Report: Ashley James
Snapshot: Cardiff City made their way into the F.A. Cup Sixth Round for the first time since 1927 with a confident and comfortable 2-0 home victory over Championship rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
City made a blistering start after scoring twice within the opening eleven minutes through Peter Whittingham and a stunning strike from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and never looked back seeing out the remainder of the game, and themselves into the next round with a highly professional display in front of a rabid home crowd.
Team News: Joe Ledley's injury had meant that Dave was forced to field a change to the starting eleven following our goalless draw at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Back into the starting eleven came Stephen McPhail, partnering Gavin Rae in the centre of midfield. Aaron Ramsey retained his starting berth, moving to a wide position. The only other change came on the bench as Trevor Sinclair made a return to the sixteen at the expense of Jon Brown.
Cardiff City: Peter Enckelman, Kevin McNaughton, Roger Johnson, Glenn Loovens, Tony Capaldi, Peter Whittingham, Gavin Rae, Stephen McPhail, Aaron Ramsey, Paul Parry, Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink. Subs: Michael Oakes, Darren Purse, Trevor Sinclair, Steve Thompson, Darcy Blake.
Wolves: Wayne Hennessey, Sayi Olofinjana, Gary Breen, Jody Craddock, Karl Henry, Andy Keogh, Jay Bothroyd, Darren Potter, Kevin Foley, Michael Gray, Kevin Kyle. Subs: Rob Edwards, Stephen Elliott, Freddy Eastwood, Darron Gibson, Graham Stack.
Match Day: Weather conditions were perfect for football, but less friendly for the spectators with a brisk and cold wind circulating inside Ninian Park. Support numbers inside the ground were healthy, with the travelling Wolves fans arriving en-masse to support their team in the FA Cup. Cardiff numbers were also looking positive as the magic of the Cup certainly was alive in South Wales. We hoped the match would do both teams and the competition proud.
Chronological Report:
The visitors began nervously in an intense atmosphere as from the opening kick-off right-back Kevin Foley misjudged a back-pass and put his 'keeper under immense pressure. What was already a positive start for Cardiff was about to get a hell of a lot better; a ball into Hasselbaink's feet around half-way allowed him to cleverly flick through under a heavy challenge, a great inside run from Peter Whittingham allowed him into acres of space in behind the back four and time aplenty to steady himself and calmly slot the ball under the out-rushing Hennessey and into the bottom corner.
CARDIFF 1 - 0 WOLVES (Peter Whittingham 2 mins)
The response to the goal was jubilant to say the least and on 11 minutes the scenes at Ninian Park was pure pandemonium as Cardiff added another goal of blistering quality. A great tackle by Whittingham allowed Hasselbaink to pick up the ball in midfield assess his options and play a cross field ball out to Parry on the left flank, his drilled cross evaded everyone before eventually falling to Whittingham beyond the back-post, his first time layoff found Hasselbaink on the edge of the box who shaped to shoot with his right only to turn onto his left and curl a glorious shot into the far corner. It was a beautifully crafted and finished goal that was befitting a match of this magnitude.
CARDIFF 2 - 0 WOLVES (Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 11 mins)
Buoyed by the fantastic start Cardiff looked energetic from back to front and there was a definite hanger for further goals apparent; Hasselbaink nearly added a third when a strong run by Ramsey allowed Parry to put a dangerous cross in from the right that just drifted away from the Dutchman at the back post. The Cardiff player's desire was personified by Roger Johnson in the 14th minute; with Kevin Kyle lethargic in possession on the edge of the Cardiff area Johnson challenged him strongly before surging up-field with the ball before playing the ball left to Whittingham mid way through the Wolves half, where the move ended.
Far from resting on their laurels Cardiff continued to pour forward in attack and very nearly added a third on the quarter of an hour mark; Peter Enckelman reacted well to quash a rare Wolves advance by rushing out of his area and make a sliding tackle just in front of two opposition forwards. From there the ball was played up to Ramsey who was again allowed to dictate play in space in the midfield and sprayed a pass to Parry on the right, there he cut in on his left foot and from an almost identical position to Jimmy's strike curled a shot just over.
Discounting the opening moment's mishap It took fully eighteen minutes for our visitors to create anything of note when on a rare foray deep into Cardiff territory Jay Bothroyd floated over a ball from the left that Kevin Kyle rose well to head over in between both Loovens and Johnson. Wayne Hennessey was by far the busier of the two 'keepers and rarely looked confident under constant barragement, evident when he spilled midrange efforts from Whittingham and Hasselbaink only to react well each time to snaffle the rebounds.
