No Wins For The Welsh Clubs, But Erol Bulut Believes Cardiff City Have Something To Build On
Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut was left frustrated, even though his team produced by far the best performance among the Welsh clubs on the opening weekend of the season.
None of the Football League foursome of Cardiff, Swansea City, Newport County and Wrexham managed to gain a victory, with Cardiff and the Swans earning draws and both the League Two clubs losing.
Bulut probably gained the most satisfaction as his club earned a 2-2 draw away at Leeds United.
“I think the draw was a fair result for us,” said Bulut after his first Championship match in charge.
“We managed the pressure in the second half really well, but when you concede a goal just after half-time and then one at 90+5, you’re never going to like it, and I don’t like it.
“We played against a really good Leeds team. Individually they are very, very good, and they did put us under a lot of pressure in that second half. The result, though, with the way it was at one point, we have to be happy.”
It was Crysencio Summerville who struck the dramatic 95th-minute leveller to earn a point.
Debutant Josh Bowler put the Bluebirds in front with a composed finish after 23 minutes and Ike Ugbo doubled the advantage before the break after Aaron Ramsey’s shot had been deflected into his path.
Leeds captain Liam Cooper leapt to divert a corner in and halve the deficit shortly after the restart and following incessant attacking that followed, the Whites finally got their reward.
Carl Ashworth had a debut to remember in goal For Swansea as they were held at home to a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City.
The on-loan goalkeeper from Brighton was at fault for Birmingham’s opening goal. Keshi Anderson was alert to pounce on Rushworth’s loose pass to Ben Cabango before teeing up Siriki Dembele.
But Rushworth produced a sublime one-handed save to keep out Ivan Sunjic’s late strike after £2.5m summer signing Jerry Yates had drawn Swansea level with his first goal for the club.
Duff was left encouraged by his team’s recovery after falling a goal behind, but frustrated by their poor start.
He added: “I’ve got mixed emotions, really. Birmingham started probably a bit better than us but I thought we finished the first half really well, so I’m really disappointed to give away a poor goal.
“I think we were pretty dominant in the second half and they were trying to shut up shop.
“The players stuck to their task, I thought we looked really fit – we were still going in the 97th minute.
“That’s the frustration. They’ve not had to do a lot to score and we’ve had to do a lot to score our goal. They are things we need to learn.”
Welcome to Wrexham was the football TV series of last season, but Welcome To League Two proved less profitable.
In an entertaining game, the Dragons were beaten 5-3 at home by MK Dons and manager Phil Parkinson admitted: “It wasn’t the day we wanted.
“Everyone’s talking about ourselves as favourites and sometimes you need a day like this, like a reality check to reassess things.”
“It’s one to review but not to get too down as a group. We just looked like our decision making in all areas, on the ball and off the ball, were a long way off where it needs to be.”
Newport didn’t even have a goal to celebrate as they lost their League Two opener, 3-0, at Accrington Stanley.
County manager Graham Coughlan admitted: “We gave away three soft goals and couldn’t hit the back of the net ourselves, so I’m very frustrated and very annoyed.
“But I thought there was a lot of good stuff from us today. Tidy up at the back, defend the back stick better and take your chances, and that’s the story of the game really.”