Report: Ashley James. Images: Sportsbeat
Snapshot: Cardiff City turned the tables on Plymouth Argyle to fight back from two down for a battling draw on the South Coast. Following last seasons freak visit to Home Park where we surrendered a three goal half-time lead, today it was our turn to provide a momentous come-back and earn a great point from a 2-2 draw.
While it was Hasselbaink and Fowler that all eyes were on to fire the Bluebirds back level it was two unlikely Scottish heroes that actually produced in front of goal; firstly Gavin Rae and then Steve Thompson who pounced in the dying minutes with the all important second goal. In scoring the 89th minute equaliser, Thompson, who was making his first appearance following a bizarre injury sustained during his family holiday in the summer also took his personal tally to an impressive five goals in four appearances against Plymouth.
Cardiff Team News: Glenn Loovens has joined Club Captain on the incapacitated defender list, so a returning Kevin McNaughton filled in at centre-back with Chris Gunter keeping his spot at right-back. Joe Ledley's astonishing run of 92 successive City starts came to a disappointing end due to a dead leg sustained during Wales' away win at Slovakia during the week. Whittingham, City's saviour against both Leyton Orient and Norwich City started on the left of midfield, while up-front we saw Paul Parry start alongside Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink because of a slight back-strain which meant Robbie Fowler's game began on the bench.
Match Report: Cardiff were slow out of the blocks early on which allowed Plymouth to control the opening period of a match that was very low on any quality and completely devoid of any creativity. In fact the only moment of any note from the first 20 minutes of play was a scary moment involving Roger Johnson which initially appeared to worsen further City's defensive injury woes; however Johnson soon recovered after falling awkwardly on his back while towering above two Argyle players to win a header.
Much of the home side's early pressure arose from set pieces, which in all honesty Cardiff dealt with easily. Going forward however was a different matter as we struggled to maintain possession. When we did eventually get going the most meaningful source of penetration was Trevor Sinclair down the right flank and on two occasions in quick succession he caused panic in the Pilgrims back-four, firstly through a teasing cross that Krisztian Timar dangerously allowed to bounce in the 6-yard box. Immediately after that Cardiff finally created a genuine scoring chance, as another testing Sinclair cross found its way to Stephen McPhail on the edge of the area whose rasping shot was deflected just wide.
Cardiff failed to build on this spark of confidence and soon found themselves a goal down from striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake; for the first time the City defence struggled to deal with a free-kick effectively and from the knock-down Argyle's top scorer was on hand to calmly dispatch a controlled strike into the top corner right on the half-hour mark.
GOAL. PLYMOUTH 1 - 0 CARDIFF. Ebanks-Blake. 30 mins
A rather woefully poor first-half continued with very little to mention. The only sniff of a second goal came from two free-kicks on the edge of either area but both Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Bojan Djordjic's efforts were struck well over their opposing cross-bars.
HALF TIME: PLYMOUTH 1 - 0 CARDIFF
For the second game in succession City emerged from the half-time break a goal down but with a far more positive look to them. City were keeping possession well and there was decisiveness about their crisp passing that was sorely missing from their first-half performance. This fresh attitude was evident immediately as it took all of five minutes before a chance was created of far more quality that the whole of the first forty-five; for the first time Cardiff got in behind the Plymouth back-four, however with Peter Whittingham bearing down on goal his early shot was well stopped by the Argyle 'keeper Luke McCormick.
Again however Cardiff failed to take advantage of this extended period of possession and found themselves two down after 58 minutes; replacement Akos Buzsaky found himself in acres of space in the midfield and well and truly made City pay for their failure to close him down quickly, his low drive was parried by Ross Turnbull down to his right and once again it was former Manchester United trainee Ebanks-Blake who reacted expertly to slot home for his and the Pilgrims second.
GOAL. PLYMOUTH 2 - 0 CARDIFF. Ebanks-Blake. 58 mins
The Bluebirds needed to respond quickly and Dave Jones did so by introducing Robbie Fowler at the expense of Whittingham and it was substitute that very nearly paid dividends from the off. Fowler twice made a nuisance of himself in the Plymouth area, however twice McCormick responded well to prevent the score firstly rushing out to block Paul Parry's goal-ward and then even more impressively smothering Fowler's swivelling shot although even he could only watch on anxiously as the rebound fell to Hasselbaink only for his powerful shot to be deflected wide.
On the 70-minute mark Cardiff's increased pressure finally produced a goal and a way back into the match - and although it was midfield general Gavin Rae who finally prodded the ball home it was the combination of Hasselbaink and Fowler that crafted it.
Jimmy-Floyd with his back to goal held the ball up strongly in the box and when the resulting ball was drilled across the area it was Fowler's intelligent step-over dummy that found Paul Parry unmarked on the left-hand side of the box. Parry then steadied himself and his low right-foot shot was palmed directly into the path of Rae who simply couldn't have missed.
GOAL. PLYMOUTH 2 - 1 CARDIFF. Rae. 71 mins
Cardiff threw themselves forward with increasing vigour and this very nearly allowed Plymouth to seal all three points when a pacey break down the left-hand line and an incisive pass slid into the Cardiff area seemed destined to find Ebanks-Blake for his hat-trick. However Kevin McNaughton playing at centre-back really bust his gut to get back and prevented the goal with a superb sliding tackle.
Minutes later Cardiff's trio of elder statesmen almost brought about the desperately needed equaliser. Sinclair found Hasselbaink free on the right of the area, the Dutchman turned and spotted Fowler arriving un-marked at the back post, however his floated cross just evaded the head of Fowler as he stretched unsuccessfully.
For the last roll of the dice Dave Jones threw on Steve Thompson for his first appearance of the season, an appearance that came far earlier than any City fan expected following his pre-season groin operation.
In the end it was a masterful substitution as a hungry looking Thompson continued his incredible scoring record against the Pilgrims to fire home the equaliser in the 89th minute. An in-swinging McNaughton cross was flicked on by Hasselbaink towards the back-post where the returning Thompson controlled and calmly slotted home from the tightest of angles.
GOAL. PLYMOUTH 2 - 2 CARDIFF. Thompson. 89 mins
For the remaining minutes momentum seemed to be with the visitors, however it was actually Plymouth who had the final chance to steal all three points. Former Everton striker Nick Chadwick squandered a fantastic chance from close-range; Barry Hayles got free down the right-side of the Cardiff defence and squared for Chadwick who scooped his shot over from close range much to the relief of every Bluebird player, official and fan inside Home Park.
FULL TIME: PLYMOUTH 2 - 2 CARDIFF
Cardiff City: Turnbull, Capaldi, Johnson, McNaughton, Gunter (Thompson 83mins), Whittingham (Fowler 60mins), Rae, McPhail, Sinclair, Hasselbaink (Ledley 90mins), Parry. Subs not used: Oakes, Blake. Goals: Rae 71mins, Thompson 89mins
Plymouth Argyle: McCormick, Connolly, Timar, Seip, Sawyer, Norris, Gosling (Buzsaky 55mins), Abdou, Djordjic (Halmosi 46mins), Hayles, Ebanks-Blake (Chadwick 87mins) Subs not used: Doumbe, Fallon. Goals: Ebanks-Blake 30, 58mins. Bookings: Seip 63mins, Ebanks-Blake 73mins
Attendance: 11,591
Referee: Richard Beeby
