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 Saturday 31st July 2005, Pre Season Friendly, Ninian Park, Kick-Off 3:00pm
Cardiff City: Warner (Alexander 52), Weston (Darlington 54), Cox, Purse, Barker, Ardley, Koskela (Boland 41), Mulryne, Jerome (Fleetwood 78), Ferretti (Koumas 65), Parry (Lee 72). Subs not used: Loovens, Parslow Albion: Kuszczak, Watson, Gaardsoe, Clement (Moore 64), Robinson (Albrechtsen 64), Gera (Chaplow 74), Wallwork (Johnson 71), Inamoto (Scimeca 71), Greening (Kamara 64), Kanu (Campbell 64), Earnshaw (Horsfield 64). Subs not used: Kirkland (gk), Carter, Dyer
Referee: Mark Whitby
Assistant Referees: Phil Bates, Eddie King
Fourth Official: Paul Thomas
Half-Time:
Cardiff City 0-1
Albion
Attendance: 8,038 Conditions: Cloudy
MAN OF THE MATCH : Zoltan Gera
PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
BBC Sport:
West Brom
emerged victorious at Cardiff in a pre-season match that saw several
players facing their former employers.
Rob Earnshaw
is a former Ninian Park hero, while Darren Purse and Jason Koumas have
only just left
West Brom.
Kanu put
Albion in front on 14 minutes, seizing on Toni Koskela's poor backpass to
slot past Tony Warner. The visitors' win was made safe in the 71st minute
when Thomas Gaardsoe added a second, tapping home after Zoltan Gera had
flicked-on a corner.
The game began
with a standing ovation for Earnshaw from the Bluebirds fans, showing
their appreciation for the service he gave before last year's switch to
the Hawthorns. "It was nice to be back at
Ninian
Park - that was special, the ovation, the fans were great," Earnshaw told
BBC Wales. "As soon as I stepped on the pitch there were tingles, I was
almost a little bit nervous."
Although Kanu
made the most of a blunder, the general level of defensive work from both
sides was high. Thomas Gaardsoe and Neil Clement were efficient at the
back for West Brom, while Purse also looked steady at the other end. The
Bluebirds' fans must have been warmed by the assured performance of their
new £850,000 central defender, who came close to scoring late in the half
when his header went narrowly wide of Tomasz Kuszczak's post.
In the second
half Earnshaw came close to a memorable goal, his curled free-kick hitting
the bar as more chances came and went. "As soon as I hit it I thought it
was going in, but it wasn't for me to score today," Earnshaw added. "It's
all about getting the fitness in and peaking in two weeks' time."
Kuszczak was
called into action to save Andrea Ferretti's long-range drive after Gera
was denied at the other end by Neil Alexander. Diomansy Kamara came off
the bench to make his Albion debut, while Koumas - loaned out by
West Brom to
Cardiff for a
year - was also introduced to the fray.
Gera
was unlucky to see his free-kick 'goal' disallowed for offside, but the
victory was complete when Gaardsoe added
West Brom's second.
wba.co.uk
Bryan Robson: "I was pleased with the attitude of the players at Cardiff. They went about their business well and the defensive side of our game was better. It was a good performance because Dave Jones has brought some good players to Cardiff and they have good experience in the squad. I'm sure they'll do quite well next season. It was a good test for us and some of our lads played very well." Source: wba.co.uk
Dave Jones: "We're disappointed to have lost this game. It shows that we need to retain the ball a lot better than we did. There's no danger and we give them a goal. I know expectation levels here have risen because people aren't happy we lost. I'm disappointed that most of the goals we've conceded have come from corners. That's something we need to work on.” "We need to sit back, take stock of what we've got and get ready for the kick-off on Saturday. If we can add to the squad this week, then fantastic.” Source: Cardiff City Online
Diomansy Kamara makes his first Albion appearance.
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