Post 16 - Championship match day 14, Cardiff City v Norwich City

Cardiff City leapfrogged QPR to move to the top of the Championship with a 3-1 victory over fellow promotion rivals Norwich City at the Cardiff City Stadium.  Norwich, who came into the game unbeaten in their last 3 away games and hadn't conceded in those matches were looking to put pressure on the team just two places above them in table and a win for them would close the gap between the teams to 3 points.

Cardiff, unchanged from the side that hammered Leeds 4-0 last Monday night, started where they had left off and were in the lead after just 9 minutes when Bothroyd headed in from inside the 6 yard box after Gypes had won the initial header from a Whttingham corner.

That lead was doubled just three minutes later when goalscorer Bothroyd turned provider as he flicked on a Heaton goal kick into the path of Chopra, who neatly finished with his right foot from 12 yards for his second in as many games.  For all the intricate football Cardiff have played in recent weeks it's good to see they can also score in the old fashioned route one style.

It looked as though Cardiff would dish out their second consecutive stuffing, but after the early set backs Norwich seemed to galvanise rather than crumble away.  And it was the visitors who had the better of the next 20 minutes and deservedly got their reward when Wes Hoolahan met Steven Smiths left footed cross with a diving header, beating Heaton and delighting the travelling support in the process.

A quick word for the travelling fans who were tremendous in their support, with well over 1000 making the 5 hour trip from Norfolk.  They also gave ex player Bellamy a decent round of applause, something the Cardiff and Wales captain didn't quite get away at Coventry 2 weeks ago.

In the time leading up to the Norwich goal, there was a large part of the City crowd who were getting agitated at the lack of possession the Bluebirds were having and started to get on the teams back.  I honestly can't understand this frustration, if the score was 0-0 and we were mid table under performers then I could understand, but we were 2-0 up and went into the match second in the league only on goal difference.  Do these fans really think Norwich were going to lay down and let us score 5 or more past them?  True, there may be times when City do score 5 this season, but there will also be times when teams will show resolve and make it hard for us and the fans - like the players - will need to show their patience.  Mini rant over.

Back to the game and it didn't take long for the home side to re-gain their 2 goal advantage when they were awarded a penalty.  Although slightly fortuitous - the ball seemed to just hit the hand of the Norwich defender from a clearance - Whittingham took full advantage and coolly slotted home for his 4th in as many matches and City went into the break 3-1 ahead.

Unlike large parts of the first half, Cardiff controlled most of the 2nd period, keeping the ball a lot better and looking more likely to score than their opponents.  Bothroyd had a shot well saved by keeper Ruddy and was later denied by the woodwork when a thunderous 20 yard volley crashed against the bar, which later denied Seyi Olofinjana from close range.  

With a 2 goal cushion the win never really looked in doubt and Jones was able to give Bellamy and Chopra a rest, with Koumas and McPhail their respective replacements.  Bellamy wasn't firing on all cylinders today, but his sheer presence is enough to strike fear into his opponents and boost the confidence of his team mates.  Cardiff have won all 6 games he has featured in this season and although he hasn't been the sole star performer, this 100% record isn't a coincidence and shows evidence of the effect he has had on the rest of the players.

Despite not being Cardiff's best performance of the season, it was professional and convincing enough after the 3rd goal went in.  None of Cardiff's attacking players excelled, but it was as good a defensive performance as I have seen from the centre back pairing of Hudson and Gypes, making many vital blocks and clearances particularly during Norwich's spell on top in the first half.

The only disappointment of the game was the inevitable booking of Jay Bothroyd in the second half after an innocuous looking challenge on the Norwich left back, meaning the the leagues top scorer will miss the South Wales derby next Sunday.  Bothroyd was visibly disappointment and undoubtedly be missed against our most rivalled opponents, a fixture he has admitted himself he looks forward to more than any, but in the grand scheme of things it is just one game and he was going to pick up another booking sooner or later.  

It will be interesting to see who manager David Jones will pick to replace Bothroyd next week, but with Keogh, Koumas and McPhail all waiting to fill in, he isn't short of options in both replacements and formations.  But that's for Jones to decide and until that game I'm sure Cardiff fans will enjoy the current league position, for as much as we hope to stay in that position for the rest of the season we know only too well from past experiences how quickly things can change, just ask Caldicot Bluebirds 'Evo' and 'Tarquin'.

