IT’S ROVERS AND IN FOR ACE CONNOLLY
IT’S been quite the season for Cardiff City youngster James Connolly. It began by captaining Steve Morison’s all-conquering Bluebirds under-23s side and ended by being carried through the streets of Bristol in his Rovers kit.
Quite the experience for the 20-year-old defender and seasons like that don’t come around too often. To cap it all off, too, he has been selected by Paul Bodin for the first time for Wales Under-21s ahead of their final Euro 2023 qualifier matches against Netherlands on June 11 and Gibraltar on June 14, with both games taking place at Parc y Scarlets.
Bodin has had Connolly on his radar for some time. He watched him play in the academy for Cardiff City and was a frequent visitor to the Memorial Stadium to watch the Gas this term.
Unless Cardiff fans went out of their way to watch Rovers, or popped along to Leckwith to see the under23s at the start of the campaign, they could be forgiven for knowing very little about the centre-back. Suffice to say, though, Bodin was impressed with what he saw.
“He is a player who fully deserves his call-up,” Bodin said on Friday. “I watched him many times in the under-23s, we are regular watchers of the under-23s, analysing them.
“James got an opportunity to go out on loan with Bristol Rovers, Luca Hoole there as well, so it was good to go and watch them. Both of them have had fantastic seasons.
“James is an uncompromising centre-half, a strong, powerful boy. He was in the system a few years ago when he was at Blackburn, but never quite broke into the various age groups.
“But this is kind of the last opportunity, this camp. Hopefully he will come in and enjoy it and embrace the opportunity. I’ve had a good conversation with him already.
“On the back of what he has achieved at Rovers this season, he could come in and really surprise us all and force himself into the team. I’m looking forward to him coming into the squad.”
It is not yet known what will happen with Connolly next term. His contract is up this summer but Cardiff will trigger an option to extend by a year if the player does not put pen to paper on the deal which is understood to have been offered to him.
But after such a successful period across the Severn Bridge, has he done enough to force his way into City’s first-team reckoning next season? It’s a question Bodin himself pondered.
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens with him in the future, whether he can get in Cardiff’s first team at Championship level or maybe go back to Rovers and have another season in League One,” he added.
“I’m very impressed with him, I think he’s done exceptionally well. The run they were on, the last 30 games he played 24 or 25 of them, exceptional.
“To win promotion on the last day, I’ve seen some photos of him being carried through Gloucester Road and up in the stands in his kit! You’ve got to enjoy those times, they don’t happen every season.
“He has got to learn from it, keep improving and hopefully get into the Cardiff team in pre-season.”
Bodin is not the only person to notice Connolly’s rise this season. In an interview with WalesOnline, City’s new under-23s boss Darren Purse admitted he was impressed by how quickly the young defender had established himself in the often brutal League Two.
“James Connolly’s loan to Bristol Rovers. We looked at that and wondered whether it was quite right for him, for his first loan at that level.
“But he has stepped into that, played every game, I watched him three or four times, and he had an unbelievable second half of the season. Wow,” Purse told WalesOnline.
“That’s the level he’s stepped into and he’s improved since he has been there. I thought League Two might be a bit too much for him, if you send him out and he doesn’t get the game time. But he has proved himself and fair play to him. He has come back and he will be an even better player for it next season.”
It won’t be a centre-back pairing of Connolly and Ollie Denham for Bodin, though, with the latter having been called up to the senior squad owing to injuries. Bodin urged Bluebirds centre-back Denham to grab his opportunity with both hands, just like the manager himself did more than 30 years ago.
“We wish Ollie and all the players who move up to the seniors all the best and hope they sustain their place in the squad,” Bodin added.
“There are a few injuries in Ollie’s position so that’s why he has moved up and that’s how you get the opportunity. That’s how I got my opportunity in 1990 so let’s hope he takes it with both hands.”
WREXHAM’S dreams of returning to the Football League were left in tatters after an epic extratime defeat to Grimsby in their National League play-off semi-final.
The breathless contest finished 4-4 after 90 minutes in front of the Reds’ owners, Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who were again in attendance at The Racecourse.
But it was the Mariners’ Luke Waterfall who proved the hero as he headed home in the 119th minute to shock the home crowd.
Paul Mullin’s penalty gave Wrexham the lead, but John McAtee levelled, with Waterfall putting Grimsby ahead.
Ben Tozer and Mullin made it 3-2 and although Ryan Taylor and Mani Dieseruvwe restored Grimsby’s advantage, Jordan Davies equalised to take it into extra time.
There were few chances in the additional period, with the match heading for penalties before Waterfall’s intervention.
Grimsby will now face Solihull Moors or Chesterfield in the final at
West Ham’s London Stadium on Sunday, June 5, while Wrexham’s absence from the EFL will now extend to a 15th season.
The Wrexham starting line-up showed two changes from the side that Phil Parkinson selected for the FA Trophy final defeat the previous weekend.
Right wing-back Bryce Hosannah, available after recovering from a quad injury, took over from Liam McAlinden and centre-back Tyler French was recalled in place of Tom O’Connor.
Grimsby made a bright start and
McAtee fired into the net in the fourth minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
In the 13th minute, Mullin was brought down by former Dragons defender Waterfall and he blasted his kick into the roof of the net past Max Crocombe.
But amid home fans’ celebrations, Grimsby responded immediately as out of nowhere McAtee’s stunning 25-yard shot levelled the scores.
Hosannah brought a superb save out of keeper Crocombe, while Wrexham thought they had reclaimed the lead when Mullin converted Ben Tozer’s long throw-in at the far post, but the goal was disallowed for a foul.
It was 1-1 at the break, but Grimsby soon went 2-1 up when Waterfall scored past Christian Dibble, but back came Wrexham with Tozer levelling it from a Luke Young corner.
Amazingly, the Dragons were ahead after 65 minutes when Mullin netted following Ollie Palmer’s flickon.
Just at it seemed Wrexham were on top, Grimsby once again hit back with Taylor’s diving header making it 3-3, before substitute semi-final hero Dieseruvwe’s header put them in front.
But Wrexham equalised just two minutes later.
Mullin saw a shot saved by Crocombe as Wrexham responded and the Reds were back on level terms in the 80th minute.
Davies rose highest to head home Young’s corner to make it 4-4 and set up a grandstand finish before the 90 minutes were up.
Despite the urgings of the crowd of almost 10,000, it was the visitors who found the winner, sending Grimsby to the London Stadium and consigning Wrexham to another season in the National League.
WREXHAM: Dibble; Hosannah (McAlinden 72), French (Jarvis 120), Tozer, Cleworth (O’Connor 91), McFadzean; James Jones, Young, Davies; Mullin, Palmer (Hyde 106). Sub not used: Camp.
GRIMSBY: Crocombe; Cropper, Waterfall, Smith, Amos (Pearson 91); Holohan (Raikhy 102), Fox; Sousa, McAtee (Abrahams 87) Clifton; Taylor (Dieseruvwe 76). Sub not used: Maguire-Drew.
ATTENDANCE: 9,734