Cardiff Local Guide A guide to all Things Cardiff
Cardiff City are through to round two of the Capital One Cup, following Wednesday evening’s 2-1 win over Coventry – and a stand-out performance by young debutant, Jazzi Barnum-Bobb. With round two on the near horizon, here’s a look at what went on elsewhere and the ramifications it has.
The tournament got underway at Brunton Park earlier this week, with Championship big-guns Derby County beating Carlisle United 2-0. Reading, Bolton Wanderers, Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest all claimed first round victories too, though fellow Championship clubs Blackpool, Ipswich Town and Wigan Athletic fell at the first hurdle.
Elsewhere in the competition, League One club Port Vale thrashed Hartlepool United 6-2, largely thanks to striker Ben Williamson’s amazing first-half hat-trick. Midfielder Michael Brown got the fourth while last year’s Player of the Year Tom Pope scored two more. Hartlepool put up a fight with goals from Jonathan Franks and Neil Austin – but it wasn’t enough against the Stoke-on-Trent side. They’ll host the Bluebirds in the last week of August.
Molineux saw a shock 3-2 win for Northampton Town over Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday evening. Lawson D’Ath started proceedings for Northampton, scoring twice (at 58 and 74 minutes), while team-mate Ivan Toney found the third at 63 minutes. Wolves bit back, with goals from striker Nouha Dicko and team captain Sam Ricketts in a frantic second half – but it was too little too late.The first stage also saw a dynamic clash between Plymouth Argyle and Leyton Orient that resulted in a 3-3 impasse – prior to Orient winning 6-5 on penalties. Orient keeper Gary Woods saved attempts by Plymouth’s Jason Banton and Carl McHugh in a game that got going 13 minutes in when Orient’s Dean Cox opened the scoring.
But it was the clash between Dagenham Redbridge and Brentford that without question will go down as the tie of the round – perhaps the competition as a whole, come the spring! The two London-based sides played out a 6-6 draw that took the game to penalties, the higher level Bees taking the spoils 4-2 in the shoot-out.
As for the next round, taking place in the week commencing August 25th, MK Dons will host Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United. Bitter rivals West Ham United and Sheffield United are also set for a showdown, while Aston Villa will play goal-hungry Leyton Orient.
For a full list of second round fixtures – as well as first round results – visit the Football League website,HERE.
