Cardiff City 2-2 Exeter City: Bluebirds earn share of the spoils in pre-season encounter
The Bluebirds faced Exeter City in their latest pre-season clash
In parts of the game Cardiff huffed and puffed, but couldn't quite build up the sort of attacking purchase needed to trouble Scott Brown in the Exeter City goal.
By Tom Coleman
Saturday 24th July 2021
Cardiff City continued their preparations for the new season with a 2-2 draw with Exeter City at the Cardiff International Sports Campus.
James Collins netted on the stroke of half-time to cancel out Matt Jay's early opener, before Pierce Sweeney restored the visitors' advantage just after the break.
But Cardiff earned themselves a share of the spoils just after the hour as Mark Harris lashed home from the penalty spot.
Cardiff, in somewhat cloudier conditions than their previous pre-season outings, were given a decent test at the hands of the League Two outfit, and Mick McCarthy will have been pleased to see some of his more senior players get some more minutes under their belt.
Curtis Nelson and Perry Ng returned, while Lee Tomlin produced another encouraging performance up top.
A tightly-contested start yielded few chances for either side, with Joel Randall's low drive wide the closest either team came during the opening 10 minutes.
Tomlin, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Cardiff's main creative outlet for much of the first half. But despite some flashes of genuine quality, he was unable to unlock the Grecians' defence.
Cardiff huffed and puffed, but couldn't quite build up the sort of attacking purchase needed to trouble Scott Brown in the Exeter City goal.
And they were made to pay for their lack of attacking threat on 23 minutes. A fine counter-attack set Randall free, with the midfielder threading a perfect ball through to Jay inside the area, and he was on hand to curl a brilliant effort into the top corner.
Some may have argued it was a goal against the run of play, but given the lack of real threat in the final third, Cardiff couldn't really have too many complaints.
Tomlin drove an effort just wide after half an hour in a bid to step up the hosts' efforts, although Exeter almost certainly would have been two goals to the good had Sam Nombe managed to get on the end of a Jack Sparkes ball across the six-yard box.
Cardiff continued to plug away, with Tomlin remaining at the heart of things - stinging the palms of Brown just after the half hour.
It had all the hallmarks of a frustrating half, but Cardiff seized the initiative on the stroke of half-time.
Gavin Whyte managed to wriggle free down the right wing, before pulling a low cross back for Collins, who was left with a simple finish for his fourth goal of the pre-season campaign.
But having worked so hard to get back into the the contest, Cardiff were punished for a lacklustre start to the second half.
City's failure to clear their lines following an Exeter corner was ruthlessly punished by Sweeney, who was given too much space to finish at the far post with an angled half-volley.
McCarthy chose to make a flurry of changes in response, and it was one of those substitutes that helped inspire City's second equaliser of the afternoon.
A foul on Harris from George Ray inside the box just after the hour was enough to hand the Bluebirds a spot kick, with Harris himself stepping up to lash home.
Further changes from both sides largely took the sting out of the closing stages, although Sam Bowen was a whisker away from grabbing a winner with a crashing drive just over 10 minutes from time.
2-2 it finished, and while Cardiff might well consider themselves disappointed not to have gone on to win the game, McCarthy will likely view this as another good run out for his side, although there was some concern for Keenan Patten late on - the youngster lasting just seven minutes off the bench following a nasty clash of heads.
The Bluebirds continue their preparations for the new campaign with a return to the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, where they will take on Premier League side Southampton in front of around 8,000 fans.
Cardiff City: Smithies, Ng (Jones 70), McGuinness, Flint, Nelson (Pack 70), Davies (Bagan 55), Vaulks (Patten 80 (D’Almeida 87)), Ralls (Brown 70), Whyte (Harris 55), Collins (Giles 61), Tomlin (Bowen 61)
Subs not used: Phillips, Luthra, Connolly, Denham
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