by Mark Denham, from Cardiff City Stadium

Snapshot

 Two first half goals ensured Barnsley would take all three points away from Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.

Maltese striker Daniel Bogdanovic profited from a Gabor Gyepes mistake on eight minutes before racing through and stroking home past a helpless Peter Enckelman.

And just three minutes later, the same man doubled the Tykes' lead, again racing clear of Gyepes before striking emphatically home from the edge of the area.

In fairness, there were few chances for either side in the second half, City having a five minute spell in which they peppered the Barnsley area, but this being the only promising patch of note.

Barnsley did nothing spectacular to win this game, just consolidated their lead and played to their strengths. It was a good away performance, but a game the Bluebirds will feel they should have taken something from.

Chronological Report

City kicked off brightly, directing play down the right flank through Chris Burke. In the third minute the Bluebirds won a corner and although the delivery by Peter Whittingham wasn't perfect, it found Michael Chopra at the far post who blasted over from two yards out.

But despite their lack of possession in the opening exchanges it was Barnsley who took the lead. A hopefully ball lofted forward was unconvincingly cleared by Gabor Gyepes, allowing Hugo Colace to slide through Daniel Bogdanovic for a clear run on goal. The Maltese striker had the beating of Gyepes, fending off the Hungarian's challenge to slide home past Peter Enckelman.

GOAL: CARDIFF CITY 0-1 BARNSLEY (Bogdanovic, 8 mins).

On twelve minutes, the Tykes were two up. Terrible defending again by the Bluebirds allowed Bogdanovic to stride through the middle unmarked once more, this time composing himself and striking from just inside the area past Enckelman on the half volley.

GOAL: CARDIFF CITY 0-2 BARNSLEY (Bogdanovic, 12 mins).

Chopra had another half chance for the Bluebirds on eighteen minutes, running at the heart of the Barnsley defence before stroking a weak effort harmlessly wide of Luke Steele's post. Barnsley were however, playing with much more composure and confidence than City, the two goal cushion allowing them to sit tight and defend from deep.

Some neat trickery on the edge of the area by Whittingham led to a corner on the half hour mark - and it was the first moment for some time that City had had an attacking opportunity. Unfortunately for the Bluebirds, Stephen Foster met the corner strongly to clear the danger and give the momentum back to the visitors.

Substitution Cardiff City: Ross McCormack on for Aaron Wildig (36 mins).

Barnsley continued to sit back as they saw out the first half, City relying on long-balls and set pieces to get anywhere near the Barnsley area. Bogdanovic came close to his hat-trick in first half injury time, though headed just over from a superb Carl Dickinson cross. This had not been a classic display of first-half football and the Bluebirds would need a much better second half performance to take anything from it.

HALF TIME: CARDIFF CITY 0-2 BARNSLEY

Substitution Cardiff City: Adam Matthews on for Anthony Gerrard (45 mins).

Cardiff had to attack from the whistle in the second half and almost pulled one back when Whittingham struck a low shot that Steele had to get down well to save. With Matthews' introduction for the injured Gerrard, Kevin McNaughton had stepped into the centre-half role allowing the young Welshman to step in at right back.

Andy Hamill had a good chance to increase Barnsley's lead on fifty-four minutes, finding space and time to shoot hard at goal. Enckelman was equal to the former Liverpool man's effort, but it was an indication that City were susceptible to the counter-attack by pushing forward so much.

City's best chance of the game came out of nothing on sixty-four minutes. Jay Bothroyd evaded the attentions of Foster to take the ball around Steele, though when he shot at goal, the retreating centre back stretched well to deflect the ball wide for a corner.

Chopra came even closer a minute later, again attacking down the right channel before cutting inside and forcing Steele to palm over a stinging effort. City seemed to have an impetus and Gyepes had a golden chance from a free-header from the next attack which Steele again saved.

Barnsley were wobbling and Gavin Rae was the next man to strike at goal. Rae's effort took a slight deflection, beating Steele but not the bar; when the ball rebounded, it looked as if a Barnsley defender had handled on the line in the ensuing melee.

Substitution Barnsley: Andy Gray on for Daniel Bogdanovic (75 mins).

Substitution Barnsley: Jay Rodriguez on for Jon Macken (75 mins).

Substitute Andy Gray almost scored with his first touch, heading unmarked wide of goal from a corner kick. As the game ticked on towards the final ten minutes, Cardiff looked to have lost the momentum that earlier in the half had suggested they could get something out of this game.

Barnsley didn't do anything clever this afternoon - they just played extremely effectively and to their strengths. In fairness, it was a poor Cardiff performance and, on reflection, the result was more than fair on the balance of play and quality of opportunities.

FULL TIME: CARDIFF CITY 0-2 BARNSLEY