Post 12 - Championship match day 6, Leicester City v Cardiff City

Welsh international Andy King scored a second half double as Leicester City posted their first win of the season and in doing so put an end to Cardiff's unbeaten start as they came from behind to win 2-1 on a wet night at the Walkers Stadium.

For the second time within four days Cardiff were without the injured quartet of Bellamy, Bothroyd, Drinkwater and Chopra, but Seyi Olofinjana, who has been as important a player as any during Cardiff's impressive start to the season, joined them on the injured list.

Cardiff, starting in a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Koumas supporting loan striker Keogh, started well enough and although not exactly on top, were seeing as much as the ball as the home side and it was the visitors who had the first shot of the game when Koumas forced Ikeme to save down to his right after an effort from the edge of the area.

There was little much to report on in the next 15 minutes or so, Marshall comfortably saved from Howard and the pacey Dyer threatened down the left without yet creating anything clear cut, but Cardiff looked strong at the back with Gypes and Hudson winning pretty much everything both on the ground and aerial.

But things were to change in the 26th minute.  Koumas spread the ball out left from a central position with a sweeping pass and Naylor picked it up, carried the ball a few yards forward and smashed it in from all of 40 yards over the head of the helpless Ikeme.  Did he mean it? I'm not so sure - I would guess not - the way he shaped it, a cross would be the best bet but as soon as it became apparent it wasn't going anywhere near a City player there was only one place it was going and that was the back of the net.  I know it's a clichéd thing to say, but it just looked in as soon as he hit it.  The City fans went mad, it was a screamer whether it was intentional or not. 1-0.

The goal seemed to perk City up, although they hadn't been playing badly before the goal, at the same time they hadn't really threatened, but Koumas and Burke started to get more involved and City looked as likely to score during this 10 minute spell as they did in the whole match.  Koumas shot wide and Keogh had a decent effort stopped by Ikeme.

But that was as good as it got for Cardiff as Leicester began to take a stranglehold on the game.  With 10 minutes to the break Leicester threatened the Cardiff goal for the first time in the night.  Howard had a goal bound shot blocked (by his own player) and Keogh cleared off the line in the space of seconds. 

Cardiff's thoughts would have been solely on getting to the break with a clean sheet and would've failed in doing so if Martyn Waghorn had successfully have finished from 3 yards after Dyer had broken and crossed down the left hand side.

Despite the pressure and the chances, the Bluebirds did manage to hang on to their lead until the break, but there was still a sense that a draw would still be a decent result against a Leicester team not too dissimilar to the side that they played in the play-off semi-finals just a few months ago.

Leicester started the second half as they finished the first and it didn't take them long to draw level as Wellens  crossed for the unmarked King to head home just 6 minutes after the re-start.  Leicester continued to press and if Cardiff were going to leave with anything tonight they needed to weather the storm.  

Leicester looked likely to take the lead at any time and with 68 minutes on the clock - after a few decent saves from Marshall - managed this, as King, finding himself unmarked on the edge of the area fired into the top left hand corner.  It was a quality strike and capped off a fine display by the Welshman.

Cardiff, looking fatigued, made substitutions, with Wildig and Blake coming on for Koumas and McPhail respectively, both replacements are decent enough players, but neither were likely to get Cardiff back in the gane.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, Dyer was given the perfect chance to seal the win as Marshall inexplicably passed the ball to him straight from a goal kick, the winger dribbled into the box and hit the post, but he really should have scored and put any comeback by Cardiff out of the question.  Marshall's distribution was terrible all night and he was extremely lucky to have gotten away with this.

Just minutes later Cardiff could and maybe should have been awarded a penalty when a Foxes defender clearly pulled on the shirt of Keogh.  It wasn't the worst foul in the world, but a clear one all the same.

Despite 5 minutes of injury time Leicester easily held on for their win and it was thoroughly deserved.  Two games within four days was too much for a depleted Cardiff team stricken with injury's, however I'm sure any City fan would've taken 2nd spot with 13 points after 6 games if offered at the start of the season.  It's a long season and even if we are to have a successful campaign, there are bound to be blips on the way.  I left Leicester feeling obvious disappointment, but confident we can and will bounce back on Saturday against Ipswich.  

