Brian Barry-Murphy heaps praise on Dylan Lawlor after Cardiff beat Doncaster

Brian Barry-Murphy heaped praise on marauding defender Dylan Lawlor for his incredible solo goal in the emphatic 4-0 win at Doncaster.

Lawlor carried the ball from the edge of his own box the length of the pitch before finishing with the confidence of a seasoned striker to double Cardiff’s lead early in the second half.

Alex Robertson had put Cardiff in front before the break with Cian Ashford and Callum Robinson extending the advantage for the league leaders, who bounced back decisively from their surprise 5-2 reverse at Plymouth a week earlier.

“Dylan did something similar with his goal against Leyton Orient and we know how dangerous Doncaster are and how they press the ball,” Barry-Murphy said.

“But, once Dylan had gone past their first man and it opened up for him, it was great to see him keep going on and finishing in such an immaculate manner.

“We had an incredible away following and I really wanted to give them a performance in response to Saturday’s defeat.

“We had a really satisfying week leading up to the game and, at the fans’ forum with the chairman, the supporters made it really clear how many would be travelling and what they expected in terms of a performance, so it was pleasing that we showed the best version of ourselves.

“It was a difficult pitch, which wouldn’t have suited Doncaster either because they are a good, technical team, but you have to adapt to the conditions and I was pleased with how we did that.”

Doncaster boss Grant McCann pointed the finger of blame firmly at himself for the manner of the defeat to the Bluebirds.

McCann insisted he had spotted the way in which Cardiff were establishing control of the game but resisted the urge to change it at half-time when the score was only at 1-0, only to find themselves two down within seconds of the restart courtesy of Lawlor’s solo effort.

Overload

He said: “That second half is on me. I just apologised to the players because I should have changed it at half-time.

“I said to the staff during the game that I thought it was going a certain way and you saw it plain as day when we went into the second half.

“Our two centre-backs were redundant in the game and that’s nothing against the two lads. But the way Cardiff play, they overload you in the middle of the pitch.

“I should have changed it at half-time, I didn’t and we’re 2-0 down within 30 seconds.

“From their point of view they’ll be talking about Lawlor’s goal for weeks but from ours it’s unacceptable for a centre-back to run from his own box, right through the middle of the pitch and score.

“We gave ourselves an absolute mountain to climb straight away but once we changed it, we were better.”