Double digit win sees Cardiff City sail through to semi-final

Cardiff City sealed a 10-0 win of Adran North side Llandudno on Sunday, to book their place in the semi-final of the Adran Trophy.

A hat trick from Phoebie Poole, two each for Siobhan Walsh and Lily Billingham, and a goal each for Ffion Price, Danielle Broadhurst and Danielle Green meant it was a comfortable afternoon for the Bluebirds, but Dudno put in a brave second half performance that they could be proud of.

The Seasiders defeated Swansea in the last round, and last week competed well with Met for a half. Therefore City knew they were a threat, but they eradicated any sort of giant killing narrative very quickly.

Ffion Price’s cross in the second minute found Danielle Broadhurst, and she nodded in for City’s first of the afternoon. Three minutes later they had their second. Seren Watkins’ corner finding the head of captain Siobhan Walsh.

As Dudno tried to get back into the game, the Bluebirds scored four in the space of six minutes. A Danielle Green header, two composed finishes by Phoebie Poole and a 30-yard free kick from Price. City fans purring.

While the scoreline may not reflect it, Dudno were not sitting back and soaking up pressure. They wanted to get forward, and their patterns of play and passing style showed they were capable of pulling it off.

However, when you run into the best side in Wales currently, it makes life a lot harder, and the Bluebirds weren’t in the mood to stop scoring anytime soon.

Lily Billingham got in on the act on the half hour mark, as her shot managed to squirm underneath Caitlyn Bibby-Fry, before the combination of Watkins and Walsh struck again to make it eight, and Cardiff looked more than comfortable heading into the break.

While City had chances to score in the second half, Dudno looked a far better side in the second 45.

They had chances of their own through Erin Doran and Maddie Williams, but on both occasions, substitute keeper Emily Roberts did well to preserve the Bluebirds clean sheet.

Poole, Billingham, Broadhurst and Walsh all had good chances to stretch the City lead further, but a combination of good defending and mistimed shots meant the score stayed at 8-0.

Dudno themselves had an opportunity through Ffion Owen, but she couldn’t curl her shot enough for it to land in the bottom corner.

But it’s impossible to keep a player of Poole’s calibre quiet, and she completed her hat trick six minutes before the end. She used her speed to get past the defence, before executing a precise finish into the far corner.

Their tenth and final goal came a minute before the end in stunning fashion. Billingham produced a first time shot with the outside of her foot which flew into the top corner. No keeper was saving that.

It was certainly a gutsy second half performance from Dudno, but Cardiff sail through into the semi-final.

Both sides return to league action next week. Cardiff will visit Aberystwyth Town, while Llandudno will host Airbus at the OPS Wind Arena.

Player of the Match: Ffion Price

Honuorable mentions have to go to Siobhan Walsh, Phoebie Poole, Lily Billingham and Caitlyn Bibby-Fry, but for me Price was excellent. Her deliveries, especially in the first half were nothing short of exemplary, and her goal was no more than she deserved.

Cardiff City

Ceryn Chamberlain (GK) (Emily Roberts, 46’), Ffion Price (Lisa Owen, 72’), Hannah Power, Siobhan Walsh ©, Seren Watkins (Sophie Norman, 72’), Danielle Broadhurst (Meg Saunders, 63’), Danielle Green (Mikayla Cook, 63’), Phoebie Poole, Meg Bowen, Lily Billingham, Zoe Atkins

Goals: Danielle Broadhurst (2’), Siobhan Walsh (5’, 34’), Danielle Green (12’), Phoebie Poole (13’, 15’, 84’), Ffion Price (18’), Lily Billingham (30’, 89’)

Llandudno

Caitlyn Bibby-Fry (GK), Shona Roberts, Madison Williams, Jasmin Dutton, Rebecca Jarvis-Evans, Mari Gibbard, Maddie Williams, Sioned Phillips, Sofie Owen © (Catherine Jones, 76’), Erin Doran (Charlotte Perry, 84’), Ffion Owen

Unused Sub: Claire Colville