As for me, that's it for a few weeks, I've decided against making the long, expensive trip to Suffolk on Saturday and I will more than likely miss the next 2 home games as I will more than likely be taking some time off to recover from a nephrectomy, all sympathy gratefully accepted and appreciated.

Result - Leicester City 2 Cardiff City 1

Scorers - City: Naylor (26) Leicester: King (51, 68)

Attendance - 20,510

My Man of the Match - Gabor Gypes.  Solid throughout, won everything in the air and was solid on the ground.

Post 11 - Championship match day 5 Cardiff City v Hull City

Cardiff kept up their unbeaten league run and stayed in second spot as they beat Hull City 2-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium.  The home side were without key players Bothroyd, Bellamy and Drinkwater, as well as the still sidelined Chopra but showed that even when missing players with injury they have the strength in depth to cope.  Despite the pre match rumours of the aforementioned injury's, spirit's were still high, which I will put down to the free ice cream pots being given away outside the ground, 4 for me, thanks.

As their record suggests, Hull are a poor team on the road, having not won on their travels in a league match since March 2009 and aside from that they haven't won at all since beating Swansea on the opening day of the season.  But still, the job needed to be done and Cardiff turned out a very professional, if not thrilling, performance in doing so.

The Bluebirds started with the same 4-5-1 formation that had seen them win their 3 previous league games, with new loan signing Andy Keogh making his debut up front in place of Bothroyd.  Keogh had a decent game today and although he is a different type of player to Jay, he showed enough to suggest he may be a valuable signing for the season to come.  He didn't stop working and got a good going over by the Hull centre backs, getting very little from the referee in the process.

City started the better of the teams and the excellent Stephen Mcphail went close with a side footed shot from 12 yards, but it was his centre midfield partner Seyi Olifinjara who broke the deadlock on the 20 minute mark, when he headed home an in-swinging Whttingham free kick from 6 yards - his first for Cardiff and against the team he is being loaned from.  Seyi had started the game in fine form, playing once again in front of the back 4 and the goal was no less than what his performances so far this season had deserved.

Cardiff continued to look the better team and went close to doubling their lead 6 minutes later when Kevin McNaughton hit the post from outside the box after a run.  McNaughton had an uncharacteristically poor first half looking unsteady at times, but improved as the game went on.

Cardiff went into the break 1 0 up and although it wasn't pretty, it was effective and grinding out results isn't something they have always managed in the past, however the job was only half done,  too many times last seasons they were unable to complete the job.

The second half got under way and although Hull had a couple of shots they were restricted to shooting from distance.  The Bluebirds looked more likely to stretch their lead than the visitors did to equalising with Jason Koumas - making his first league start of the season - twice coming close with decent right footed efforts.  Koumas still looks like he could do with a few more games under his belt before he finds his best form, his touch let him down on a few occasions and he got caught out a few times too.  But everyone knows the class he possesses and with injury's already seemingly coming thick and fast he may get his chance to get the run that he needs to regain full fitness and form.

By now the the injured Seyi had been replaced by Gavin Rae.  A few weeks ago, after a string of poor performances and the signing of plenty of new midfielders, it was widely thought Rae had played his final game for Cardiff, but apart from him first touch - when he shockingly put a Hull striker through - he was both solid and creative and this was without doubt his best performance for some time.  It was the the ex Scottish international Rae who sealed the win with a rare goal after 81 minutes, after being expertly set up by fellow sub Wildig following good work by the once again influential Whittingham.  It wasn't the most stylish of finishes - it somehow slowly crept through the keepers legs - but it was a goal nonetheless and a valuable one all the same.  

All in all it was a much deserved victory and City put in a professional performance against what has to be said, a poor Hull team.  Special mention is deserved for the centre back pairing of Hudson and Gypes who seem to be building a stable partnership together, they have both taken some stick in the past but apart from a misguided header by Hudson, letting Simpson through, they were solid today.

Cardiff go to Leicester on Tuesday night, the scene of a memorable play off victory last season, they should have players back from injury, but will be confident of getting a positive result regardless of what team they field and rightly so.

