Back to the seventies
Cardiff 1 Burnley 2, 1 April 2000
Hego
Its quite a while since we played at Ninian,
1992 I believe, and the memories are not pleasant. Things haven’t improved much
either by all accounts, and many Clarets decided to give this one a miss, including Woody.
Can’t blame them. For anybody out there who hasn’t been to Ninian, Cardiff City
embodies everything that was and (in some cases still is) wrong with football in the
seventies, and they still have the same facilities (or lack of them) to prove it. The
ground, the supporters (sic), the pubs, the police, all have ‘aggravation’
stamped on them in very big letters.
Anyway, the trip down was uneventful on the good
old GWR, with a mix of countryside, rivers and bridges to contrast with the steel works.
Nice of them to provide a notice for each table in the horse-less carriage with
information on how to get out of a burning train, should the situation arise. Sounds of
stable doors and horses bolting methinks. Decided to head to Newport (Casnewydd-ar-Wysg)
for a pre-match pint to try to avoid the aggravation, which was indeed a qualified success
after finding an excellent 70/80’s style jukebox, and some excellent beer. Other
Clarets were not so lucky, and were not allowed by the boys in blue to disembark from the
train at Newport. Some Clarets headed for Merthyr Tydfil FC sports club apparently, to
team up with Jimmy Mullen.
Onwards in to Cardiff (Caerdydd), and the first
sign of fan trouble outside the station. Pubs were fairly empty after negotiating a path
past the bouncers on the door, and cabs were plentiful. The ground itself is about a mile
from the Central Station. Catch a cab or walk the long way round to the stadium avoiding
Ninian Road is the usual advice, so went for the former option. You can catch a train to
Ninian from the Central Station, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Once there, you are
greeted by the sight of two old rickety stands, and one relatively new one complemented by
a completely open away terrace, with absolutely no protection at all from the elements.
Bit like Gloomfield Road with a coat of blue paint. The only positive point is that the
separation between the two sets of fans is far enough to avoid the missiles. Probably 1000
Clarets there. Particularly liked the chant of ‘Is that all you bring away’ from
the Cardiff fans, given that they brought all of 58 fans to the Turf for the home game.
The Clarets team was much as usual with a couple
of notable exceptions, Smithy in midfield with Branch moving up to partner Payton in
attack, and the return of Geddo Harrison to the Claret fold with a place on the bench.
Nugent was missing for Cardiff replaced by the wonder boy Nogan returning to his roots for
his home debut. Apparently the supporters club put their hands in their pockets to help
buy him at £100,000. They were probably saving for a rainy day, and boy did they get one,
big time.
The early exchanges were a bit tentative and
scrappy, as the rain bucketed down. Mullin had two shots at goal from distance, which
didn’t trouble the keeper, before retiring with injury to be replaced by The Lemon.
Cardiff were accomplishing very little that was constructive, and in the twentieth minute,
the Clarets took a deserved lead with a simple goal. Paul Cook found himself with the ball
at his feet, unchallenged on the left just inside the Cardiff half. He looked up and spied
three Clarets unmarked at the back post with not a blue shirt in sight. The trusty left
foot picked out the Legend for a simple tap in, after Payton had missed the chance. The
keeper Hallworth's (ex Oldham) expletives at his defence, or lack of it, were audible from
the opposite end of the ground.
In the thirtieth minute Branch contrived to earn
himself a yellow card for I know not what, from a referee who had what can be described
only as an erratic performance. Cardiff had a couple of headers from dead ball situations,
and a Legg free kick from 25 yards which was easily tipped over by Admirable. Otherwise,
Burnley were taking it easy, and Payton should have increased the lead in a one on one
situation with the keeper, just before half time, which was saved. The police then decided
to get involved at the away end, by ejecting at least two Clarets for responding in time
honoured fashion to the endless taunts from the Cardiff end. My question to the senior
Welsh plod at the scene re incitement received the usual vapid response. The sight of
Clarets trying to find every conceivable piece of shelter from the rain during half time
just made Ninian Park and Cardiff FC all the sadder. Back to the Third Division where they
belong.
The first chance in the second half again fell
to Payton on the right, who hammered a shot in to the side netting from a tight angle.
Still the rain poured, and Burnley dominated, until, fifteen minutes in to the second
half, Payton’s third chance gave the boys a two goal cushion, a rare position indeed
in Claret games this season. A through ball kindly back headed on by Eckhardt left the
Natural Born Claret on his own, on goal, and number 24 of the season nestled comfortably
in the net. The lead lasted all of six minutes before a hopeful lob in to the box was
hopelessly misjudged by The Admirable, and Cox under pressure from the inevitable Nogan
headed in to his own net. Cue the first real noise of the day from the Cardiff lot.
On 73 minutes the single most disappointing part
of the game occurred. Little having tangled with Carpenter twice in competing for a
nothing ball near the half way line decided he’d had enough and kicked the man to the
floor. Instant red card, and nothing for the Cardiff boy. Thought it was harsh at the
time, but the television replay does not make for pleasant viewing. It is the suspension
for some important upcoming games which is the most annoying point, for a silly reaction.
Towards the end of the game Cardiff pressed,
mainly as a result of Andy Legg’s missile throw-ins, and well delivered corners. In
the 88th minute Ford’s header found the net from one of the latter
projectiles only for the lino to rule out same as Nogan, who else, had pinned the
Admirable to the floor. Unbelievably Halsey hadn’t seen it, but thankfully accepted
the judgement. Jubilation at the end of course.
Having seen Cardiff in the home game at the
Turf, frankly thought they were a bit better than their performance here. Apart from the
dead ball scenarios, they were fairly bereft of ideas, and the Clarets really were pretty
comfortable throughout the match. Relegation must be on for them, looking at their
remaining schedule. Thought that Branch played well, and of course Davis, Thomas and
Payton, who showed their experience in fairly horrible conditions. Cook also played well
for the first time in a quite a while, which was only slightly disappointing in that the
sweep for this week's game was based on the time he would be substituted.
The shenanigans immediately after the game were
a farce. Massive, over the top, bolshy police escort for a two mile walk, around the city
to the Central Station to avoid the hooligans. Total overkill, mixed with threat of the
back of the van if we didn’t march double time. Eventual escort onto a train going to
Manchester! Pretty useful if you are heading to Reading via Newport. Plod hadn’t even
bothered to check where the train was going before pushing all and sundry on to the train.
Cretins. The only positive bit of this is presumably Cardiff FC or the Welsh taxpayer had
to stump up for all their overtime. The icing on the cake of course that all these
overkill measures were merely practice for the forthcoming Bristol Rovers game. Hope the
London Gas like Manchester.
Team (3-5-2): Admirable,
The Legend, Thomas, Cox, Little, Mullin (Mellon 20), Johnrose, Cook, Smith, Branch (West
85), Payton (Lee 77). Subs not used: Brass and Harrison.
Referee: M
Halsey
Crowd:
6,487
London Clarets Man of the
Match: Steve Davis.
The home game