Result - Cardiff City 3 Norwich City 1

Scorers - City:  Bothroyd (9), Chopra (12), Whittingham (pen 37), Norwich: Hoolahan (34)

Attendance - 24,634

Fans man of the match: Kevin McNaughton

My man of the match:  Super Kev for me too.  Played an absolute blinder at right back.  Sound defensively and threatening as ever going forward, again working magnificently with Burke ahead of him.  As quick a full back/wing partnership you are likely to see outside of the Premier League.

Post 15 - Past memories, Cardiff City v Maidstone United 01/01/92

Cardiff City 0 Maidstone United 5 - 1st January 1992

I don't have a particularly good memory when it comes to remembering football matches, I wish I did, but I don't.  I don't know why I haven't, perhaps it's because I've been going to watch Cardiff City now for over 20 years and having seen them hundreds of times a lot of the matches have gotten mixed up in my brain and are lost, they are there somewhere but will never be pieced back together.  I wish it was different, I wish I could remember each and every match, who scored in each game and who got sent off and how many corners there were etc.  It doesn't seem a problem for some people, I have friends who seem to be a walking 'soccerbase' who are seemingly able to remember almost anything from any match they have been to -and how I envy them.

But there are some matches that will stick with me forever and for different reasons, some stick due to a particularly good or bad City performance, some because of a memorable goal or sending off or some simply because I sat somewhere different in the ground, giving the game a unique feel.  Some, however are awful, so awful in fact that they just will not budge from my memory.  The particular match I'm referring to on this occasion is - as you already know from the title in bold above - Cardiff City v Maidstone United, a division 4 league match in 1992.  I had been a Cardiff fan for less than two years when I went to see this match on a cold (probably, it always seemed freezing as a kid didn't it?) New Years Day and as far as I can think back, it is my first memory of an actual match.

I don't remember it all, of course I don't, I was only 7 and more to the point I had been drinking cans of lager since 10am.  But I remember it being cold; I remember being sat in the Lower Grandstand family enclosure with my dad, granddad and uncle; I remember it being the home début for our new centre half hard man John Williams; I remember him hand balling on the line and giving away a penalty resulting in him being sent off and most of all I remembering them hammering us by 5 goals to 0.  Williams only ever played for us on two more occasions after this match and a total of six times in all, but at least he embedded himself in the memory of all who were there that day, well, in mine anyway.

I also remember leaving the game early that day, something that I had never done before and haven't done since at a home game.  In fact it was to be another 17 years until I would leave a game early again, when Cardiff got stuffed 6-0 away at Preston during the 2008-2009 season, another game that for all the wrong reasons, will stay in my memory as long as it is in tact.

This was to be the last time we were to ever play Maidstone United, for the Kent club were to go into liquidation before the start of the following season after being declared bankrupt, but every time I see or hear the place of Maidstone being mentioned I always think about that match.  Days after going into liquidation 'The Stones' reformed, however they were forced to start again not only financially but on the pitch too as they were forced to play at the bottom of the English football league pyramid system.  Despite the  goalscoring exploits of Carl Dale and Chris Pike that season Cardiff only managed to finish 9th, however they were promoted as champions the following season.

So there it is, my first memory of an actual match at Ninian Park, I have seen many more since, some I can remember, some I can't, but that one, for sure, will stick.

City team that day:

Gavin Ward, Neil Matthews, Damon Searle, Roger Gibbons (captain), John Williams, Jason Perry, Paul Ramsey, Cohen Griffiths, Chris Pike, Carl Dale, Nathan Blake

Attendance:  8,023

Post 14 - Championship match day 12, Coventry City v Cardiff City

Cardiff City cut the lead of league leaders QPR down to two points as they took advantage of the Londoners scoreless draw away to Swansea with a gritty win away to Coventry.

The Bluebirds travelled to Coventry in confident mood having won 3 out of 4 matches since first tasting defeat this season in mid September.  They also arrived with a good recent record at the Ricoh Stadium and would have quite rightly fancied their chances of coming back to South Wales with all 3 points.

Cardiff made just the one change to the side that prevailed victorious on the weekend, with Craig Bellamy coming in for Stephen McPhail.  Bellamy played on the left wing and Whittingham moving into the central role occupied by McPhail on Saturday.

