Cardiff City's extremely youthful lineup featuring record breaking 16 year old Rob Tankiewicz were punished by a first half header from former Bluebird Tom Davies as Newport County grabbed a 1-0 Vertu Trophy victory at the Cardiff City Stadium. Despite late pressure and a disallowed stoppage time leveller, Cardiff never really looked like scoring.
Player Ratings:
Matt Turner (7) - Made a few important saves, saving Cardiff at times. Distribution was fairly good and he looked sharp. Didn't really put a foot wrong.
Will Spiers (6) - Evidently a good player, but still very raw. Showed presence in the air and his passing was generally good. Looked to struggle at times defensively, but leeway is given to the younger players.
Will Fish (6.5) - A decent performance despite the result. Has clearly improved since last season. Successful in his duels and a good range of passing displayed. Solid.
Calum Chambers (5) - Defensively, looked nervous. Won his aerial duels and completed a large amount of passes. However, far too static on the ball for my liking and looked a step behind play. A game where senior players such as himself needed to step up.
T-Jay Parfitt (7.5) - The brightest player on the pitch, for me. Great in his duels and showed off some promising attributes such as his pace. Picked up a yellow, but overall a very decent peformance. Man of the Match.
David Turnbull (4) - In honesty, looked disinterested. Picked up a yellow card at the end of the first half. Poor in his duels and wasteful in possession. A performance to forget.
Ryan Wintle (5) - A very disappointing performance. Like Chambers, looked a step behind the pace of the game and the lack of progression was very frustrating at times and failed to step up ahead of the youngsters. Has been mostly great this season, so some leeway should be given.
Troy Perrett (6) - A decent perfomance. Showed some promise and another youngster who showed the more senior players up.
Omari Kellyman (5) - A game where I would've expected him to shine. Still young, but a poor performance where he failed to make any meaningful impact.
Robert Tankiewicz (6) - Record breaker No.1 of the evening. Showed some glimpses of brilliance and worked hard. Can't ask much more on this occasion and he will learn. Well done.
Yousef Salech (5) - A poor game from the Dane. A running theme of this game, he looked off the pace. Wasn't helped by the very poor service provided.
Substitutions:
Axel Donczew (6.5) - Second record breaker of the night! A bright performance and had a good opportunity on the edge of the Newport box. A promising peformance from the youngster, keep an eye on him.
Jack Kingdon (6) - Was played out of his natural position but another pretty decent performance. Won his ground duels well but wasn't the best in the air.
Joel Bagan (6) - Only played 20 minutes and didn't put a foot wrong.
Callum Robinson (5.5) - Provided a small injection of urgency once he was on the pitch, but wasteful with his opportunities.
Final Thoughts
While T-Jay Parfitt's energetic display and the record breaking performances from Tankiewicz and Donczew provided glimpses of Cardiff's promising future, it was a poor perfomance overall. The senior players, particularly Turnbull and Wintle, failed to provide the leadership and guidance needed on a night when the youngsters deserved better from those around them.
64 - One record breaker replaced by another.
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) October 7, 2025
15-year-old Axel replaces Rob Tankiewicz. (0-1)#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/icNj317ZUc
Despite the disappointment of losing to a Newport side, who are fighting to stay in the EFL, there were positives to take from the evening with several academy graduates showing they can handle the step up to senior football. However, Newport claiming their first derby victory in 17 years against a much changed Cardiff side served as a harsh reminder that trophy competitions require more than just youthful enthusiasm and potential to progress. The blend of youth and experience needs to be better balanced if Cardiff are to give their promising talents the platform they need to develop and succeed at this level.
