BAMBA BACK IN ACTION
BAMBA RETURNS FOR BLUEBIRDS AFTER HIS CANCER BATTLE
ALAST-GASP Marlon Pack strike broke Rotherham hearts as a Cardiff City’s 1-1 draw consigned the Millers to relegation. They so very nearly did it, Rotherham, after creating so many brilliant chances throughout the match. Lewis Wing gave them hope with a first-half stunner, but, truth be told, they should never have given Cardiff a sniff.
A number of chances were spurned by the Millers and in the end, unfortunately for Paul Warne’s side, it was their undoing.
Pack, with just two minutes left on the clock, popped up on the edge of the box and slotted home expertly to dash all Rotherham hopes.
Despite a relatively positive start from the Bluebirds, it all changed after eight minutes.
Against the run of play, a hopeful ball was sent into the box by the Millers and Perry Ng headed to clear his lines. But the ball ballooned out of the box and dropped to Lewis Wing, 20 yards from goal.
The Middlesbrough loanee struck it tremendously, first time, on the volley before watching it whistle past Dillon Phillips into the near post.
Suddenly, the momentum shifted and Cardiff were firmly on the back foot, defending for their lives.
There was no cohesiveness to Cardiff’s attack, the ball was being sent aimlessly up the field but Rotherham’s uncompromising defenders held firm.
The Millers benefitted from a sustained period of pressure midway through the first half, with a number of gilt-edged chances presented to them.
The first of which saw captain Richard Wood unable to steer his header home after he was found at the back stick from a corner before, just min
utes later, Matt Crooks sliced a halfvolley wide of the mark from near the penalty spot.
The biggest opportunity to double the lead came just after the half hour, though, when Phillips made a hash of a punched clearance. The ball fell to Angus MacDonald, who drilled it at goal from point-blank range, but, somehow, the Bluebirds goalkeeper managed to save it with an outstretched left hand.
Cardiff started the second half far brighter. They looked more themselves and actually began to cause the visitors trouble.
In fact, with almost the first kick of the half Leandro Bacuna almost forced a penalty, when his shot from outside the box appeared to strike MacDonald’s arm, but the referee waved away the calls.
Clear chances were few and far between, though, and Kieffer Moore’s only real effort was blazed over the bar from 25 yards before he was taken off.
But Rotherham kept coming. In fact they had a real chance to bury the tie with 15 minutes left, when Crooks squared a ball to goalscorer Wing, who needed only to slot it home from the middle of the box, but he sliced his effort wide of the mark.
News then broke as Sheffield Wednesday took a 3-2 lead and it injected more life into the Millers with 10 minutes to go.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Derby County levelled against the Owls and Pack passed home into the bottom corner to drain any remaining hope for the visitors.
Amid the furore, there was a brilliant moment when Sol Bamba was introduced for the final few seconds of the game.
Having not played since his cancer diagnosis on Christmas Eve, it was a touching moment for Cardiff to see out the season with.
WREXHAM maintained their promotion challenge as they comfortably saw off Yeovil Town at the Racecourse.
Wrexham took a ninth minute lead.
Luke Young sent in a corner and Shaun Pearson rose highest to direct his header past Adam Smith.
Jordan Davies fired wide after Smith dropped a cross and after Rob Lainton turned away Tom Knowles free-kick, Wrexham made it 2-0 on 20 minutes.
A corner was recycled and Davies pulled the ball back for Young whose shot found the back of the net despite the best efforts of a defender.
Lainton denied former Wrexham loan striker Joe Quigley but the Reds made it 3-0 on the halfhour mark as Davies found the back of the net with a brilliant 20-yard free-kick.
The Reds didn’t score in the second half but it was a case of job done after blitzing Yeovil in the opening 45 minutes.
Dean Keates’ side stayed sixth with five games left to secure at least a play-off spot while Yeovil also ended the day where they started it, 10 places below the hosts.
“It was an open game, but we kept going, stuck to the game plan and got our rewards,” said Keates (pictured).
“The lads were outstanding, efficient in what we did, organised, drilled and we kept the game at our tempo.
“My biggest bugbear is it wasn’t 7-0 and that’s me being without any disrespect to Yeovil. I said to the players ‘ we were a little bit sloppy in our technique’.”