After their dreadful start against Bristol City on Saturday the Bluebirds would've been keen to get off to a better one against Coventry and when they were awarded a penalty with less than 4 minutes on the clock, after Ben Turner was adjudged to have brought down Michael Chopra inside the 6 yard box, they had the perfect chance to do just that.  Turner escaped with a yellow card and Peter Whittingham stepped up to coolly slot home into the bottom right hand corner for his 3rd goal in two matches.  It was an important penalty for Whittingham, who had missed his previous two this season.  A third successive miss from the spot would have probably seen the role taken away from him, but his two goals on the weekend would have given him his confidence back in front of goal and he sent 'keeper Westwood the wrong way to give City the early lead.

Many of the 1300 or so Cardiff fans who made the trip to the Midlands (admittedly myself included) probably thought that a rout could well be on, but Coventry themselves have made a good start to the season and prior to the game were sitting just below the play off positions and unbeaten in their last three games.

But it was Cardiff who looked more threatening, Bothroyd had a decent looking penalty shout turned down and Gypes turned and shot from inside the area only to be denied by Westwood.  Meanwhile Heaton, when called into action was at the top of his game and made a decent save low to his left after a decent strike by Cranie from outside the area.

And so the half proceeded.  Cardiff were unable to find any real fluency, although in truth Coventry never really allowed them to play as they wished.  Bothroyd -booed by the home fans at every chance - didn't seem his usual self (turned out his foot had been stamped on) and Bellamy - also booed enthusiastically by his ex club's supporters - and Burke were being well marshalled by their respective markers.

It looked as though Cardiff would go into the break a goal to the good and it would have been a lead they'd deserved.  But with just 2 minutes remaining of the first 45, Hudson gave the ball away on the half way line, the ball was played forward to Gary McSheffrey, who cut inside easily evading McNaughton and Gypes and curled the ball into the right corner from 12 yards to level the score.  It was a decent enough goal, but one that could've been prevented nevertheless.

Coventry started the second half the brighter of the two and initially looked more likely to get a second goal, but City held firm and as the game grew older the more it looked as though one more goal could win it.  From a Cardiff point of view though, a draw would've been a respectable enough result, despite having had such a promising start.

Jones replaced the tiring Chopra with Koumas with 20 minutes remaining and then 10 minutes later Keough came on for Bellamy.  It was a good run out for the returning captain, but I'm sure the Cardiff fans will see more inspiring performances from him in the season to come, he is, after all, new to the team and probably still adjusting to the type of football being played in a division lower than he has become accustomed  to.

The defining moment of the game came with just 3 minutes of normal time remaining.  Burke, who had worked tirelessly all game but yet to any avail finally got past the Sky Blues left back and from the byline picked out Bothroyd with a low cross who neatly flicked the ball into the net from inside the 6 yard box in front of the Bluebirds fans.  Up until that moment it was hard to see where the goal may come from, but there are plenty of goals in this team, even when not playing to its full potential.

Moments later Burke again beat his man but instead of passing to the impressive Koumas kept going alone.  Although he should have passed to Koumas, who had the goal at his mercy, it was a fantastic run and if he had managed to finished it, it would have been a fine goal.  Cardiff held onto their slender lead for the remainder of the game and picked up all three points for the 3rd season in a row at this ground, no mean feat.

City travel to Leeds next Monday evening to face a team who although have had a solid start to their campaign, have leaked enough goals to suggest there is no reason the Bluebirds can't take as many points away from Elland Road as they did last night.

Result - Coventry City 1 Cardiff City 2

Scorers - City: Whittingham (pen 5) Bothroyd (87), Coventry: McSheffrey (44)

Attendance - 14,604

My man of the match:  Gypes was solid and Seyi was his usual robust self, but Burke gets my vote.  He didn't have his best game in a City shirt, but then again no one did. but he kept going, kept trying to beat his man and eventually wore him down, got past him and set up the winner.  His performance typified the type of never say die attitude City are showing so far this season.

Post 13 - Championship match day 11, Cardiff City v Bristol City

After another break for international football and another disastrous one for Wales (despite a more encouraging display in attack) it was back to league football this weekend as Cardiff played host to Severnside rivals Bristol City.

Bristol City haven't had it easy against Cardiff City of late, last season they were defeated both home and away in the league (including a 6-0 thrashing at Ashton gate) and were also defeated in an FA Cup replay, having taken the lead in the original tie on their own patch.

Before Saturday's game you could have forgiven Cardiff fans for expecting similar looking scoreline's this time around, a thought which could have been backed up by taking a quick look at the the two clubs current league positions.  The Bluebirds occupied the 2nd automatic promotions spot, six points behind leaders QPR, whilst the Robins found themselves at the very bottom of the league having won just one game out of their first ten.