As the game slowed both in terms of pace and activity the only blemish on Cardiff's first half performance was delivered in the form of a foolish yellow card on thirty minutes shown to Stephen McPhail; frustrated at the referee's decision to award a dubious looking free-kick around half-way McPhail was cautioned for kicking the ball away which is never a good idea but when your two-nil up and looking comfortable it looks even more silly.
As the rest of the players seemed content to allow the game to settle into a more evenly balanced battle, Hasselbaink had a thirst for goals and looked eager for more; good control on the chest and a neat one-two with Gavin Rae allowed him to drive forward at the Wolves back-four however when he unleashed his effort from 25-yards it was dragged harmlessly wide.
Wolves Substitution: Freddie Eastwood for Seyi Olofinjana (40mins)
Things really weren't going well for Wolves and an under pressure Mick McCarthy responded by throwing on an extra striker in the form of Freddie Eastwood. The adopted Welshman made an immediate impact by outpacing Loovens down the left line and playing a great one-two with his orange-booted partner Andy Keogh however his eventual cross come shot was easily stopped at the near post by Enckelman.
As the first period drifted to a close Cardiff had one final chance to stretch their advantage a poorly delivered Whittingham corner wasn't cleared effectively and allowed Capaldi to gift Whittingham a chance to make amends, he duly obliged by whipping in a vicious cross that narrowly escaped Parry's head at full stretch.
Half Time: CARDIFF 2 - 0 WOLVES
Wolves emerged from the dressing room early for the second half and looked just as eager to turn their fortunes around following the kick-off, Kevin Kyle in what seemed like his first positive contribution to proceedings drove down the left flank and to the by-line, Loovens got back and made a tackle but didn't manage to halt the advance and his effort found it's way goal-ward only for Loovens to again get back and hook the ball off the line, the clearance fell to Darren Potter who 30-yards out struck a right footed shot that nearly took out the corner flag.
Hennessey's uncomfortable afternoon continued as he spilled another driven effort this time from young Aaron Ramsey and a minute later Parry could and should have made it three; Parry was played clean through in behind by a McPhail pass however as he bore down on goal his final touch led the ball away from him and allowed Hennessey to recover well and block the chance. City seemed relentless in attack and McPhail and Ramsey were behind every moment of Cardiff quality. The two combined in the 52nd minute and again it nearly resulted in another fine goal; smart control in the centre of the park from McPhail freed Capaldi on the break away, he played in Ramsey down the left who shaped to shoot with his right but instead looked to play in Parry at the back post only for the final ball to be intercepted.
Paul Parry's pace in behind was causing Wolves no end of problems and combined with the passing ability of the Cardiff midfielders it always looked like producing further goals; a delightful Ramsey through ball split the two centre backs and found Parry in stride however this time Hennessey got down well to stop his first time effort with his legs.
Wolves Substitutions: Stephen Elliott for Kevin Kyle and Darron Gibson for Kevin Foley (62mins)
Ramsey continued to dictate play in the midfield and another surging run from the youngster was only halted by a cynical foul 30-yards out, the resulting free-kick from a dangerous position was disappointingly deflected wide for a corner from a driven Hasselbaink effort. On 72 minutes another sublime McPhail through ball, this time whilst sliding found Parry in space on the left and he floated a lovely ball across towards Whittigham at the back post however the wide man had instead darted inside for a near post ball.
Cardiff Substitution: Steve Thompson for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Wolves had rarely looked genuinely threatening all afternoon however Eastwood at least showed some urgency and impetus in possession, a quality that nearly paid dividends on 79 minutes after turning Johnson both ways he slashed a disappointing effort wide, minutes later he directed a decent header wide of the mark and replacement Gibson dragged a shot wide that didn't trouble Enckelman but at least provided something in the way of late pressure in what had otherwise been a comfortable afternoon for the Bluebirds.
Cardiff Substitution: Trevor Sinclair for Peter Whittingham (90mins)
Cardiff Substitution: Darcy Blake for Stephen McPhail (90+2mins)
FULL TIME: CARDIFF 2 - 0 WOLVES
Cardiff City: Enckelman, McNaughton, Loovens, Johnson, Capaldi, Whittingham (Sinclair 90mins), Rae, McPhail (Blake 90+2mins), Ramsey, Parry, Hasselbaink (Thompson 78mins). Subs Not Used: Oakes, Purse. Goals: Whittingham, Hasselbaink. Bookings: McPhail, Thompson
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hennessey, Gray, Craddock, Breen, Foley (Gibson 62mins), Potter, Olofinjana (Eastwood 40mins), Henry, Keogh, Bothroyd, Kyle (Elliott 62mins) Subs Not Used: Stack, Edwards. Bookings: Craddock, Gibson, Bothroyd
Richer Sounds Fans Man of the Match: Roger Johnson as voted by Lloyd Kingston
Referee: Rob Styles
Attendance: 15,339
