Cardiff City 3-0 Wrexham: Four things we learned from Adran Premier clash
CARDIFF, WALES - 21 JANUARY 2024: Eliza Collie of Cardiff City Women celebrates scoring the opening goal in the Genero Adran Premier fixture between Cardiff City Women FC and Wrexham AFC Women at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. (Pic by Ashley Crowden/FAW)
Cardiff City stretched their unbeaten league run to 33 games after defeating Wrexham 3-0 in the Adran Premier at the Cardiff City Stadium.
As the dust settles on the fixture, we take a look at four talking points from the Bluebirds’ win.
Cardiff City confirm best team status
If we didn’t know it already, last night was further confirmation that Cardiff are the best team in this division.
What really stood out more than anything else last night was how, from a physical perspective, they looked sharper and hungrier than their opponents. Granted, they have facilities and plans in place to help them achieve these levels, but you still have to take that attitude and mindset onto the pitch.
We’re reaching a stage now where we look at the fixture list and wonder, when are City going to lose their next game? They are rapidly approaching two years without a league defeat, and in all competitions, the only blemish on their record is last season’s Adran Trophy defeat to Cardiff Met.
It is quite unbelievable what these players are doing week in and week out, and they deserve a lot of credit.
Wrexham still have a long way to go
First and foremost, Wrexham have to be commended for what they’ve achieved so far this season.
They came into this league with the force of a hurricane and have blown teams away and shocked them at the same time. At times in the first part of the season, they were this sort of enigma; a team that just didn’t seem to care about reputations and abilities.
Now, the real test comes in for Wrexham. The other teams in the Adran Premier now know what to expect from Steve Dale’s team. They know their brand and talents, and things won’t come as too much of a shock. That point was emphasised against Barry Town last weekend. Wrexham defeated the Linnets 5-0 at Jenner Park, but it was a tight and cagey 1-0 victory at The Rock last weekend.
Yesterday, we saw that there is still a gap between where maybe Wrexham are now and where they want to be. They looked nervous and indecisive at times yesterday; things that they weren’t at the beginning of the season.
Make no mistake, Wrexham have had a remarkable season so far, and earning a place in the top four would be a fantastic achievement. But there is a long way for them to go until they can be considered the best in the country.
Lost without a spine
What was noticeable last night was that Wrexham looked lost without their recognisable spine.
Del Morgan, Louisha Doran, and Rosie Hughes are huge parts of the Wrexham story, and not having them in the starting eleven really hampered the Red Dragons.
It’s no disrespect to the players who replaced them. Charlotte Bolland made some unbelievable saves at CCS and kept the deficit down on more than one occasion. But sometimes, her decision-making was rash. Katie Sharp has been a rock at the back, but Doran just has something special about her. Ava Suckley has stepped in and added something different to the attack, but Hughes can turn a game on its head with the smallest of chances.
When those three return, it will be interesting to see how the North Wales side perform against the likes of TNS and Aberystwyth Town, but for now, they need to work on the spine when players are not available to them.
Are Eliza Collie and Molly Kehoe underrated?
Now before I hear things like, they play for City of course they’re good, I’m talking about them as a duo.
In this league, we can pick out a few incredible attacking duos. Katy Hosford and Stacey John-Davis immediately spring to mind. The aforementioned Hughes and Amber Lightfoot have an on-field connection which is very special. But I never feel that Eliza Collie and Molly Kehoe are part of those conversations.
Collie doesn’t give defenders a moment’s rest. She’s always lurking in and around the box and ready to pounce on any defensive errors. Kehoe is more a creative force. She can run from deep and bring others into play, but she also can finish.
When these two link up, it’s difficult for teams to stop. I’m sure both will be pushing for Team of the Season honors, but as a duo, these two need to be talked about more.
