There was an air of anticipation around Cardiff City Stadium as the Bluebirds kicked off their 2010/11 npower Championship campaign against the Blades of Sheffield United. Roared on by the 'City faithful, Cardiff probed the United defence looking for an opening. However, it was the visitors that were first close to breaking the deadlock early on. A corner whipped in from the right caused the Cardiff defence to panic, before defender Kevin McNaughton hurriedly headed the ball behind for another corner with Sheffield United strikers waiting to pounce from close range.

On twelve minutes though CCS was rocking with Michael Chopra looking to have given the Bluebirds the lead when the Geordie hitman fired past goalie Steve Simonsen from eight yards out. However, the City fans jubilance was cut short by the sight of the linesman's flag who saw a push from Chopra on Blades defender Jon Ertl and the score remained goalless.

Even without the lead, Cardiff were starting to impose their dominance on the game and were having great success with long diagonal balls into the channels with Chopra his usual energetic self. However, all that work was undone in the twenty-third minute when Ched Evans finished from close range for the match opener, former Swansea man Leon Britton providing the telling pass, much to the home crowds chagrin.

GOAL - Cardiff City 0-1 Sheffield United (Ched Evans, 23)

Despite this setback, Dave Jones would have been happy with his side's reaction as they continued to press. Darcy Blake, in his makeshift role as right-back, powered down the wing and provided an excellent chipped cross that was only just cleared by defender Ertl with Jay Bothroyd on hand to head the ball home if the Austrian international had failed.

The Blades were always dangerous on the break though and after half an hour, goalkeeper David Marshall was called to action when tipped away a sweetly struck half volley from Blades forward Jamie Ward. Continuing the end-to-end nature of the game, it was Cardiff who were presented with the next chance of the match when Peter Whittingham curled a free-kick from just outside the area into the side netting.

A minute later and the game was handed a major talking point when Sheffield defender Matthew Lowton was shown a straight red for a tackle on Kevin McNaughton, with the referee deeming the tackle dangerous. The red card may have soured the youngster's experience of the Cardiff City Stadium, with Lowton having made his debut here in the last league fixture between the two sides last season. Jay Bothroyd and Ched Evans were also shown yellow cards in a confrontation following the sending off.

SENDING OFF - Matthew Lowton (Sheffield United, 34)

It was then left to Cardiff to exploit their man advantage but despite a period of sustained pressure on the visiting goal, no clear chances were created in the remaining ten minutes of the half and the Bluebirds went into the break a goal behind.

HALF TIME - Cardiff City 0-1 Sheffield United

The second half began as the first half ended with the home side on the front foot, a Mark Hudson header causing panic in the Sheffield United box. Although his header looked well off target, the Blades defenders seemed to panic and the ball was almost put back into a dangerous area before being eventually cleared.

Substitution (Cardiff) - Gavin Rae OFFRoss McCormack ON

The introduction of McCormack added an extra dimension to the Bluebirds attacking play and this was finally rewarded on the hour mark through bizarre circumstances. A long ball played up field by Darcy Blake brought visiting goalie Steve Simonsen charging out from his goal to tackle Michael Chopra. However, the former Stoke stopper always looked like he would finish second in that race and was left stranded outside his penalty area on the far right wing. It was then left to Chopra to pick out the pass, which he dutifully did, finding the waiting Jay Bothroyd in the area who calmly slotted home past a gaggle of Sheffield defenders on the line.

GOALCardiff City 1-1 Sheffield United (Jay Bothroyd, 61)

Although the Blades fans may have been cursing the decision of their goalkeeper in the lead up to the goal, they were thankful of him five minutes later as he managed to prevent the visitors from falling behind. Chris Burke played a neat through ball down the centre to find Ross McCormack who couldn't quite lift the ball over Simonsen who smothered the ball well.

Substitution (Sheffield Utd) - Leon Britton OFFRob Kozluk ON

Substitution (Sheffield Utd) - Ched Evans OFFDaniel Bogdanovic ON

The Blades were clearly rattled by the previous couple of minutes and the Bluebirds, roared on by over 20,000 fans, could smell blood. What followed for the next ten minutes could only be described as an onslaught on the Sheffield goal, with shots from McCormack, Chopra, McNaughton and Burke all requiring action from Simonsen.

The best of these chances, however, fell to the head of Ross McCormack with ten minutes remaining. Tricky winger Burke provided a fine cross from the right that cleared the Sheffield United defenders in the box, finding McCormack all on his own at the back stick. However, the Scottish international could only weakly direct his effort towards goal and was pushed away by the busy Blades 'keeper.

Substitution (Sheffield United) - Jamie Ward OFFMark Yeates ON

Although the Bluebirds continued to press until the dying embers of the game, the Blades hung on for a good point. For Cardiff, a draw cannot be regarded as a bad result against a team who are also tipped for the top come next May.

FULL TIME - Cardiff City 1-1 Sheffield United

Cardiff City: Marshall, McNaughton, Rae (McCormack), Hudson(Capt), Gyepes, Whittingham, Chopra, Bothroyd, Burke, Drinkwater, Blake. Subs not used: Heaton, Gerrard, Matthews

Sheffield United: Simonsen, Montgomery, Morgan (Capt), Ertl, Britton (Bogdanovic), Evans (Kozluk), Taylor, Cresswell, Ward (Yeates), Quinn, Lowton. Subs not used: Aksalu, James, Chapell

Referee: Peter Walton