They started the brighter, but we scored from our first attack when Stephen McPhee lashed in Garcia's low cross. Garcia replaced Bryan Hughes in the starting line up with McPhee moving to the left wing. Following the goal, we went to pieces. They battered us for about 3 minutes and eventually scored. We were giving them bags of room in midfield. McPhee and Garcia were nowhere, defensively, and Ashbee and Marney couldn't get close enough. Cardiff moved well and passed well and caused us all sorts of problems. Sam Ricketts, having his worst game for over a year got caught out of position time and again, allowing Ledley to race in behind him. Brown struggled with the physical presence of Stevie Thompson and Delaney was been over run as well. We weren't cutting out the balls into the strikers and we let their midfield join up far too easily. We looked a threat during our rare attacks, but we were second best again. When we did have the ball, Cardiff pressured us into passing quickly which led to us rushing passes and wasting possession or having to go backwards to keep the ball, which annoyed the crowd.
When we did attack, it often broke down high up the pitch because the final pass was poor and left Marney stranded. That in turn meant they had lots of space in which to break. The tide started to turn as half time approached. Marney held onto the ball in midfield rather than wasting a pass, found Delaney and we worked the ball down the left and into the box, where Campbell was fouled, probably. Schmeichel saved the resulting penalty well but it wasn't a great hit from Deano. We went in front soon after when Marney found Delaney following a magnificent solo run, Damo's cross wasn't great, but Schmeichel made a hash of it and Garcia hammered in from 8 yards. We went in 2-1 up and having missed a penalty, but they'd been on top. They hit the post twice, Turner made an incredible last ditch challenge and Myhill produced a fantastic save. We'd been quiet. We didn't use the ball well enough, struggled to stop their midfield getting at us and failed to create anything for Deano and Campbell.
I thought we had a better second half. It helped that they came at us but we used the ball better and managed to find Campbell and Windass in better positions. They continued to threaten and it made for an excellent game of football. We looked very shaky at set pieces. They hit every corner to the near post and we didn't defend well at all. From one free header, Boaz produced a save as good as you will see anywhere this season, absolutely incredible. With about 20 minutes to go, we switched McPhee for Livermore and seemed content to play on the break. It wasn't a massively defensive move, because Marney continued to threaten from the left, but it gave them a renewed impetus. Boaz produced another superb save, redeeming his own mistake and Garcia and Turner made crucial blocks. Campbell and Folan, on for Windass, were a threat though and we were dangerous on the break with Marney, Ricketts and Garcia threatening. I think Phil Brown made a mistake, swapping Campbell for Dawson. With Campbell on, we had two quick strikers to threaten and Cardiff had to be aware of them. Following the substitution, they pushed higher up the pitch and spent the last few minutes almost camped in our half. Folan missed a great chance to seal the game when he latched onto a through ball and Schmeichel got himself stranded. I think Caleb bottled it. He should have kept his eye on the goal, chipped the 'keeper and took any clattering that might have happened. Instead, he kind of poked t the ball, skewing it off to the right and never threatening the goal. That should have been 3-1 and game over. We should have been discussing a victory that we didn't deserve, but instead, we lost 2 points. Marney ran the ball clear and with 3 defenders around him, chose to take them on. He should have turned back and looked for support or smacked the ball into the corner. They booted it forward, Wayne Brown lost out to Hasselbaink in the air, which is inexcusable, and then Johnson hit a shot from 25 yards that looped over Boaz and into the middle of the goal. He'll never hit a shot like that again in his life, but it was our own fault. We made a bad tactical change, wasted the chance to clear the ball and then defended poorly.
Myhill may have been a yard or so too far off his line, but it's hard to criticise him today, he made incredible stops and kept us in front for a long time. In front of him, the defense looked very unsure. Brown and Ricketts were poor. Neither got to grips with his immediate opponent, very poor in possession and in Ricketts case, often out of position. Turner made a good amount of blocks and headers, but even he had to rely on too many last ditch challenges. Delaney was one of our best attacking players, he covered a vast amount of ground on the left. He looked a bit flat footed against Paul Parry, but he was the only one of our defenders performing at the standard he's set himself.
Garcia had a solid game on his return. He was our only threat early on and we looked dangerous when he was in possession. Ricketts didn't attack as much as he often does, so Garcia was the only real outlet on the right hand side. McPhee scored a good goal and worked hard as usual. Apart from one fantastic pass into Campbell, he still didn't produce a lot. He was better than Hughes though. Ash and Marney struggled a bit again. They had a lot of work to do and looked incredible at times but lost at others. They had a better second half. Ash kept the ball well, trying not to panic, while Marney produced some superb runs from midfield and committed their defenders. As a whole, the midfield was second best. There wasn't enough threat from the left and there isn't really anyone in the squad who'll give us that option. When Ricketts is forced back, we lack idea's down the right and Ash lacks his favourite out-ball. When teams get in our face like Cardiff did in the first half, we have to be patient in possession.
In defence of the midfield, when the ball was played forward, it wasn't really sticking. The reason was often that Campbell has a rotten first touch. He lost the ball time and again. As Cardiff tired, we started to put the ball into space over the top and he came into his own, but when we needed someone to hold up the ball and allow the midfielders to join up, he was sorely lacking. Windass had another quiet game. He couldn't get involved, missed the penalty and struggled to create an impression. The service wasn't up to much, he fell deeper and deeper to try and get into the game. He was also hamstrung by the referee who penalised him every time he breathed near a defender.
I think we've got 2 good points this week. We've players good sides and produced better results than performances. We've got good options from the bench and it may be time to use one or two of them because we're looking a bit leggy and a bit ragged going forward. I heard Phil Brown after the game and he seemed OK with fans criticising his substitutions, which is a good job, because they weren't very good today. They handed the game to the opposition when we should have taken the game to them. We didn't look solid at the back all game and inviting them onto us was a mistake. Sometimes, attack is the best form of defence and we looked more solid with Folan and Campbell up front than with Dawson on. Still, we're now five unbeaten and still in the sort of league position we want to be. I'm sure we'll learn from it. The manager takes things on board and the team keep improving with him in charge. Preston will be interesting now, having stuffed them only 3 weeks ago. We'll need to defend far better and to use the football more effectively. We've won the last two away games so you never know.
Ratings: Myhill 9, Ricketts 5, Delaney 7, Turner 6, Brown 5, Garcia 7, McPhee 6 (Livermore), Ashbee 6, Marney 7, Campbell 6 (Dawson), Windass 5 (Folan).