James Waite played his second Cardiff City match in 24 hours and made a big impact against Queens Park Rangers at Harlington Sports Ground.
Midfield battler Waite was Bluebirds’ under-19 captain in their 5-0 FAW Youth Cup win against Merthyr Town the previous day and was in the under-23 development squad at QPR.
He went on from the substitutes bench and his inspirational performance lifted Cardiff and had Rangers hanging on.
Waite smashed a free-kick against a post, but there was no way back for City.
Adam Sharif, Mark Harris and Henry Smith were also involved in the cup tie against Merthyr and the Professional Development League clash with QPR.
Aramide Oteh and Olamide Shodipo scored for Rangers. The first came after 15 minutes when Cardiff’s former Manchester United apprentice Oliver Byrne made a magnificent save from Finnish player Niko Hamalainen at the cost of a corner. Oteh headed in from the set piece.
Rangers were then awarded a penalty when Shodipo went down and got up to convert from the spot after 34 minutes.
Connor Young, Tyrone Duffus, Sharif, Harris and Smith were alongside Waite for Cardiff, while joint managers Andy Legg and Jarred Harvey included five trialists in their starting line-up.
Cardiff have a second under-23 development match this week when they are at home against Southampton at Cardiff International Sports Campus on Thursday (2pm).
That is the second Premier League Cup group game for the Bluebirds, who drew 1-1 at Blackburn Rovers in their opening fixture. Watford are the fourth team in Cardiff’s cup group.
