Cardiff City rounded off their training camp in Ireland with an emphatic 6-1 win over Cork City, but it was teenage midfielder Robert Tankiewicz who stole the show as supporters hailed the academy prospect as the latest youngster ready to make his mark.
Dominant Display at Turner's Cross
Brian Barry-Murphy's side bounced back from Saturday's heavy pre-season defeat to FC Midtjylland in style at Turner's Cross, with Callum Robinson, Isaak Davies, Yousef Salech and Tankiewicz all getting on the scoresheet. Tankiewicz, just 17, struck twice after coming on at half-time and produced the kind of composed display that left fans raving about his potential on social media.
One supporter posted: "Rob Tankiewicz, remember the name. This boy's going to be some player." Another wrote: "Tankiewicz, good Lord there is a player there." Others predicted a breakthrough campaign, with one fan saying: "15+ appearances for him this season, mark my words," while another added: "Boy's going to be a star."
First-Half Chances
The Bluebirds enjoyed the better of the opening period, with another highly-rated youngster, Jack Sykes, catching the eye during an impressive first-half display and twice going close in the early stages. Robinson was unlucky not to open the scoring when he crashed an effort against the crossbar, but the striker made no mistake five minutes before the interval, powering home David Turnbull's free-kick to give Cardiff a deserved lead.
Barry-Murphy made wholesale changes at the break, introducing an entirely new outfield side as he continued to build fitness across his squad.
Second-Half Comeback and Tankiewicz's Impact
Cork levelled shortly after the hour when Denzel Obenge's strike took a heavy deflection past Matt Turner, but Cardiff immediately clicked through the gears. Davies restored the lead in the 73rd minute after cutting in from the left before finishing confidently, and just three minutes later Tankiewicz announced himself with a composed finish after timing his run perfectly into the box. The pair then added further goals in the closing stages, with Davies grabbing his second before Tankiewicz calmly slotted home again during an impressive outing. Salech completed the rout with the final kick of the match to seal an impressive 6-1 victory.
Manager's Praise and Caution
Barry-Murphy was particularly pleased with Tankiewicz's contribution, although he stressed the teenager, who broke the record to become Cardiff's youngest-ever player last year before he was overtaken by Axel Donczew in the same match against Newport County, still has plenty of development ahead of him. "Robert is a very talented young player and has a good mentality," the Cardiff boss said. "He has a good feeling of knowing when to arrive into the box to score goals. He is improving a lot and knows how much work he had to do to be the player we want him to be."
He added: "The main objective for us was to get everybody through 45 minutes each. We want to increase the fitness levels as much as possible, off the back of what was a very stern examination on Saturday. I'm very pleased with the application of the players here. The players and myself are very clear on what we have to do, and we see that as an exciting thing because we know what challenge awaits us. I'm not just saying it for the sake of it, we're nowhere near where we want to be, and I see that as a positive."
Reflecting on the remainder of the club's stay in Cork, he said: "Today was a small step on the way to where we know we will have to be come the start of the season. It is a very intense part of pre-season for us as we now go through the gears in terms of footballing content. We have a lot of things that we need to cover and we will go through it step by step."
