|
It wasn't long after kick off that Deano opened his scoring account - with the help of a penalty. After a blocked header and a blocked rebound shot the referee finally came to sense and agreed with the linesman to give a penalty. Graham Kavanagh was the guilty one of hand balling Ashton's shot on the line. Unfortunately the referee didn't follow his little guide book when he didn't even caution Kavanagh for denying a certain goal.
Dean tapped the ball past the left of the keeper. It gave Crewe the comfortable start to the game, and season, that allowed us to sit back and use the typical counter attacking football. Cardiff pressured without getting past the back four that much whilst Crewe hit on the break with David Vaughan causing all the problems early on.
The quiet Earnshaw only had the one chance for Cardiff when Foster let him slip but Foz manage to get back in front of Earnshaw, whose 'clever' chip went wide. Earnshaw wasn't quite the quick thinking, nippy striker that keeps getting the better of us but it would only be fair to put that down to Foster, and debutee Keith Briggs.
Foz denied the Welshman of the ball countless of times, and when Earnshaw did get the ball he was pressured into giving away the ball. Whilst Foster was out of position it has to be said that Norwich loan player Keith Briggs did a fine job in covering for Foz.
Unfortunately it was only Briggs, in defence, who had the ultimate asset - a voice. Too many times in the match did Billy take the ball from Williams's hands, or Foz to under pressure to receive the ball or so-so to cover for so-so. It was frustrating to watch and won Cardiff the goal back into the game with just seconds before half time.
A corner was cleared but Kavanagh shot it straight back in the box, Briggs cleared but only to Weston who crossed it back it. It was scrambling in the area with Alex players refusing to just hoof it down the M6 and before you knew it John Robinson slotted it under Ben Williams.
Cardiff had a hold of the half but Crewe did have their attacks, even if they were merely on the counter. Neither team though imposed great pressure on goal and therefore failed to create great chances.
The second half went much the same way, though it opened with Ashton hitting a 30 yard unexpected volley whistling past the 'keepers right post. Ashton was having a good game, continuing his electric form from last season. His work rate was phenomenal and, for me, he's improved his game, most notably his heading - as he won every high ball that came at him.
Cardiff obviously thought they were onto something in the second half. Their midfield power house Graham Kavanagh tried to burst the net from 30 yards on more than one occasion in the second half but Ben Williams was more than equal to things being thrown (Or kicked) at him.
He was however unlikely to ever stop Cardiff from going ahead. Alan Lee with a little run and smack from the left edge of the area saw the ball curling into the far left corner and past Ben. Unfortunately, Cardiff fans had to ruin a fine goal by running on the pitch.
The mildly impressive Kenny Lunt tried to get us back in it but the captain's dipping shot from 30 yards was tipped round the edge of the post. From then on it was a typical frustrating Crewe performance. We tried but nothing fell our way whilst Cardiff pressurised sensing a winner.
Dario brought on Steve Jones in place of the lethargic Mark Rivers, much to the delight of some supporters, and that substitution was followed by Michael Higdon on for Justin Cochrane. The team took a 4-3-3 shape after the substitutions, Higdon went up front with Ashton and Jones whilst Lunt, Vaughan and Sorvel all operated in the centre.
It took just five minutes before Higdon scored the equaliser. Deano was the supplier from the left into the centre of the six yard box for Higdon to oh-so-sweetly volley over the keeper. The relief on the 84th minute was tremendous, even if it was only the first game of the season.
For the last 10 minutes of so both teams tried to snatch it but both teams defended soundly. It wasn't a bad game though, completely average for us. Cardiff failed to impress, despite us gifting them time on the ball for 90 minutes, they had no conviction in their play and I think they missed the shockingly bad Rob Earnshaw.
I can't say we were better, because we weren't, but like Cardiff we certainly weren't 'bad'. It was a warm up game and it looked like one. In the heat I don't think it was going to be much else. No pun intended either.
Honest.
The team can, and must, do much better. Tuesday is when the defence, especially, have got to wake up, and when in my opinion Dario should play Jones (or Higdon) from the start in a 4-3-3 formation. Chances became a lot more frequent in the final 10 minutes, when we were playing 4-3-3, but it seems to pass Dario by.
More on the defence, I thought it was just dreadful. Individual performances like Foster and Briggs may have been fine but as a back four they didn't hold it together. It was a young defence, average age of 21, and along with that came shyness. There were times when Billy was virtually taking the ball out of Ben Williams's hands and Foster was leaving Earnshaw totally unmarked instead of getting someone to cover.
I think Cardiff's equaliser partly came down to lack of communication, Ben Williams went to get the ball before John Robinson scored - but so did three defenders. It all seemed so shoddy and it's got to be sorted.
My Player Ratings...
Ben Williams - 6; Did nothing wrong. Goals weren't his fault whilst his kicking and handling was fine.
Briggs - 6; Didn't expect much and didn't really get that much. Covered very well for Foster on Earnshaw and made a couple of decent tackles. Could have had worse starts to his spell here.
Foster - 7; Never fails to show up. Did his job well in keeping Earnshaw at bay. Possible Man Of The Match.
Walker - 5; Was good in the air but that was his only useful contribution.
B.Jones - 6; Didn't look out of position, like some predicted. Had a good, comfortable game.
Lunt - 6; Found space, looked bright... at times. Went in and out of the game but used the ball well.
Neil Sorvel - 6; Such a frustrating player. Overall his performance was good but he always lets that telling mistake in.
Cochrane - 5; Rarely in the game. Didn't seem to get into the flow of the game, maybe because of the weather.
Vaughan - 7; Another possible Man Of The Match. Scared Cardiff into just hacking him down at every opportunity. His runs were amazing and showed a couple of tricks. Expect more from him this season.
Rivers - 5; Still on his way back. Didn't seem to be all there and the partnership with Dean was a poor one indeed.
Ashton - 7; Gave everything he could. His heading was superb, such an improvement. He will only get better... scary.