn’t read the script and continued to press and cause problems in every area of the pitch, they were the better team.
Nathan Tyson continued to run circles around the Cardiff midfield and defence – twice David Marshall denied him at point blank range..Now it wasn’t just the City players who were tense. The fans had started to live on their nerves, too sure it was only a matter of time before Derby equalised. Just as heads started to go down Cardiff managed a good counter-attack.
Mason got on the end of a Lawrence pass but when in a great goal-scoring position dithered and rather than taking his chance he passed the ball to Kenny Miller who took too long teeing up his shot to be sure so that the ball was stolen off his toes… The head shaking and muttering began amongst the Cardiff fans because this wasn’t the performance they wanted for Eddie and it certainly wasn’t the one needed to cling onto a playoff position. Half time couldn’t come quickly enough.
The second half started, Derby had made one change and within minutes they also brought on Steve Davies to a plethora of snooker related puns amongst the bored and restless City fans “Let’s hope he’s not in the frame to score from a break.” and “He’d better not be on cue to snooker us.” Being amongst the better ones!
Derby continued to dictate the play the Cardiff City players and fans were taking stress to a whole new level. All the haunting memories of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory etched across their faces, the fans frustration needed an outlet for release, they needed to lift their side out of the nervy tense style of play they were entrenched in. Fans revived another chant from the Eddie May era which involved chanting shoot, shoot every time a player they knew had a shot on him received the ball. It was this chant that was partly the catalyst for the moment of pure class and magic which followed.
Suddenly receiving the ball in his own half, Club captain Mark Hudson had the briefest of looks up and spotted the Derby goalkeeper had been slow to return to his line after a goal kick. With the chants of shoot ringing in his ears, Hudson took the ball forward two yards and unleashed a shot at goal as requested. Everyone stood in a amazement as a perfectly flighted, sweetly hit but powerful shot curved then looped over the flailing and furiously back peddling Derby keeper Frank Fielding , under his bar into the back of the net.
I, nor anyone else there had ever seen anything like it. Yes it was similar to the infamous David Beckham goal from the halfway line but this was further out and from an angle and what’s more scored by a defender! The goal was from some 68-yards struck with intent, Hudson absolutely meant it. There was a split second before the Cardiff City faithful dared to celebrate, unsure if we had actually just witnessed or imagined what we had just seen. When we did start celebrating it was of the like that had never been seen before at the Cardiff City Stadium…The cheering drowned out the radio and multi-media commentators, but it didn’t matter for the Cardiff commentators were screaming and celebrating too.
It was that sort of goal, for almost a minute, professionalism went right out of the window, even Cardiff City FC historian and lead commentator on Cardiff City Player, Richard ‘Shep’ Sheppard, a consummate professional seemed incapable of saying anything other than “Oh my word what a goal what a goal…”
But despite what has to be the goal of the season, Derby refused to roll over and play dead. Still they came forward, Tyson ever dangerous on the break and Marshall palmed away a goal bound shot Whittingham cleared off the line. As the game recommenced with the Cardiff supporters now in good spirits the shouts of shoot got ever more comical – One such chant was aimed at a David Marshall goal kick; the big Scottish keeper beamed and waved a hand dismissively before launching his kick in the direction of Peter Whittingham.
Overall, David Marshall and young Ben Turner were immense at the back. Turner getting back and putting in faultless tackle after tackle and Marshall pulling off at least four or five brilliant saves.
Despite a somewhat nervy display by the Bluebirds, Derby running things and having 56% of the possession and more shots both on and off target along with double the amount of corners of Cardiff – thanks to some of the players coming forward, standing up and being counted adding to a miracle goal from the most unexpected sources, somehow Cardiff had come through.
They had dug deep and shown true Bluebird spirit They had done themselves and everyone connected past and present with Cardiff City football club proud with the three points making sure that this season things are now firmly in our hands, this time we aren’t going to blow things because we can’t, the supporters have become an extra man on the park and amongst the players the old heads some on young shoulders have responded yes it wasn’t a pretty display against Derby but at this point in the season all that counts is the three points…
Saturday sees the sombre dignified official tribute to for the man whom everyone connected with Cardiff City Football club regards as the Bluebirds greatest ever manager.
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