Snapshot: Cardiff City brought an end to West Brom's perfect home record for 2007/08, also leaving the Hawthorns as the first team to score an away goal this year. The goal was accompanied by three more, seeing City take a massive 4-0 lead in the opening thirty minutes as Fowler bagged two along with a goal each from fellow summer signings Hasselbaink and Sinclair.

Cardiff came out impressively, taking the lead inside the opening five minutes through a great Robbie Fowler strike that Kiely was powerless to prevent. A changed West Brom looked to immediately counter, but were denied an equaliser from the assistant's offside flag.

City made it 2-0 after twenty two minutes as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink impressed with a great twenty five yard strike. Fowler then got his second from the penalty spot after Joe Ledley was tripped in the box, before Trevor Sinclair made it 4-0 with a neat low strike inside the first 30 minutes.

Ishmael Miller pulled two goals back for West Brom, one two minutes after our fourth and one coming from the spot after he was impeded in the area by Sinclair. Cardiff however soaked up the majority of Baggies pressure in the second half, notching their first win at West Brom since 1956.

Team News: Dave Jones only made one change to a squad that had been desperately unlucky not to have taken maximum points against Preston on the weekend. The change came at the back as Glenn Loovens returned from injury to partner Roger Johnson - Johnson himself a pre-match doubt after his late scare which saw him stretched off on Saturday.

The introduction of Loovens allowed Dave to field a possible first choice back four, with McNaughton returning to right-back and Sinclair back in his preferred midfield spot. The only other change came on the City bench, seeing Matt Green in for Steve Thompson.

Sheldon Martis made his Albion debut as Tony Mowbray made seven changes to the side that had beat Scunthorpe 3-2. Fellow summer signing Tininho was also handed his Hawthorns debut at left-back with Paul Robinson and Neil Clement both absent through injury. Bostjan Cesar also missed out due to a back problem and Kevin Phillips was omitted from the Baggies squad.

Hodgkiss, Chaplow, Pele, Morrison and Beattie were the others to be given a chance in the first eleven. Teixeira, Greening and Barnett dropped to the bench, while Hoefkens, Koren and Gera were rested.

West Brom: Kiely; Hodgkiss, Martis, Albrechtsen, Tininho, Chaplow, Morrison, Pele, Brunt, Miller, Beattie. Subs: Steele, Teixeira, Greening, MacDonald, Barnett.

Cardiff: Oakes; McNaughton, Johnson, Loovens, Capaldi, Sinclair, Rae, McPhail, Ledley, Fowler, Hasselbaink. Subs: Turnbull, Whittingham, Parry, Gunter, Green.

Chronological Report: The opening five minutes couldn't have gone much better for the visiting Bluebirds, as only three minutes in they were a goal ahead courtesy of Robbie Fowler. Cardiff were patient and professional in their approach as the ball was built from back to front, culminating in McPhail delivering from the left. The ball was half cleared by the Albion defence, but only to Robbie Fowler who came inside and sent a shot to the top left of goal that offered Kiely little chance.

GOAL: WEST BROM 0 - 1 CARDIFF. Fowler. 3 mins.

West Brom responded excellently to going a goal behind, taking the ball from the restart and within minutes firing forward with the view to silencing the five hundred plus travelling City fans. And they temporarily did just that as Ishmael Miller saw the ball into the back of Oakes' net, only to look up and see a flag raised for an infringement - we assumed offside with more than a touch of relief.

The home pressure continued with continuing forward runs from the likes of Chaplow, Miller and Beattie. Cardiff were defending well, looking to capitalise on the break - both teams passing the ball well on the well kept Albion pitch. Oakes was on hand to deny the attacking line, proving himself much more than a stand-in, preventing the Baggies on more than one occasion to his credit.

Cardiff were doing the job of frustrating their hosts in defence, but after twenty two minutes made good at the other end of the park through another flowing movement involving Gavin Rae who was fouled by Chaplow. From his free-kick he found Fowler who in turn set the ball to Hasselbaink - Jimmy then pulling off one of his trademark smashes from twenty five yards, again offering Kiely little chance.

GOAL: WEST BROM 0 - 2 CARDIFF. Hasselbaink. 22 mins.

We were still digesting the fantastic second goal when the drama inside the Hawthorns was notched up again. Shelton Martis was the Baggies man culpable for tripping Joe Ledley in the area, with the referee immediately blowing the whistle and pointing to the spot. With Fowler on the field there was only one real choice to take the penalty, with Robbie calmly running forward, pausing to send Kiely the wrong way, then chipping the ball into the open net to make it an amazing three.

GOAL: WEST BROM 0 - 3 CARDIFF. Fowler (pen). 27 mins.

