Davies shines on Bluebirds debut

I stewarded my first game at Ninian Park last Tuesday and enjoyed myself far more than I’d expected. Of course, being paid to watch football sounds cushy, but standing still in 0° for nearly two hours isn’t quite so appealing.

For my first match I was stuck behind the season ticket holders in the main grandstand. They’re an affable bunch of codgers mostly - the old-fashioned kind who bring a thermos of Bovril and applaud profoundly when the opposition put some decent passes together. Not the kind who eat stewards.

The visitors were Brighton & Hove Albion and a good-humoured club DJ welcomed them with tunes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Culture Club. The Brighton fans seemed more than used to it though and were in fine voice as they sought to do their bit in getting Brighton out of the Championship relegation zone.

Cardiff started brightly, looking to press home their superiority early on. Cameron Jerome looks to be making an extra effort after some called his commitment into question. His skill, strength and willingness to chase a lost cause gave the Brighton defence some problems and he was unlucky not to score with a long range effort that cannoned back off the post.

Far from rolling over though, Albion soaked up the pressure and looked to hurt City on the counter-attack through pint-sized striker Leon Knight. Cardiff’s back line were alert to the danger though, playing the offside trap effectively and they deservedly took the lead through Alan Lee’s close range finish.

The Bluebirds were beginning to show something of the confidence gained from recent success. Still, they can be enormously frustrating at times. They found most joy through Koumas drifting wide and playing intelligent through balls. All too often though, they played it down the middle in quick intricate passing manoeuvres that broke down time and again.

They were to rue their failure to turn possession into chances. Just 2 minutes after coming on, Colin Kazim-Richards rifled a low drive past a helpless Alexander from about 35 yards, before irritating City fans and probably anyone else who saw it with some stupid little celebratory dance right in front of the Bob Bank.

Cardiff kept on knocking on the door, but with no joy and as I joined my fellow stewards pitchside, it was obvious that the game was petering out. Thankfully, no-one decided to invade the pitch after such an uninspiring performance, so I just watched as the fans filed out of the ground. Ten minutes later I got off work and trudged home, weary, cold, but with a new football team to love.