Result - Cardiff City 2 Hull City 0

Scorers - City: Olofinjana (20), Rae (81)

Attendance - 24,083

Fans man of the match - Seyi Olofinjana

My man of the match - Peter Whittingham. There were a few candidates today, Seyi was once again fantastic when he was on, Stephen McPhail was excellent and the centre back pairing were solid.  However my MOTM goes to Whits; he set up the first, had a hand in the second and showed some sublime pieces of skill.  He may not be getting the goals he got last season, but arguably has a more influential role to play this term.  It  seems that he is thriving in a 3 man midfield and long may it continue.

Post 10 - Cardiff City v Hull City, a preamble

For the past two weeks Championship football has taken a back seat as qualification for the European Championships 2012, to be co hosted by Poland and the Ukraine, got under way.  After just one match, qualification is already looking like an uphill struggle for Wales as they somewhat embarrassingly lost to Montenegro by one goal to nil in Podgorica.

As disappointing as it was, a surprise it wasn't, this is, after all, Wales we are talking about.  Since the defeat the national football team has been in disarray with coach John Toshack announcing his imminent resignation from his role.  As bad as Tosh has been - and there is no denying that - there is no obvious choice to succeed him, I, personally, would be happy for a foreign manager to take over the reins, I really don't know who, but thankfully it's not my job to pick one.

As much as I would love Wales to qualify for a major competition, I know that there is little to no chance of this happening and this lack of expectation at least partially contributes to my lack of enthusiasm, I also don't feel the same despair when they lose as I do when Cardiff lose.

After a decent start last season Cardiff came back from the September international break only to lose 4 of their next 5 games, and although 2 of those matches were against a Newcastle team who ended up winning the league at a stroll and Villa (away) in the league cup, it is something they will be keen not to repeat.  City are visited tomorrow by Hull City, who - after a 2 year stint in the Premier League - will be keen to defy the odds and get back amongst the Premier elite.  However after a poor start to the season, Championship consolidation is likely to be a more realistic objective.

But whatever does happen tomorrow and indeed during the course of the season it is important not to forget just how far the two teams have come since the turn of the last decade.  Since locking horns in the basement division just 10 seasons ago the Bluebirds have celebrated 2 promotions, made 3 Wembley appearances and 1 at the Millennium stadium.  In the same time the Tigers have been promoted 3 times, been to Wembley once and enjoyed 2 season in the Premier League.  Not bad really, is it?

Post 9 - Carling Cup round 2 - Peterborough United v Cardiff City

Cardiff City were brought back down to earth with a thud as they were dumped out of the Carling Cup by first division Peterborough.*

After the 4-0 thumping of Doncaster and triumphant homecoming for Craig Bellamy at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday it was back to the road for the bluebirds as they made the trip to Peterborough, followed by a 300 strong away crowd, not bad at all for a Tuesday night league cup match 3 1/2 hours away at £20 a pop.

London Road hasn’t been the kindest of places for the Bluebirds over recent years, their most recent visit resulting in an unforgettable 4 all draw. Ok it’s one that City fans probably would rather forget, having been 4 nil up at half time, but it’s imbedded in our memories, however, this was a great chance to exorcise those ghosts.

For the first half hour Cardiff were firmly on top and it looked as though they would finally put those demons to rest and when Bothroyd headed in a Koumas cross after 31 minutes for his 5th of the season you would expect a team as confident as Cardiff are at the moment to go on and kill the game.  But they didn't, in fact as soon a they took the lead the Posh started to get themselves back into the game, a game which they should have been well out of by now.

It was no surprise that the moment Cardiff began to lose their way coincided with them losing Seyi with an eye infection just after the goal.  Although only starting his third game for the bluebirds he has already become an integral part to the side.  He was replaced by Stephen McPhail, who although a quality player in his own right doesn't quite possess the same presence as Seyi, plus he hasn't played a game for 3 months.  Cardiff went into the break ahead, probably thinking they should have been more than just the one goal clear after a glut of decent chances.  