West Brom were clearly rocked, with the home support frustrated by the early capitulation of the changed Baggies line-up. Their frustration was then increased however as three minutes after Fowler's second, another former England regular popped up in the form of Trevor Sinclair, who expertly presented by Capaldi's cross on the left fired a shot low and into the bottom left of Keily's goal.

GOAL: WEST BROM 0 - 4 CARDIFF. Sinclair. 29 mins.

Anyone with a track record of following City knows that there's no feeling of a completed job, even after going four goals ahead while playing breathtaking football. The point was well illustrated three minutes after our fourth; City's feet being planted back firmly on the deck as Beattie's shot rebounded off the post, landing well to the path of Miller who shot well to the inside of the post to offer hope for our hosts.

GOAL: WEST BROM 1 - 4 CARDIFF. Miller. 32 mins.

West Brom were massively lifted by their breakthrough, immediately aiming to surge forward from the restart - Capaldi booked for a late challenge on Miller moments later.

Our hosts were dominant over the next five minutes, though City impressively weathered the storm at the back and settled before the interval to maintain their three goal advantage. Before the break Chaplow deserved a mention for forcing Oakes into a solid block - the ball coming back to the midfielder who then missed an opportunity to peg the Albion back to two goals behind.

HALF TIME: WEST BROM 1 - 4 CARDIFF

The Baggies made an immediate change for the second half, as Greening came on for former Southampton star Pele. Richard Chaplow was also sacrificed in our hosts' quest to make the fourth round, coming off for Teixeira.

As expected West Brom came out of the blocks with a clear intent to find an early goal, piling forward with purpose whenever afforded. The opening ten minutes saw our hosts fat more dominant, although they couldn't find a way through despite every effort. The closest they came was via a free-kick after Loovens fouled Miller, allowing former Owls man Chris Brunt to fire a shot from distance, beating Oakes, but also sailing narrowly wide.

Cardiff however weren't just sitting deep for forty five minutes. McPhail and Rae were pulling the strings effectively enough and after fifty seven minutes McPhail presented the ball to allow Fowler and Hasselbaink to combine and come close.

West Brom were of course hungry for a way back into the match, and to their credit did well to at least regain their pride from the first half - pride a far distant second priority however as the quality in our hosts camp was enough to perhaps warrant more.

After sixty minutes they came incredibly close through Martin Albrechtsen who headed goalwards after Greening had sent in a solid cross. On hand however was Sinclair in the perfect spot to clear the ball from the line, denying a certain goal.

If the first half will be remembered as a display in going forward, the second forty five was certainly more of a defensive demonstration as Cardiff had little option but to look to prevent West Brom from clawing their way back into the match.

After sixty three minutes Loovens found his name in the book after a late challenge. Ledley then followed his Dutch colleague into the book minutes later for a rash challenge on Miller.

Both teams made a change with twenty minutes remaining; Craig Beattie leaving the field for Sherjill MacDonald and Robbie Fowler being replaced by Paul Parry - Parry taking up a spot in midfield, leaving Hasselbaink our solo striker.

The Baggies continued to surge forward, spending the majority of time in the Cardiff final third and looking to cause problems. Teixeira came close though was denied by Johnson; then a few moments later the match was temporarily halted as McNaughton was hurt in the middle of the park. After a minute of treatment it was decided best to take Kevin out of the match, seeing an opportunity for Gunter to join the game for fifteen minutes.

The home pressure continued with City having to scramble balls off the line as Brunt an his fellow Albion team-mates threw everything forward. Then, after eighty five minutes their efforts were partially rewarded as Trevor Sinclair impeded Miller enough for the referee to point to the spot. Miller calmly stepped up and sent Oakes the wrong way.

GOAL: WEST BROM 2 - 4 CARDIFF. Miller (pen). 85 mins.

While Sinclair's final involvement was less than he would have liked, he had no problems leaving the field immediately after the penalty; his replacement coming in the form of Peter Whittingham.

Three minutes of added time were allotted, but the match closed to a more than satisfactory result - the Baggies fans response to going out coming in polite applause, which was a fair reflection following the character shown by the players following what was an insurmountable task . The draw for round four comes on Saturday with more than a fair share of big names in the hat.

FULL TIME: WEST BROM 2 - 4 CARDIFF

West Brom: Kiely, Hodgkiss, Martis, Albrechtsen, Tininho, Pele (Greening 46), Beattie (MacDonald 71), Morrison, Chaplow (Teixeira 46), Brunt, Miller. Subs Not Used: Steele, Barnett. Goals: Miller 33, 87 (pen).

Cardiff: Oakes, McNaughton (Gunter 78), Johnson, Loovens, Capaldi, Sinclair (Whittingham 87), McPhail, Rae, Ledley, Fowler (Parry 71), Hasselbaink. Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Green. Booked: Capaldi, Loovens, Ledley. Goals: Fowler 4, 27 (pen), Hasselbaink 23, Sinclair 30.

Att: 14,085