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Road-kill Blades refuse to yield to Cardiff - MATCH REPORT AND SLIDESHOW
Cardiff 0 Sheffield United 3 CARDIFF CITY, proud holders of arguably the Champion-ship's most formidable home record, versus a Sheffield United side who are almost impenetrable on the road.
Something, as visiting manager Kevin Blackwell correctly predicted beforehand, would have to give.
But little did he suspect it would be referee Paul Taylor's composure and the Welsh club's discipline as United, unbeaten away from Bramall Lane since mid-October, ruthlessly picked apart opponents who played most of the game with nine men.
Having seen Gabor Gyepes and Ross McCormack both collect straight red cards during the opening stages, Blackwell's players become only the third team to win a league fixture at Ninian Park this season and, more importantly, reclaim fourth place in the table.
Goals came from David Cotterill, Jamie Ward and Stephen Quinn.
Blackwell: Tevez Affair won't distract Blades from promotion mission
"It would be wrong of us to give the top two, Wolves and Birmingham, a free hand," Blackwell said.
"We've got to chase them because strange things can happen in football.
"As we're seeing now, as the campaign draws to a close, you can start getting some funny results.
"They're will probably be more to come and it's all about belief from this moment on."
While Blackwell proudly reflected upon a victory which moves United to within six points of their rivals from St Andrews, with a game in hand, Cardiff boss Dave Jones was incandescent with rage after watching the Hertfordshire official consign Cardiff's tactical master-plan to the dustbin within half an hour.
The afternoon was just 24 minutes old when Gyepes was dismissed for a challenge on Darius Henderson and, having seen Cotterill duly convert from the penalty spot, McCormack quickly followed the Hungarian down the tunnel after being deemed guilty of catching Kyle Naughton with an
elbow.
Jones issued a scathing critique of Taylor's performance - "I think I'll leave it to 18,000 people to voice their opinion. They did that and I'll leave it there" - before confirming Cardiff will appeal against both decisions.
"I'm totally confused now as to what is a red card, what is a yellow
and what isn't," Jones continued.
"I'd be disappointed if I hadn't got a penalty for the first one but, if the ref had taken the time to consult his linesman, he'd have realised Gabor got the ball.
"And there's no way Ross raised his arm. He was holding his ground, that's all, so I don't get that one either."
Blackwell empathised with the Liverpudlian's predicament - "They looked harsh to me. We've been on the receiving end of plenty, though".
But while Taylor undoubtedly offered them a helping hand, United also delivered a thoroughly professional performance laced with a purpose which should serve them well down the finishing straight.
Stifling Cardiff's attacking instincts during the early skirmishes, United had already seen Greg Halford's deft chip force an acrobatic save from Stuart Taylor when the on-loan defender's superb through ball released Henderson. One magical piece of control later, he draw a costly foul from Gyepes.
Cotterill, having earlier hit the woodwork with a cross, drilled the ball past the foot of the same post to hand United the lead.
McCormack's alleged indiscretion initially appeared to have a positive effect on Cardiff with Nick Montgomery clearing Gavin Rae's header off the line.
Halford, architect of United's most promising moves, reacted angrily after being withdrawn as a precautionary measure.
"He'd been booked and, with the atmosphere inside the stadium, I didn't want to lose him," Blackwell explained.
"Plus, with the numerical advantage we had, I wanted to get another striker on."
Blackwell's reshuffle was vindicated when Halford's replacement, Ward, scored United's second from Cotterill's corner.
Joe Ledley came close to reducing the deficit with a long-range effort but Quinn snuffed out Cardiff's hopes of an improbable comeback by caressing substitute Craig Beattie's pass beyond Taylor at the death.
"Cardiff's supporters definitely demand their pound of flesh from the players," Blackwell said.
"And they certainly deliver.
"But I thought we went about of business in exactly the right manner and you've got to be happy to get something at a place like this."
Boss's view
It was the best home record up against probably the best away at the moment.
Something had to give or it was going to be a boring goalless draw and it certainly wasn't that.
I don't comment on referees, I've got enough on my plate, but we've been on the receiving end at times.
Gyepes was hobbling at the time so we deliberately tried to get past him.
I couldn't really see what happened with Kyle because their lad was stood in the way.
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Weather for Sheffield
Friday 10 February 2012
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Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
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