Ken’s a gem again, strength in numbers and a mixed night for Manga...
Cardiff City’s pre-season tour of Devon and Cornwall got off to a flying start with a seven-goal thumping of AFC Tavistock.
Kenneth Zohore, Idriss Saadi and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing all bagged braces in the first half, before Joe Ralls’ 20-yarder completed the rout in the 90th minute.
Adam Carter got two goals for the valiant hosts, who managed to draw the second half after being battered 6-1 in the first 45 minutes.
Football writer DOMINIC BOOTH looks at the things we learned from the victory... KEN IS BACK After a busy summer in which he featured in Denmark Under-21s’ unsuccessful European Championships campaign, it was back to business for Kenneth Zohore in slightly more low-key surroundings at Langsford Park. But the big man didn’t take long to hit his stride, opening his preseason account after just 20 minutes when converting Kadeem Harris’ cross with what was a typically ruthless left-foot finish.
Zohore was only ever going to have 45 minutes to impress, with Warnock gently re-introducing him back to first team action.
Yet his second goal was beautifully clinical, the big Dane latching onto an errant Tavistock back-pass to race clear and smash convincingly into the bottom corner.
It’s early days, of course, but it was reassuring to witness Zohore in such focused mode. Warnock maintained after the match that his kingpin striker was “in a good place” despite summer interest from Hull City.
Both the player’s performance and the manager’s confidence suggested Zohore is going nowhere – and judging on this display, there should be lots more goals to come. SQUAD-BUILDING One of Warnock’s great skills is man management; making players feel part of a close-knit, harmonious unit. It was therefore refreshing to see players like Callum Paterson, Lee Tomlin and Lee Camp (all new acquisitions but not yet ready for first team action) signing autographs, posing for pictures and watching the action unfold at Tavistock.
This pre-season tour is as much about building that unit and those bonds between players, as anything that occurs on the pitch.
Although fans will be itching to see the trio in action soon, those Bluebirds loyalists who had made the lengthy trip to Tavistock were delighted to get a good glimpse of their non-playing heroes.
It won’t be long before we see Tomlin and Camp, while Paterson continues his battle back from a long-standing ligament injury. FORWARDS DAZZLE Conceding two goals against the South West Peninsula League champions wasn’t ideal but Warnock admitted to being impressed with the quality of the Bluebirds’ forward play. In the first half it looked like Cardiff might reach double figures with the interplay between Nathaniel MendezLaing, Zohore, Harris and Idriss Saadi too hot for Tavistock to handle.
Mendez-Laing, in particular, was running the Lambs’ full-back ragged and it finally appeared Cardiff had a dangerous front four whose fluidity of position was creating havoc for the home defenders. Long may it continue. They will face more stern