BLUEBIRDS ARE STILL FEELING THE CHILL OF WINTER
ON a freezing cold January day with not even a buoyant and healthy crowd – nor a goal – to warm your cockles, Cardiff City’s winter frustrations lingered on.
That they might feel content with the fact they managed to end their four-game losing run with this goalless draw against Mansfield, will be scant consolation for Neil Warnock. It’s a well-worn cliché, but the last thing the Bluebirds wanted here with their long injury list and hectic schedule, was a replay.
They’ve got one, after numerous missed chances from both sides, punctuated a game that was seriously short of quality.
Warnock, after naming a strong side with big guns Kenneth Zohore and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing joined by the returning captain Sean Morrison, will feel deflated. His team had chances to kill off the spirited Stags.
The Bluebirds, having lost four on the bounce before this one, were desperate for that confidence boosting victory. Warnock’s team selection suggested as much. He wasn’t messing about.
But all he has to show for his attacking selection is a mid-January trip to the East Midlands for another clash with League Two Mansfield.
For a fourth year in succession, Cardiff City Stadium played host to a poorly attended, fairy drab, FA Cup third round encounter with the opening stages unfolding without major incident.
The first half hour passed by without so much as a shot on target. And while it got better - and more frenetic – after the break, neither side could really complain.
Mansfied’s resolute defence stood up to the challenge, while Cardiff’s blunt forwards didn’t really deserve a goal.
Maybe it was the somewhat lifeless atmosphere.
The attendance record to avoid was the 4,194 who watched the 3-1 win over Colchester in 2015. Defeats at home to Shrewsbury and Fulham in the intervening years also saw minuscule FA Cup crowds crowds.
This was another similarly poor crowd, a little more than recent years at 6,378. It was indicative of how the league has taken preference for most Cardiff fans this season, even though Warnock wanted that win.
Mansfield might have appeared like opposition of Shrewsbury and Colchester’s calibre, but they came to the Welsh capital having lost just once in 18 games in all competitions, sitting sixth in League Two. Their manager Steve Evans had been very complimentary to opposite number Warnock in the build up, but he promised a full-blooded battle.
And while it never lit the blue touch paper, it was tight and competitive right to the last.
The Stags, backed by a healthy away support numbering around 1,000, looked to make early inroads. With a bold 4-4-2, strikers Kane Hemmings and Lee Angol looked to expose any rustiness lingering in Morrison, back from a groin injury.
But it was Cardiff who had the first clearcut chance through Rhys Healey – so impressive five days earlier against Queens Park Rangers – who found acres of space in the box only to slice wide from Zohore’s cross.
Callum Paterson then burst through on the edge of the box to test visiting goalkeeper Conrad Logan for the first time.
That it look 36 minutes for either ‘keeper to make a save summed up a deathly quiet first half – in more ways than one.
Logan was then on hand twice in quick succession at the end of the first half.
First Healey and then Morrison latched onto balls from Lee Tomlin to test the Mansfield gloveman, but, like their teammates in the opening 45 minutes, they couldn’t find a way through.
Whether Cardiff’s improved attacking intent (compared with recent games) was a product of the opposition’s limitations, Warnock’s selection or simply the fact that they desperately didn’t want a replay, it was difficult to tell.
In any case, Mansfield did their best to threaten Brian Murphy’s goal after the break, with Angol particularly dangerous. So too Alfie Potter.
So before Cardiff try could make their dominance count, Mansfield enjoyed their best two chances. Alex MacDonald swerved between two challenges and curled goalwards, with Murphy relied to see the shot fly wide.
Murphy was then spreadeagled to save at the feet of Angol. The Mansfield striker really should have made it 1-0 and capitalise on the Bluebirds’ missed chances.
As the game wore on, there was a feeling that Cardiff’s superior quality would begin to show. Tomlin in particular was a step ahead of the Stags, and his own teammates at times.
Before referee Lee Probert brought the curtain down on this lifeless encounter, Cardiff had a last gasp Junior Hoilett block to thank, plus another save from Murphy.
And while Logan’s stoppage time save from his own defender’s header almost gifted Cardiff that precious 1-0 win, the hosts couldn’t complain with the scoreline.