Cardiff City Pre-Season (Story by Andrew McIntyre match reviews from www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk) The last season at ninian park is approaching very quickly with less than 3 days to go until kickoff against southampton which is set to be a sell out crowd! Lets look back over the pre-season friendlys to see how we got on. Merthyr and Carmathen The sides were evenly made up with the majority of the new signings at Carmarthen as the city following looked forward to the first sightings of McCormack, Dennehy, Comminges and Heaton. The first half at Carmarthen saw the Bluebirds leave the field four goals to the good with excellent movement and passing. Ross McCormack constantly caused the Carmarthen back four problems with his willing running and the ability to get in behind the full back and centre half. Paul Parry opened the scoring on the half hour after a great pass from McCormack and Parry calmly slotted home. City youngster Rhys Kelleher got the second after again some great pass and movement from captain McPhail. The third goal came from a Parry cross with Chris Thomas putting through his own net. Parry doubled his goal tally with another neat finish after strike partner McCormack showed great vision to pick him out with a pinpoint pass. The second half at Carmarthen slowed slightly with the Bluebirds still playing nice flowing football. Paul Parry completed his hat-tick in a fine performance on 58 minutes smashing the ball home from 8 yards after good work from Gavin Rae. City kept the ball and in the end played out the remainder of the game. City boss Dave Jones would have been pleased with his side's performance in West Wales with the final score Carmarthen 0 - 5 Cardiff City. At Merthyr the Bluebirds also went in 2-1 at half time. Jon Brown got the first with a neat finish on 25 minutes and should have got his second on 35 minutes. Great movement in the City midfield opened up the defence and allowed Brown to lob the Martyrs keeper before hitting the bar and first class poaching meant Thomo prodded home from two yards. At Penydarren Park the Bluebirds held out for a deserved win that completed the double. All the goals in this game came in the first 45 and both sides had chances but failed to capitalise. In the final forays the City put the game beyond their hosts with Academy player Billy Taylor get the third. Final score Merthyr 1 - 3 Cardiff City Vitoria de Setubal Cardiff used the opening half to try and acclimatise in the strong heat, as the home team took advantage of the conditions to open scoring after fifteen minutes via a tap in after the ball had hit the post. The second half saw Cardiff find their feet at Vitoria's training ground, looking increasingly likely to equalise as the minutes rolled on. The decisive equaliser then came after 73 minutes with a nice piece of skill from Steve Thompson - the striker swivelling and turning on the edge of the area, despatching a fine shot to gain parity. Vitoria Guimaraes Ross McCormack ensured that Cardiff City topped the Algarve Challenge Cup table with five points after beating Guimaraes 2-1 at Estadio Algarve on Tuesday night, with the Portuguese side taking a point from a contentious late penalty. McCormack scored a goal in each half to get the tournament underway in style, while a late equaliser for Celtic denied Middlesbrough a win as both teams left with two points following their 1-1 draw. Celtic Cardiff City closed the Portugal pre-season tour with an impressive victory over a strong Celtic team in Estadio Algarve - the 1-0 win more than enough to secure our status as the first ever Inaugural Algarve Challenge Cup champions with nine points. The four team pre-season tournament was decided in the seventeenth minute when Joe Ledley ghosted in to capitalise at the back stick from some great build up play from Scots Kevin McNaughton, Ross McCormack and Steven Thompson. The solitary goal was eventually enough in what was a strong performance despite the players feeling fatigue, as Celtic looked in vain for an equaliser to add pressure to proceedings. Swindon The Robins entertain the Bluebirds at the County Ground in a localish derby. City entered the game after a very impressive tour of Portugal which saw the team from the capital of Wales beating the Scottish champions Celtic. A starting line up which had a mixture of youth and experience Swindon opened the scoring with Lee Peacock capitalising on some early indecisiveness to slot home for the Robins.Paul Parry nearly brought the scores level on 39 minutes and was only denied by a smart save from the Swindon keeper. It wasn't long into the second half that Paul Parry managed to get his name on the score sheet when he calmly slotted home from a swift Bluebirds move. From there on in it would be fair to say it was nip and tuck as Swindon fielded a first team eleven against as previously stated a team of youth and experience. The final score was a true reflection of the game as the Bluebirds completed a undefeated programme so far prior to the arrival of Dutch giants Ajax on Friday night at Ninian Park. Ajax The first ever Vansdirect Trophy was shared between Cardiff City and AFC Ajax on Friday night, in what was an entertaining nil-nil draw against Champions League opposition. Goalmouth chances were in limited supply, but the reaction from the supporters at half and full time told a story of what was some impressive football, albeit without the killer touch to see the Vansdirect Trophy claimed by either side. As holders of the trophy, Cardiff City retained possession, ensuring the clean-sheet of results was maintained ahead of Saturday's opener against Southampton. Chasetown Cardiff completed their pre-season preparations by collecting a 2-2 draw at Chasetown on Tuesday night - the result ensuring that Dave Jones would take his squad into Saturday's Championship curtain opener against Southampton undefeated. Cardiff started the match with a mix of new signings, experience, youth and a trialist at Chasetown's Scholars Ground, the venue that was at the beginning of City's FA Cup adventure last season. Article continues Advertisement Click Here! Most prominent in the starting line-up was new number eight Jay Bothroyd who was to partner Paul Parry in attack. Summary A very postive unbeated start for the bluebirds we will see when we head into saturdays first championship clash against southampton. Who knows whats going to happen its a long season and its going to have its usual high and low points all we can do is pray and believe in our beloved bluebirds.