by Ashley James & Mark Denham
Snapshot
Cardiff City took a major scalp on Bank Holiday Monday to beat Owen Coyle's Burnley by three goals to one in dramatic fashion.
Burnley dominated the opening stages of the first half with Chris Eagles looking particuarly impressive down the right flank. City came in to the game more in the ten minute spell before half time though neither goalkeeper saw much actionin the opening forty-five minutes.
The Bluebirds looked sharper following the interval and Ross McCormack would cause problems for the Burnley defenders down the City right. Following some sloppy Burnley defending, McCormack laid Jay Bothroyd through for a clear shot on goal which he finished spectacularly past Brian Jenson with fifteen minutes remaining.
Then, in the penultimate league match at Ninian Park the crowd withnessed one ofthe most dramatic ten minutes of the campaign. Burnley equalised with five minutes remaining when Robbie Blake capitalised on some poor City defening to level the scores; then, from the very next attack, McCormack ran on to Bothroyd's flick on to restore City's lead and send the Bank Holiday Bluebirds revellers in to ecstasy. With Burnley committed to throwing players forward in injury time, McCormack broke on the counter to slide a third past Jenson to secure the victory.
Team News: Cardiff were forced into one change following Saturday's bruising encounter away at Crystal Palace with Roger Johnson having to be replaced by Darren Purse in the heart of the City defence. As for the replacements Paul Parry dropped out of the sixteen altogether after taking a knock against the Eagles and Chris Burke took his position in the dug-out. Michael Chopra, who left the field early down in London was fit enough to start alongside Jay Bothroyd up-front.
Chronological Report: Burnley shaded the early moments of a sedate affair both on, and surprisingly, off the field. They also created the opening half chance in just the second minute when lone striker Jay Rodriguez cut in from the left flank and blasted an effort high and wide of the near post. The Clarets next sight at goal was also a shot from mid-range and again Chris McCann failed to find the target, driving a shot wide from centre of goal and around twenty-five yards out.
It took Cardiff a full thirteen dull minutes to achieve any meaningful possession inside Burnley territory as Ross McCormack was hacked down wide on the right to win the Bluebirds a dangerous free-kick. Ross swung it in himself and Jay Bothroyd met it near post but could only direct his header wide of said upright.
Mid-way through the first half the travelling Burnley fans provided a brief rest-bite from the dire on field action but did so in expressively unsavoury terms. The chanting was of a personal nature and was directed needlessly at Dave Jones. The Cardiff fans responded by seemingly being prepared to spring to their managers defence which prompted the police to raise the green curtain in between the two sets of fans in the Grange End.
Our visitors were still very much on top as Cardiff struggled to attain any kind of possession, meaningful or otherwise and were beginning to become decidedly impatient after being starved for so long. Chris Eagles glided outside Mark Kennedy on the right flank when leading a counter attack and Kennedy eventually conceded a foul and a booking when he pulled the former Manchester United winger down on the right of the area. Burnley could and perhaps should have capitalised on this but Clarke Carlisle headed Robbie Blake's fine delivery over at the back post.
Eagles was, for want of a better word, running right down the right hand side and on the half hour mark he was the first to pick up a bouncing ball in midfield. He was allowed the time to control the ball on his chest before thumping a half volley goal-ward that Stuart Taylor held comfortably.
Michael Chopra was working tirelessly off the ball and his perseverance nearly created a chance for Cardiff. He picked up the ball on the left flank and sparked a break-away with some neat footwork, Stephen McPhail found Gavin Rae with a delightful first touch with the outside of his right boot and Rae in turn found Bothroyd at the edge of the Burnley area but his first touch didn't stick as intended and the visitors cleared their lines. Never the less it provided a moment of fluidity more akin to Cardiff's usual general play, the down side being that it taken a full thirty-four minutes to arrive.
Cardiff were finally gaining a footing in the game and again Chopra's tenacity managed to carve out a chance. He pounced on a poor defensive header on the left of the box which eventually resulted in Kennedy picking out Bothroyd at the back post but, he could only pick out Burnley 'keeper Brian Jensen with his weak downward header.
Cardiff were now in the ascendancy and the final ten minute or so of the first half truly belonged to them. A Chris McCann slip in midfield allowed Bothroyd and Joe Ledley to pour forward on the counter-attack, Jay decided to go alone and slid inside both Gary Caldwell and Christian Kalvenes on the edge of the area which forced the latter to bring him down and earn himself a yellow card in the process. Chopra touched off the free-kick to Bothroyd but he drilled his shot well over.
Chopra's tireless work again won him possession wide on the left in the closing minutes before the interval and created Cardiff's best chance yet. Bothroyd squred the ball short to Ross just inside the box and his sublime first touch took it over the head of Caldwell, his second touch looked to see the Scot steady himself but the ball didn't sit kindly and his weak snap shot was easily dealt with by Jensen. A minute later a deep corner from the left found Chopra at the back post but his header was directed just over the bar.