Peterborough came out for the second half in similar fashion to the aforementioned league game last December, putting Cardiff on the back foot straight away and it looked inevitable that the equaliser would come.  The equaliser eventually came in the 74th minute and the only surprise was that it didn't come earlier and but for a string of decent saves from Heaton it would've done.  I couldn't see what happened really, because for the 10th time in a row at that ground the goal was scored about 120 yards away, but I will presume there was a defensive cock up somewhere.  Names need not be mentioned. 

By now, the Cardiff fans had continued their love/hate relationship from last season with Posh keeper Joe Lewis, the lad took some stick last night and to be fair to him he took it really well, just like his mother does (according to one or two city fans).  I know very well that 200 odd fans teaming up on one defenceless goalkeeper is quite a cowardice thing to do, but most of it was good natured anyway and he had the last laugh again anyway, see, easily justified. 

Boyd got the winner in the 88th minute with a cracking strike from outside the city area leaving City hardly any time to get back into the game and not even the late introduction of Paul Quinn (all paid for) could force extra time.  Peterborough were good money for the win and if they can sort out a leaky defence must be one of the favourites to go straight back up to the Championship.

As for Cardiff, not a great night, but it needs to be quickly forgotten about as more important fixtures lie ahead, starting with a trip to Portsmouth on Saturday.  It's never good to see your team lose, but I've had worse experiences at that ground and the 'banter' with Lewis sort of made up for it, not big, not clever, not even witty, but funny all the same.

Result - Peterborough United 2 Cardiff City 1

Scorers - City: Bothroyd (31) Posh: Mackail-Smith (74), Boyd (88)

Attendance - 3,806

Man of the match - No-one really stood out for city, Seyi was probably our best player when he was on, but I can't really give the MOTM award to someone who only played half an hour can I?  Actually stuff it, my blog, my report, my rules.  Well done Seyi if your reading.

Villain of the day - Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony.  £20 for a standing ticket and £25 for seated ticket on a Tuesday night in the league cup second round?  Probably something to do with the Bellamy factor, which left me feeling slightly smug when I found out he wouldn't feature.

* I’ve since read the BBC news report and notice my first paragraph is, purely by coincidence, practically the same, but I’m keeping it, thud is a better word than bump anyway.yway.

Post 8 - Championship match day 3, Cardiff City v Doncaster Rovers

Craig Bellamy scored a sensational 30 yard free kick to top off a memorable debut for the Welsh and now Cardiff City captain.

On the day the Cardiff City faithful welcomed a new hero, the club said their goodbyes to a hero of yesteryear.  Brian Clark, who sadly passed away 2 weeks ago was remembered before the match with a minutes round of applause.  As I've mentioned previously on this blog I much prefer a minutes silence but nonetheless it was a fantastic send off for him and wonderful to hear 'There's only one Brian Clark' being echoed around the stadium.  The current players were joined on the pitch by past Cardiff City legends Gary Bell, Steve Derrett, Don Murray and Bobby Woodruff who had earlier shared their memories of 'Clarky' with the rest of the supporters, it was a nice touch for who so many people have described as the perfect gentleman.

Cardiff started the game in nervous fashion.  It took about 2 minutes for the ball to get to Bellamy and when it finally did it was greeted with huge cheers, however his first touch in a Cardiff shirt was slightly anti-climatic as he over hit a long pass somewhere in the direction of Jay Bothroyd.  The Cardiff players tried to get the ball to Bellamy as much as possible - arguably a little too much - in the opening 20 minutes and he gave the fans an early taste of his blistering pace that will give many a defence no end of problems in the season to come.

Doncaster weren't over-awed by this and started the game brightly, having as much of the early possession as Cardiff in the opening half an hour, but it was Cardiff who nearly had the perfect start when a Chopra chip was expertly saved by Donny keeper Neil Sullivan after 15 minutes.

The home side were forced to make 2 early substitutions in the first half with McNaughton pulling up with what looked like a torn hamstring in the 17th minute and striker Chopra going off after 32 minutes, having struggled for 10 minutes after a nasty looking challenge by a Doncaster defender, which seemed to go unseen by the referee and his official. 

