" Match Report Hull v Cardiff 26 Feb 2011 "

Set off early for this game today. Took my time getting there and was actually overtaken by one of the supporters coach. They noticed my Cardiff scarf in the back of my car as they all did the Ayatollah to me. That made for a good start of the day to what was to turn out to be an excellent day although I got soaking wet making my way to the working man's club that was allocated to us.

Over 700 fans made the long trip to the impressive KC stadium. Worth making note here but some fans went on the off chance of getting a ticket there and from what I have heard had no problem getting one. Makes you wonder if it’s worth paying for an away membership.

Cardiff fielded the now familiar and the fans favourite defence line up of Heaton in goal with McNaughton, Hudson, Keinan and Quinn across the back. In central midfield McPhail got a starting call up in replacement for the injured Oli. Arran Ramsey was to partner him with what could be Rambos last game for Cardiff. Making up the team was Whittingham and Bellamy on the wings with Bothroyd and Chopra up front.
Cardiff attacked the end where the away supporters were. The first stage of the game was a tight affair with neither team creating a chance. The only success Cardiff had in this period was from the supporters who managed to get our own Gerrard, now on loan to the home side, to do the Ayatollah.

The first real chance fell to the home side in the 10th minutes. From some loose play they managed to work the ball forward to the edge of the Cardiff area. A curling shot from the 18 yard line forced a diving save from Heaton who palmed the ball away for a corner. From the resulting corner the ball was met by a Hull head but was cleared off the line. That turned out to be Hulls best chance of the game and they had to wait until well into the second half before they had another chance.

After this scare Cardiff took control of the game. They started to win most of the possession in midfield with McPhail digging in and on his way to becoming the man of the match. McPhail and Ramsey were just awesome and Whittingham seem to benefit from his as he seemed to be more involved than usual. The build up play from midfield was encouraging as it was well controlled and patient. Hull struggled to overcome this and looked very much like the away team and not the home one.

It was only a question of time before Cardiff had a serious attempt on goal and this happened on the quarter of an hour mark. From a Bellamy corner Chopra made a mess of his shot on goal. The ball deflected off Gerrard in the six yard box and found its way to the unmarked Bothroyd who slotted the ball home. However he was judged to be in an offside position. Perhaps the women on this forum would like to comment if it should have been allowed or not.
Five minutes later Cardiff had a penalty appeal turned down. Bothroyd picked up the ball from a Ramsey pass and skipped his way into the Hull area. He was brought down by what looked like a straggling leg of Gerrards but the referee waved play on.

Cardiff continued to press forward for the opening goal while Hull relied on the counter attack. The deadlock was nearly broken on the 35th minute when Bellamy picked out Chopra in space. With only the keeper to beat Chopra saw his effort cleared of the line by the impressive Gerrard who later announced he had twisted his ankle in the first minute.
Moments later Chopra had another chance as he once again found himself unmarked outside the area. His effort although powerful was straight at the Hull keeper.

Chopra was involved again some five minutes later as he latched onto a lofted pass from Whittingham but was brought down in the area. The referee once again waved play on.

Moments before half time Cardiff once again had the ball cleared off the line. From a Bellamy corner Keinan saw his header goal bound only to see it blocked.

The first half was brought to an end with the score a stalemate.

Heavy rain fell during the break and perhaps explained some of the unforced errors committed by both team for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Cardiff dominated again as Hull defended deep. However most of the play was limited to the midfield. Then on the 63th minute Cardiff took a deserved lead.

Bellamy worked his way down the left wing and teaming up with Whittingham they created some space for McNaughton who crossed the ball to an unmarked Chopra in the Hull area. Chopra had all the time in the world to glance a header wide of the Hull keeper and into the net.

The Cardiff fans went wild, more in relief than anything as it looked like a goal was going to desert them. Looking over at the Hull fans they looked resided to losing this game as they had been outplayed.

Hull made a substitution after this goal and it nearly paid off for them instantly. From a counter attack and some lucky play by the home side this substitution found himself with only Heaton to beat. He tried to loft the ball over Heaton but overdid it as the ball sailed over the bar.

Hull now were out of their shell as they tried to find an equaliser. The Cardiff defence held their own quite well although Hull did managed to create one more chance where from just outside the 6 yard area one of their strikers scuffed a chance pass the post.

Cardiff made a double substitution to kill the game. Bellamy was replaced by JET and Chopra for Chris Burke. This had the desired effect as Hull struggled even more to open up the Cardiff. In fact it was Cardiff who came out on top of this period as the game went into injury time. Jet picked up a pass from Bothroyd inside the Hull area. Confronted with the Hull defence he lifted the ball over their back line and managed to volley the ball into the Hull net for his first goal in a Bluebird shirt.

The referee brought the game to an end with the in-form home side losing its 2dn game in 19 2-0 to the Cardiff.

Summing up, I’ll keep this brief. I believe DJ has been given another chance thanks to the January window. After this performance it is looking good and it looks like he has got it right. Of course time will tell but it’s looking a lot more comfortable these days.

Cheers Ian. In depth and quality reading report as usual, I honestly believe we are going to catch QPR

Excellent report as usual.

Thanks for the excellent report, keep up the good work.

Excellent report. Thanks Ian

Cheers Ian, REALLY enjoyed reading your match report

Thanks Ian a great read!!!! Looking forward to the next one.

Ceri

Cheers Ian, keep the match reports coming.Thanks

Thanks Ian, Lets hope for a 1-2 automatic promotion for both welsh clubs i think we could both do it

Cheers for the match report Ian.

great read as always many thanks for posting the reviews

it felt like i was at the game,great report

Sounded like a deserved win, and tidy turn out by the fans for such a long trip.

Cheers Ian Look forward to the Ipswich Match Report