Jones cautious after flying start

09 August 2009 09:53
Record buy Michael Chopra began repaying his fee with a first-half brace at the new Cardiff City Stadium and Jay Bothroyd opened his account all in the opening 45 minutes. Peter Whittingham completed the rout from the spot in the final minute. "We rode our luck in the opening quarter but after that we played some good football and the team as a whole played well," said Jones. "It was a case of making sure we kept them out in the second half but with all the debutants playing well to start the season with a 4-0 win in a new stadium was outstanding for our supporters. "It was a great atmosphere and I'm very pleased for the fans who kept the noise volume up throughout the match. "It is important to start the season off well but it is only one game and it is a hard old slog ahead." A slow start by the hosts allowed Scunthorpe the first strike on goal when Gary Hooper raced through after just 30 seconds only for David Marshall to go down low to save. Two minutes later Martyn Woolford struck a shot that Marshall palmed down before clearing. The Bluebirds took the lead with the first goal at the stadium in the 20th minute through Chopra. Ross McCormack started the move when he cut inside before finding Whittingham in a central position. His shot on goal struck Chopra on the heel and looped over Joe Murphy and into the net. Chopra almost added a second four minutes later when he pushed past two defenders but his low shot rebounded off the far post. The Bluebirds were now on top and they doubled their lead on the half-hour when a cross from Mark Kennedy was touched in at the far post by Bothroyd. In first-half injury time City went further ahead when Bothroyd found Chopra who lashed a shot high into the net with the last kick of the half. In the second half the visitors kept hold of the ball but Cardiff still squandered a number of chances before substitute Chris Burke was brought down in the final minute for Whittingham to complete the scoring from the spot. The Bluebirds will face far more difficult challenges in the season ahead but Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins has reasons to be confident. He said: "We had an early chance and presented Cardiff with problems until they scored. "I'm told that the second goal could have been disallowed for offside but then the third killed us. "We did all right in the second half and kept the ball far better but it was disappointing to give away that late penalty. "We were given a hiding but the players must respond in the right way. We know we need to defend much better but it would have been a big shock if we had taken anything from this game which gave our players a real welcome to the Championship."

Source: Team_Talk