McNaughton was replacement by the 2nd City debutant of the day Lee Naylor before Burke replaced Chopra, and as personnel changed so did the formation.  Cardiff had started their usual 4-4-2 with Bellamy playing wide left, Whittingham on the right and Bothroyd and Chopra filling the usual striker spots.  But when Chopra came off they changed to 4-5-1 with Burke and Bellamy supporting Bothroyd from wide positions and Whittingham joining Drinkwater and Seyi in the centre, into a playmaker role he has thrived on so far this season.

It took just four minutes of the new formation for Cardiff to break the deadlock.  Bellamy passed to Bothroyd, who, after miss controlling the ball somehow found himself one on one with the keeper, before calmly finishing with his left foot for the opener.  The goal came just after some fans around me had started to get a bit frustrated.  I honestly don't know what they expect, did they expect a hat-trick from Bellamy in the first half hour? for Doncaster to roll over and die and let us have our party? The said thing is the answer is probably yes.  How little some people know.

The second half did see Cardiff start to take control of the game with the midfield 3 keeping possession well and Bellamy and Burke starting to run the Doncaster full backs ragged.  Burke will have felt hard done by to be dropped and he looked like a man who had a point to prove and in the 62nd minute it was he who crossed for Bothroyd to head home his second of the match and 4th of the season.  Six minutes later the lead was increased furthermore when Bellamy played a long ball from deep inside his own half for Burke.  He still had a lot to do and shrugged off the challenge of two defenders before scoring his second of the season.

By now Cardiff were playing as well as I had ever seen them play with the midfield and forwards seemingly interchanging positions and playing keep ball.  I don't want to use the term 'total football' but, well I have now, but that's what is was like, sort of.  It's a way I've never seen us play before and as Dave Jones explained in his post match interview he's never previously had the players to play this way and it will be interesting how he starts the next league cgame.

With six minutes left on the clock Bellamy put the finishing touches to a fantastic day with his sublime free kick.  He left the pitch minutes later to a standing ovation and another roar went up as it was announced his replacement was another hero Jason Koumas.  Koumas, although only on for a cameo showed the fans some lovely touches, showing he will play an important part this season himself.

So, a perfect day for all involved (Donny fans excluded) and an anti-climax it wasn't.  It was a fine performance against a decent Doncaster side, who will probably be in the top half of the league come May.  Cardiff were simply awesome today and will face much weaker teams than Doncaster in the season to come, there is still room for improvement and as they gel together I'm sure they will just get better, and that's the scary part. 

Result - Cardiff City 4 Doncaster Rovers 0

Scorers - City: Bothroyd (36, 62) Burke (68) Bellamy (84)

Attendance - 24,027

Fans man of the match - Jay Bothroyd 

My man of the match - Jay Bothroyd.  Like the Derby game last week any number of players could have won  this.  Bellamy capped a fine debut with a stunning free kick, Burke set up one and scored another and the midfield 3 bossed the second half.  But Jay Bothroyd was superb today, leading the line and scoring 2 and with a bit more luck could've got a hat trick.

Villain of the day - Villain? On a day like this? No chance.  Ok then we'll say Craig Bellamy for getting needlessly booked for throwing the ball away, pure Premier League petulance, tut tut.

Post 7 - Home is the hero, Craig Bellamy signs

So, Craig Bellamy has signed for Cardiff then, he’s actually signed for Cardiff City, ok it’s a loan deal so he’s not actually ours, but still, he will be playing for Cardiff City for the rest of the season.  Wow.

It seems as though everyone has had something to say about the controversial Bellamy signing and I’m struggling to think of any other loan signing in the history of the game to have prompted such media attention.  Cardiff as a club has taken a hammering from a large section of the media over the last week or so, I’d write a response but ‘Cardiff City Mad’ main man Mike Morris (enough Ms?) has spoken for every bluebird fan in his much lauded, perfectly written and soon to become legendary (at least on the message board) ‘People in stone houses’ defence of our club.  If you haven’t already read it please click on the link at the bottom of the blog, it’s well worth the read.

