Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
STARTER FOR OUT OF
Wilmot celebrates his first start for Swansea with the winner in the derby
BEN WILMOT earned himself instant cult status as his first professional goal won Swansea the Welsh derby.
Wilmot was thrown in at the deep end for his first Swans start against their arch-rivals, with boss Steve Cooper forced to reshuffle his defence after learning Joe Rodon will be out for three months with an ankle injury.
And the teenager, on loan from Watford, struck in the 24th minute as he provided the perfect finish to an intricate short-corner move to head home.
“I struggled to sleep the night before the game because I was so excited,” said Wilmot, who turns 20 next week. “If I could have picked one game to play in then it would have been this one.
“Everything was about keeping a clean sheet and helping the team to win. A goal wasn’t even in my mind, it was a complete bonus.
“That’s my first professional goal and I haven’t really got close before. Corners are my only chance to score and I went close once or twice when I was at Stevenage.
“I got given the match ball and all the lads signed it. It was a nice occasion and I’m acting like I scored a hat-trick.”
Wilmot’s big moment came when he found himself unmarked after Wayne Routledge, Bersant Celina and George Byers had cooked up a triangular move that ended with him being picked out on the edge of the six-yard box. Swans chief Cooper, who was looking to stop the rot after two defeats and a draw in his last three games, claimed the corner was “right off the training pitch” and was full of praise for the youngsters in his side.
“I knew how important the game was, we were representing a proud city that gets behind its football club,” he said.
“So the fact that the fans can go away happy and proud of the performance, especially for the ones who watched the rugby this morning, makes us all very, very happy.
“I felt we were in control all game and I never felt under the cosh.”
Andre Ayew and Celina could, and probably should, have added further goals in the final 10 minutes when Cardiff sent Aden Flint up front and left themselves exposed at the back.
Had it not been for some last ditch heroics from Bluebirds skipper Sean Morrison it would have been an even bigger defeat.
“It’s disappointing to lose a derby match, especially the way we lost it,” said Cardiff manager Neil Warnock (below).
“The goal is a really poor one and we’ve only got ourselves to blame. We have to defend better. We’ve got to learn the lessons, and we haven’t so far.
“I thought we quietened the crowd down in the second half, but we couldn’t get the goal. I’ll be disappointed in the return match if it’s not a lot louder than that.”