Half Time: Cardiff City 0 - 0 Burnley
Similar to the first the second half was decidedly slow out of the blocks and Ross McCormack saw the first sight of goal in the fiftieth minute. A free-kick was launched straight into the heart of the Burnley box, Caldwell headed out but only to Ross on the edge of the box who chested the ball down with his first touch and then lashed over the most incredibly off-target volley your ever likely to see. Not only did it clear the roof of the Grange End but quite possibly also Penarth.
Taylor was having a quiet spell in the Cardiff goal only to be called into action from nowhere minute later. A deep testing cross from Rhys Williams looked to be dropping under the bar but Taylor did brilliantly to back-peddle and turn the ball over under pressure from Robbie Blake. Referee Lee Probert seemed to agree and awarded him a bravery bonus in the form of a free-kick for Blake's challenge.
Cardiff City Substitution: Peter Whittingham for Michael Chopra (64mins)
The Bluebirds were now starting to control proceedings yet a goal still looked unlikely only for defensive mix-up in the sixty-sixth minute to hand Bothroyd a great chance. Clark Carlisle failed to deal with a long ball up-field as his header went vertically and backwards rather than clear, this allowed Bothroyd to race onto it and smash a volley straight at Jensen.
Burnley Substitution: Joey Gudjonsson for Graham Alexander (74mins)
Cardiff were now dominating but still a goal was not forthcoming until the a huge, huge moment in the seventy-fourth minute. The Burnley defence failed to read a hopeful ball played into the right hand side of the box, Bothroyd didn't however and lashed home and unstoppable volley into the top near corner from close range.Cue pandemonium in the Grange End.
CARDIFF CITY 1 - 0 Burnley (Jay Bothroyd 74mins)
Burnley looked to respond immediately and a snap shot from Robbie Blake nearly did the job as it skipped up off the turf and struck a stooping Taylor under the chin. At the other end McCormack has his own attempted snap shot blocked at the edge of the area while Burnley poured forward straight away and Darren Purse had to react brilliantly to hook away a Gudjonsson cross that had fallen horribly in between 'keeper and defence.
Ross McCormack was instrumental in everything good Cardiff were doing and he nearly carved open a second after a run from his own half got him to the by-line where he found Whittingham with a cut back only for the midfielder's shot to be deflected wide at the near post. From the corner Gabor Gyepes rose well but Jensen saved his goal-ward header diving away to his right.
Nervous now wasn't the word to describe proceedings as Cardiff escaped a hairy moment when a Robbie Blake free-kick from wide on the left flashed agonisingly past the far post untouched. A minute later Cardiff weren't so lucky after some awful defending allowed the visitors in. Purse failed to deal on two occasions with bouncing balls mid-way inside his own half and when Gudjonsson stabbed the ball back through Purse's weak back-pass left Taylor stranded and allowed Blake to slot home. If it wasn't for potentially catastrophic consequences of the error it could be described as comedy, perhaps heart-breaking was more fitting in this instant.
Cardiff City 1 - 1 BURNLEY (Robbie Blake 84)
As it turned out the dark morose feeling felt inside was to prove irrelevant as Cardiff responded within seconds with a goal that could hold a monster amount of magnitude. Again Burnley failed to deal with a long-ball into their box, Ross latched onto it ahead of two defenders and slammed the ball home into the bottom corner to crown one of the most incredible scenes of Ninian Park's ninety-nine year history. Come May 3rd it may even prove to be THE most important moment.
CARDIFF CITY 2 - 1 Burnley (Ross McCormack 85)
Cardiff City Substitution: Eddie Johnson for Jay Bothroyd (86mins)
Burnley Substitution: Michael Duff for Christian Kalvenes (86mins)
Cardiff were hanging on for dear life as Burnley came forward looking for redemption and Clark Carlisle came closest when he saw Joe Ledley nod his header off the line at the far post.
Any finger nails had all but vanished as thousands of Cardiff fans must have seen countless moments of déjà vu run through their heads from early on in this incredible season. In the end the moment it most resembled was from just two days ago as Ross McCormack picked up the ball inside his own half, flew down the left flank past two defenders before getting himself in on goal and slipped the ball past Jensen from a tight angle to cap one of the most amazing matches in recent Cardiff history.
CARDIFF CITY 3 - 1 Burnley (Ross McCormack 90)
Full Time: CARDIFF CITY 3 - 1 Burnley
Cardiff City: Taylor, McNaughton, Purse, Rae, Kennedy, McCormack, Rae, McPhail, Ledley, Bothroyd (E. Johnson 86), Chopra (Whittingham 64). Subs not used: Heaton, Comminges, Burke.
Bookings: Kennedy.
Goals: Bothroyd, McCormack 2.
Burnley: Jensen, Alexander (Gudjonsson 74), Carlisle, Caldwell, Kalvenes (Duff 86), Eagles, McCann, Williams, Elliott, Blake, Rodriguez. Subs not used: Penny, K. McDonald, A. McDonald.
Bookings: Carlisle, Kalvenes, Williams, Elliott.
Goals: Blake.
Referee: Lee Probert
Attendance: 19,379
Sponsor's 'GOL Football Centre' Man of the Match: Kevin McNaughton
Fans Man of the Match: Kevin McNaughton