As I’m typing this, three days after it was confirmed, the signing still sounds too good to be true and I will concede that in the days leading up to the signing I was a bit sceptical about it all.  I didn’t want to look foolish in case he didn’t sign, in fear of being mocked for thinking such a player would dream of playing for us, but now he has put pen to paper (and the football league have verified it's validity) I can admit I’m absolutely thrilled, excited even, and why not?

Ok so there are plenty of reasons as to why this may not turn out to be the fairytale it looks, none more so than his history of causing un-rest at nearly every club he has been to (and there have been a few), but it is a gamble that is certainly worth taking, one that could help take an already recently strengthened squad to the promised land that is the Premier League.  The other reason is that this is Cardiff City we are talking about, not Manchester United, or Chelsea, but Cardiff City, so don’t worry Swansea, Bristol (City and Rovers) and every other club who dislikes (or hates) us, I’m sure it will go tits up soon.

How will Bellamy fit into the team then?  Obviously he will start, it’s a no brainer, but in what position remains to be seen.  The likelihood is that he will play either wide left or right, meaning either Whittingham or Burke will lose their place (probably the latter) or up front, meaning Chopra will be demoted to the subs bench.  It’s a problem that Dave Jones will have to deal with, but nonetheless a problem most managers in the Premier League would like to have, let alone the Championship.

Regardless of who is dropped, they will still have a massive part to play in Cardiff’s promotion campaign, no matter who you have in the first 11, strength in depth is imperative, no team has ever won anything without a strong squad (please note this is probably untrue, it’s just the kind of thing ‘they’ say, whoever ‘they’ are).  So whoever does make way for Bellamy and Koumas (let us not forger Koumas), it is important they are kept happy, because they will no doubt have a big part to play this season.  Is there any defence in the Championship who won’t shudder at the sight of Burke warming up with 30 minutes to go after spending an hour running after Bellamy, Chopra and Bothroyd? I think not.

Anyway, back to Bellamy and what us Cardiff fans can expect to see from him this season.  Well for a start devastating pace and 100% effort, something which - love or hate him - he always gives.  Something else we will hope to see is some of the sublime finishing he produced for Man City when playing their red rivals last season.  Anyone who watched the game at the City of Manchester Stadium can probably recall him curling in from 20 yards before skinning Rio Ferdinand and finishing from an acute angle for his second.  Bellamy was on the losing side that day, but he showed what a class act he is and consequently became a fan favourite with the Citizen faithful.

Bellamy makes his debut for Cardiff at home to Doncaster Rovers tomorrow and I, as well as approximatley 26000 other Cardiff fans simply can’t wait for it.  The atmosphere promises to be electric and everyone (apart from a few hundred Doncaster fan) will be hoping for a home win to complete what could be a special day.  But anti-climaxes have been a regular occurrence for Cardiff City fans of late, the FA cup final, play off final and the last ever game at Ninian Park to name but a few and no-one would be surprised if the day went oh so familiarly wrong.  So, who’s got their money on 1-0 Donny then?

‘People in stone houses’

http://www.ccmb.co.uk/fudforum/index.php?t=msg&goto=2061574&rid=0&S=b582b25e5a955c901d9e9996908a3cdf&srch=glass+houses#msg_2061574

Post 6 - Championship match day 2, Derby County v Cardiff City

After their first ever match match against Burton Albion in the Rumbelows Cup first round on Wednesday night, it was back to normality today as the Bluebirds travelled to Derby County for their first away game of the season.


If Burton Albion were encountering unchartered territory midweek it was the complete opposite today, with Cardiff being anything but strangers to Pride Park.  We were last there as recent as May, when the Rams defeated a much weakened Cardiff side 2-0 on the final day of the 2010/11 season.  With 4th place virtually guaranteed Cardiff had rested the majority of the first team squad for the impending play offs and were easily defeated, the match though will probably be remembered most as the game that Josh Magennis got confused (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0GGnd1ufss). Bless him.