But the opening 10 minutes was anything but what could have possibly been predicted.  By the time Cardiff had their first shot on goal (a Bothroyd header from a Burke cross) they found themselves a goal down and by the 8th minute their Severnside rivals had doubled their lead.  Both goals were as a result of sloppy defending by the home side, the first coming from defender Steven Chaulker, who headed home inside the 6 yard box from a free kick by the left hand touchline and the second by the recently Cardiff linked Jon Stead, who hooked in again inside the 6 yard box after a knock down from a corner from the right.

Aside from the noise from the travelling section, the rest of the ground was in complete silence and in a state of shock, but if you are going to go 2-0 down then sometimes it is good to do it early on for at least there is plenty of time to recover the deficit.  

And it didn't take long for the home side to go some way towards recovering from the awful start.  Just four minutes after the Robins second, Jay Bothroyd swivelled and fired home with his left foot from 8 yards after a pass from the returning Michael Chopra.  It was Jay Bothroyd's 8th goal of the season and he is now just 6 goals away from beating last season's tally of 13, a feat he is sure to accomplish providing he stays injury free.  

Bothroyd was again excellent on Saturday and it is imperative he stays fit if Cardiff are to mount a decent charge for promotion (I'm pretty sure it's not the first time I've typed these words this season).  His performances this term have prompted manager Dave Jones to call for England coach Fabio Capello to consider the striker for an England call and for most people who have seen him play on a regular basis over the past year or so it is hard to disagree with him.  

Cardiff proceeded to dominate the rest of the first half, with McNaughtan and Burke combining well on the right hand side and McPhail and Seyi linking well in midfield.  McPhail went close from 8 yards after a Burke cross and Bothroyd was again denied by James after combining well with Whittingham.  However Bristol City always looked dangerous from set pieces and looked likely to score every time the ball was put high in the box.

Half time came and there were no further goals, but after a discussion over a pint it was agreed the three points were still up for grabs providing the City got off to a good start in the second period.

And a good start they got.  Less than a minute after the re-start Cardiff were awarded a free kick on the right hand side after a foul on McPhail.  Peter Whittingham took the free kick, which evaded everyone, including keeper James and landed in the bottom left hand corner of the net.  After scoring 25 goals last season Whittingham's first goal this season was well overdue and although it wouldn't have been how he would have envisaged opening his account, it was graciously accepted by Whittingham and the team alike and was celebrated enthusiastically by the home supporters. 

Cardiff sniffed a win and although Bristol City still looked dangerous from set pieces it was the home side who appeared the more likely to snatch the victory.  Burke had a shot deflected onto the crossbar after a run from Bothroyd, who himself, as well as Chopra had attempts saved by James.

It was then Cardiff keeper Heaton who was called into action as he saved down to his left from a decent 35 yard drive from McAllister.  But it was Cardiff who were to score the deciding goal and take all 3 points.  Whittingham was taken down 7 yards outside the area in a central position and it was he who sublimely put the ball into the net past the despairing dive of James to score his 2nd of the match and season.

Cardiff had further chances to increase their lead as Burke was denied by James and substitute Koumas had an attempt blocked by a defender.  Bristol City searched for an equaliser but the Bluebirds, not for the first time this season held firm for the win, a win which would subsequently take them to within 4 points of the league leaders after they drew at home with Norwich.

All in all it was a fantastic last 84 minutes and as unhappy as Jones will be with the defending at the start he will be equally pleased with the fire power and resolve his side showed.  City travel to Coventry this Tuesday night, a place they have good memories of in recent times and with Bellamy set to come back things really are looking promising.

As for Bristol City, they have only one objective this season and that is to keep their place in the division.  It won't be easy, but it's far from being impossible, but if they are to avoid relegation you feel ex England keeper David James is going to need a lot more help from his team mates.

Result - Cardiff City 3 Bristol City 2

Scorers - City: Bothroyd (12), Whittingham (46, 78) Bristol City: Caulker (6), Stead (8)

Attendance - 22,244.

Fans man of the match - Seyi Olofinjana

My man of the Match - A few candidates, Seyi was worthy of his award and Bothroyd, as mentioned, put in another cracking performance.  But I will give it to Whits, he scored his first 2 goals of the season - the second a stunning free kick - as well as having a hand in the first and putting in a top all round performance.  Nice to have his name back on the score sheet.