Jimmy Ball’s side ran out comfortable winners on Saturday, as The Gulls came out on top against the young Bluebirds at Plainmoor.
United had already had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside on ‘scorer’ Callum Morton by the time they raced into a two-goal lead inside the first eight minutes.
Gulls skipper Matt Worthington made the most of a moment of indecision inside the Cardiff box by pouncing on the ball, before drilling a low shot past visiting goalkeeper Jake Dennis from 12 yards out.
Just moments later, Dennis was forced into a parry from a similar range to keep out Sonny Blu Lo-Everton’s strike, however, with the glovesman only able to parry the shot, Deon Moore was ideally placed to slot home from point-blank range.
The next fifteen minutes saw the young Cardiff side launch a couple of decent forays into the United half, with Toby Savin coming up with a decent parry to deny Jake Davies.
Shortly before the first-half hydration break, it was 3-0.
A short corner from Jordan Young was worked to perfection, as a series of incisive passes inside the box proved to be the undoing of the City backline, leaving Moore as the spare man at the back post to clip the ball into the net from six yards out.
The punishment for the young Bluebirds didn’t end there, with another goal arriving just before the break, as Jordan Young darted onto an inch-perfect pass inside the box before firing high into the roof of the net from ten yards, leaving Dennis stranded as the ball whizzed past him at the near-post.
The second-half followed much of the same pattern, although the Welsh side did manage to stem the tide.
Although there was no imminent change to the scoreline, the welcome return to playing action of Cody Cooke brought Plainmoor to its feet, as the Torquay centre-forward made his first appearance since dislocating his shoulder against Chelmsford back in February.
Number five eventually came with six minutes left.
A ball into the City penalty area looked to be dealt with without too much fuss, however a loose clearance in the centre of defence presented Matt Jay with the ball eight yards out, and Jay made the most of the opportunity, as he calmly sent a volley into the net to round things up at 5-0.
There’s just one more test that separates Ball’s side from the real stuff now, as Exeter City make the trip to Plainmoor for United’s final pre-season outing on Friday.
UNITED: 1. Toby Savin (13. Zak Baker, HT), 3. Tyler Hill (15. Kian Jenkins, HT), 4. Jordan Dyer (16. Jake Wannell, HT), 5. Sam Dreyer, 8. Jordan Young (27. Matt Jay, 72′), 10. Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (11. Dylan Morgan, HT), 12. Trialist (2. Dom Bernard, HT), 14. Deon Moore (9. Cody Cooke, 77′), 18. Matt Worthington, 20. Dan Hayfield (6. Munashe Sundire, HT), 39. Callum Morton (23. Sean Robertson, HT).
Attendance: 1,003
