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Fielding a drastically altered line-up, Trethomas Bluebirds suffered their first defeat of the season in a 1-0 loss against Caerau Ely in round one of the league cup.

It was a replay of Monday’s Cymru South match for the pair, with that one ending in a 2-2 draw in Cardiff.

Bluebirds manager Mark Dunford made nine changes to the side who played in that one, with youth featuring heavily alongside two new signings, including Callum Huggins – a loanee from Barry Town.

Thomas McLean’s early goal for the visitors was the difference under the floodlights at the Centre for Sporting Excellence, as the Bluebirds will now return their attention to the league.

Kick-off

It had the potential of a long night for the Bluebirds, who found themselves behind early on.

Some great play by left back George Sheppard, who impressed on Monday afternoon, saw him switch a lovely pass to Jac Davies on the far side.

Davies’ cross was equally impressive to the back post where Thomas McLean was poised. Unmarked, he controlled the volley well to beat Jacob Steven.

The right hand side for Trethomas is where they found most joy in the first-half. The pairing of captain Ryan Bolter at right back and first teamer Jack Jones down the wing meant the hosts had some proven quality going forward.

This led to their first shot on target after a bit of pressing meant the ball fell kindly to youth prospect Niks Gnedlers. The Latvian didn’t get behind the ball as he liked though, and put it straight at the keeper.

As was the strength of the Caerau line-up, the visitors looked to play out from the back as they did in the 2-2 draw earlier in the week.

This time however, Trethomas decided to meet them a bit further-up the pitch with a press on the backline. It didn’t always work, but there were occasions where Caerau were forced to clear.

Both sides looked fairly evenly matched despite the changes, something those involved for the first time could take away from the match if nothing else.

At 19, Jacob in goals looked calm and confident on the ball. He drew a man in only to knock it past him and play a pass into the midfield.

It became a little scrappy as half-time approached, but the whistle went at just 1-0 with it still all to play for in round one of the league cup.

Second-half

Not long into the second-half and Jones made way alongside veteran Lee Baldock to what was now a pretty unrecognisable Trethomas side.

This marked a difficult spell for the hosts with a series of crosses and corners into their box, all dealt with comfortably enough though. Deadline day signing Joseph Cashman was kept busy making clearances.

It took until around the 70-minute mark for either side to register a ‘chance’. Caerau’s Charlie Lewis with a swing on the edge of the area went well over.

With even more changes made late in the game, Connor Wright came on and looked a bright spark at times. It was difficult to get much going however with the visitors clearly a level above in terms of matchups.

The Bluebirds kept at it until the final whistle. The youngsters doing their best to get noticed by Dunford, but the score remained 1-0 and Trethomas suffered their first defeat of the season.

They’ll now turn their attention to a very interesting Cymru South match at home against Llanelli Town on Saturday September 7.