Report: Ashley James
Snapshot: A brilliantly crafted and finely finished Paul Parry goal was enough to see Cardiff past a struggling Southampton outfit at Ninain Park. The goal arrived in the 6th minute of play and for the second home game running the second-half was a case of holding on and holding out against battling opposition rather than pressing home the advantage ourselves. Thankfully however, for the second home game running Cardiff held strong to grind out and extremely valuable and important 3 points to keep their play-off hopes alive and leave Southampton perilously close to the realisation of relegation.
Team News: Darcy Blake has joined fellow full-back Kevin McNaughton on the injury list so the versatile Aaron Ramsey returns to the starting line-up at an unfamiliar right-back position. Riccardo Scimeca finds his way back on to the bench as does Trevor Sinclair.
Chronological Report: If Southampton are meant to be team low on confidence considering their precarious league position it certainly didn't show as they could and perhaps should have been one-up inside the opening minute. A beautiful one-two between Mario Licka and Jhon Viafara saw the Czech getting the return pass courtesy of a deft back-heel by the Colombian and then in a worrying amount of space at the edge of the box he curled a side-footed shot just wide of the far post. The Saints early surge didn't stop there as on four minutes Adam Hammill ran at and beat Aaron Ramsey down the left before whipping in a testing cross that Viafara arriving late met on the turn with a half-volley that went just over.
Cardiff's first foray into visiting territory saw Ramsey getting forward well down the right, he slipped in a lovely pass for Steve Thompson who had timed his run in behind to perfection. He stretched and slid to dig a near perfect cross off the by-line which Paul Parry met with a well placed volley at the near post that was steered into the top corner for lead that was much against the run of play but wonderfully crafted all the same.
Cardiff City 1 - 0 Southampton (Paul Parry 6mins)
The stuttered to gain any real flow as Southampton looked to keep things narrow in a hotly contested midfield area. Play was held up for some lengthy treatment to Tony Capaldi after Glenn Loovens clattered him in the air which surely does nothing to help a player who was struggling to be fit for today's match with a back problem. As play resumes Steve McPhail takes a firmly struck ball from Gavin Rae straight to the face, to his credit despite not really seeming to know what the hell's going on he is straight back on his feet and immediately back in possession.
A stunning turn by Ramsey under pressure in his own half allowed Roger Johnson to play the ball out of defence and switch it wide left to Capaldi, he sent over a great cross however Thompson at full stretch couldn't get enough of his head on it to direct it goal-wards and it instead drifted harmlessly wide for a goal kick. Southampton poured immediately forward on the offensive, Licka again found himself in acres of space in the midfield and floated a ball towards Stern John at the back post but it was in fact met by Viafara who fired a volley into the side-netting.
Cardiff created a glorious chance to make it 2 - 0 on twenty-five minutes with Parry and Thompson combining to free Gavin Rae centre of goal 12-yards out, he unselfishly laid the ball off left to Joe Ledley who side-footed his effort goal-ward only for Richard Wright to saved it with his feet and deflect the ball out for a corner. The Saints could only clear the resulting set-piece as far as Peter Whittingham who 25-yards out struck a thunderous first time drive that cleared the crossbar by inches.
Jermaine Wright and Wayne Thomas confused each other when dealing with a long bouncing ball and Parry looked to pounce on the error, he did so grabbing control of the loose ball and looked to lob Wright from 20-yards. The fact the ball ended up on the roof of the net mattered little however as to the amazement of everyone, including the Southampton defensive pair, the ref gave a free-kick against Parry for apparently tugging at the shirt of Thomas. Cardiff felt rightly aggrieved with that decision however minutes later they were saved by the officials at the other end; after a brilliantly timed sliding tackle by Johnson on Hammill at the edge of the box McPhail failed to clear the loose ball on two occasions which allowed Licka to slide in John who in then slid the ball past Enckelman into the bottom corner from 8-yards out only to see his delight quashed by the linesman's raised flag.
The closest our visitors came to a first-half equaliser occurred three minutes into injury time; a dubious free-kick given against Ramsey on the left allowed Hammill to swing in a cross that Cardiff failed to deal with effectively and when it was knocked back in for the umpteenth time it was met acrobatically by centre-back Thomas but his overhead kick was directed straight at Enckelman.
HALF-TIME: CARDIFF CITY 1 - 0 Southampton
Much like the first-half it was Southampton who created the early chance in the second; a corner swung in from the left was met by the head of Thomas and when Enckelman could only punch clear a matter of yards Licka managed to hook it back in and with a touch seemingly enough to ensure a goal the ball somehow evaded Stern John completely at the back stick.
The visitors continued to dominate the early possession and Enckelma was called into action to maintain the Cardiff lead in the 59th minute. A lovely ball into the box from Viafara found John who had managed to get in front of his marker Loovens, he controlled it on his chest turned and shot in one movement. Enckelman saved the initial shot with his feet and when the ball rebounded Johnson, Ramsey and Loovens all converged on John with the Dutchman getting the final all important clearing touch.
Southampton substitution: Bradley Wright-Phillips for Jhon Viafara (60mins)
A brilliant sliding tackle by Rae dispossessed Licka in his own half and came forward with the ball himself, he cut inside and laid the ball off to Whittingham who struck a rasping lieft footed drive from 25-yards that flew just wide of the far post.
Cardiff substitution: Trevor Sinclair for Peter Whittingham (63mins)
Cardiff were enjoying a rare period of sustained pressure and only some fine defending from Wayne Thomas kept Southampton in the game; McPhail found Rae surging through the heart of the Saints defence however the ball wouldn't sit kindly after his chested first touch and Thomas managed to hook a leg around the Scotsman as he looked to shoot and the ball lobbed up into the grateful arms of Richard Wright.
Southampton substitution: Andrew Surnam for Jason Euell (70mins)
Southampton substitution: Vincent Pericard for Mario Licka (79mins)
As the Cardiff back four dropped deeper and deeper Surnam's first touch saw him control the ball with no-one within 10-yards of him and he struck an effort from 25-yards out and centre of goal that thankfully sailed over. Despite seeing far more of the ball than the Bluebirds, Southampton were hardly creating chances freely and saw their final chance for an equaliser pass in the form of another mid-range effort late on; Hammill twisting and turning on the edge of the area eventually got a shot off but it bounced up into Enckelman's arms.
Cardiff substitution: Riccardo Scimeca for Steve Thompson (90+4mins)
FULL-TIME: CARDIFF CITY 1 - 0 Southampton
Cardiff City XI: Enckelman, Capaldi, Loovens, Johnson, Ramsey, Ledley, Rae, McPhail, Whittingham (63mins), Thompson (Scimeca 90+4mins), Parry. Subs not used: Oakes, Purse, Feeney. Goal: Parry (6mins)
Southampton XI: R.Wright, Vignal, Thomas, Perry, Hammill, Safri, Viafara (Wright-Phillips 60mins), Licka (Pericard 79mins), J.Wright, Euell (Surnam 70mins), John. Subs not used: Davis, Ostlund. Booking: Thomas (90mins). Attendance: 12,955
Referee: M. J. Jones
Fans Man of the Match: Gavin Rae as voted by Ryan Thomas of Blackwood