This was, however, the first time I had visited Derby.  It's always nice to go to a ground you haven't been to before, different surroundings and atmosphere, and of course there are no bad memories to recall.  The journey itself took just over two and a half hours and apart from a slight traffic jam, was smooth enough. Albums from Elbow and Ash - chosen by Jon, driving this week - helped eased boredom, along with naming people in work I would gun down given the opportunity (all purely hypothetical).  The 3rd bluebird in the car today, Rob, sat in the back with a bag of salmon sandwiches, a far cry from the bottle of Jack Daniels he took to the trip to Leicester in the play offs last season.

The stadium itself is very impressive from both the outside and inside, with a capacity of over 33,500 and although it wasn't anywhere near full today it is an arena for the city to be proud of.  The pitch looked immaculate, as you would expect this time of the year.

Before the game a minutes silence was observed by all inside the ground in memory of ex Exeter striker Adam Stansfield, who tragically passed away last week, a much used cliché I know, but the death of such a young man really does put things into perspective.  Last week was a sad one for football as it also saw the passing away of Cardiff legend Brian Clark and Southampton chairman Markus Liebherr.

The game started slowly with neither side getting a stranglehold on the game, City's latest loan signing Seyi Olofinjana showed some neat touches and Chopra looked lively up front, meanwhile, Derby captain and ex Welsh international Robbie Savage was predictably being booed with every touch by the City fans.  Savage seems to be hated everywhere he goes these days, but to be fair, he does bring it on himself.  The pony tailed one was soon in the thick of the action, exchanging slide tackles with Chopra, which gave the game a bit if bit and got the crowd involved.

The deadlock was broken after 15 minutes when the excellent Burke made a surging run into the opposition half, before passing the ball to Chopra, who took the ball past two Derby defenders and slotted home neatly with his right shot from 10 yards for his 2nd goal of the season.

For the second time of the week Cardiff were unable to keep hold of a lead and although holding it for longer than Wednesday night, slack defending allowed Cywka to equalise on the 25th minute.  Both Blake and Hudson blamed each other, but the truth is the defence just aren't working as a unit at the moment, there is a worrying lack of communication with needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.


After 38 minutes, having suffered a clash of heads a few minutes earlier, Kevin McNaughton was again involved in a collision, although this time it looked a lot more serious.  It's never a good sign to see players hurrying on the physio and although not as serious as it first looked (Kev was able to travel home with the team laster that evening) after 10 minutes he was stretchered off to a good round of applause by both set of fans.


The second half saw Cardiff dominate and they looked the more likely side to score again.  Drinkwater and Seyi shone and controlled the game, it's a long time since Cardiff have been able to say that about a central midfield partnership, but these two were a delight to watch and seemed to click straight away.  They were cheered on well by the travelling support, down on recent opening away fixtures, but vocal nonetheless.  '(Oo ah) barmy army' seldom seemed  to ease, with the 'oo ah' bit aimed directly into my left ear, which started ringing on the hour mark, thanks for that.


Cardiff took a well deserved lead in the 75th minute  A low left footed drive by Whittingham resulted in a mix up between ex Bluebird reserve goalkeeper Bywater and ex Welsh International Gareth Roberts, the ball somehow fell to Burke who tapped in from 6 yards


The Rams pressed for an equaliser but Cardiff held firm, something they weren't always able to do last season.  Marshall saved and Drinkwater blocked and the final whistle was finally blown.  Cardiff had won their first league game of the season and do you know what, we looked good.

Result - Derby County 1 Cardiff City 2

Scorers - City: Chopra (15), Burke (78) Derby: Cywka (25)
Attendance - 25,103

My man of the match - To be honest there were a number of city players who were in with a shout with todays MOTM.  Burke was a constant threat, setting up one and scoring the winner, up until his injury Kev was having a stormer, Chopra worked tirelessly and Drinkwater had his best game in a City shirt.  Like I say any number of player could have won the accolade but I'm going to give it to debutant Seyi, who had as good a Cardiff debut as I can remember and I know he is a keen reader of this blog.  If he stays fit he is sure to be a key part to our promotion aspirations and will no doubt become a fan favourite.

Villain of the day - No-one is really deserving of this today for either team, it was a keenly fought contest and generally played in good spirit, but I'm going to give it to Robbie Savage, just because, well, it's Robbie Savage, fair enough isn't it?