Cardiff City netted twice in injury time to grab a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Blues at the Cardiff City Stadium. Town, who were looking to win seven matches on the trot in the second tier for the first time since 1989, went in front via former Bluebird Kieffer Moore and were set for three points which would have taken them back to second until home skipper Ryan Wintle struck on 95 and Callum O’Dowda netted the winner in the 10th minute of time added on.

Town made three changes from the team which beat Bristol City 3-2 on Tuesday with Harry Clarke, Wes Burns and Jeremy Sarmiento coming into the side.

Clarke, making his 50th league appearance for his local club, replaced Axel Tuanzebe at right-back, Cardiff fan Burns, who was released by the Bluebirds as a schoolboy, came in for Omari Hutchinson on the right and Sarmiento for Marcus Harness on the left with all three players dropping out of the XI on the bench, alongside Nathan Broadhead, who returned from his thigh injury.

Cardiff made two changes, Emmanouil Siopis for Joe Ralls and Yakou Meite for Diedhiou.

It was Town’s former Bluebirds striker Moore who headed the first attempt on goal in the second minute but his stooping effort from Clarke’s cross was too close to Ethan Horvath in the home goal.

Three minutes later, Cardiff forced the game’s first significant save, David Turnbull cutting onto his right foot before hitting a shot from just outside the area which moved across Vaclav Hladky in the air and the keeper, also making his 50th league appearance for the club, did well to palm it wide.

From the corner, the Welsh side went even closer. Cameron Burgess’s flicked headed clearance only reached Josh Bowler beyond the far post from where the former Hull City winger struck a low effort which Hladky palmed into the crowded six-yard box. Perry Ng was first to it and seemed certain to score but it bobbled off his shin and Moore cleared from in front the line. A subsequent Bowler effort was also blocked.

The Bluebirds continued to threaten with their fans getting behind them and on eight, Josh Wilson-Esbrand cut in from the left but Luke Woolfenden was able to close him down and block.

Two minutes later, Burns burst down the right and crossed for Moore, whose deft heel-flick at the near post hit the stanchion, much to the delight of his old supporters, who had booed his every touch, presumably due to the Wales international’s decision to sign for the Blues on loan in January rather than returning to Cardiff.

After a brief spell of Town possession, the Bluebirds threatened again, cleverly working Bowler space on the right of the box but the wideman’s shot was too close to Hladky, who initially fumbled the ball into the air before claiming at the second attempt.

On the quarter hour, Sam Morsy was fortunate to escape a booking after sliding in on Siopis as the Greek midfielder approached the area and failing to win the ball, however, referee Oliver Langford judged that he had, much to the annoyance of the home support.

Cardiff continued to have the better of it and in the 22nd minute Karlen Grant whipped over a curling cross from the left only just beyond Turnbull at the far post.

As the game reached the half hour, Town were getting more control over the game, seeing most of the ball and getting into good areas. Conor Chaplin nodded back across goal to Moore, who headed into a dangerous area but too close to a defender - colliding with Sarmiento as he did so, the Equadorian international requiring treatment - then Burns was sent away on the right but his cross flew behind the goal.

The Blues continued to run the game and on 43 Burns was played on on the right and cut back to Chaplin. Town’s 12-goal top scorer swivelled and then hit a shot which was blocked. Woolfenden’s subsequent strike was screwed high and wide.

In injury time, Horvath was forced to head clear from just outside his area and found Moore, who moved it on to Massimo Luongo, making his 50th start for the club across his two spells, who in turn played it to Sarmiento, who tried to break into the area but it was stabbed back to the keeper by a defender.

Just before the whistle, Grant brought the ball forward into the left of the box but fired over, much to his evident frustration.

The Bluebirds had looked the more threatening side for most of the first half hour and Ng really should have put them in front with the goal gaping in front of him from Hladky’s save from Bowler’s shot.

But the Blues began to take a greater hold on the game in the final quarter of an hour, but without creating a serious chance or forcing Horvath into a save.

Meanwhile, Grant’s late effort at the end illustrated that Cardiff were still able to present a threat at the other end.

Neither side threatened in the early stages of the half and on 53 the game was held up for a lengthy spell after Moore and Dimitrios Boutas clashed heads on halfway as they went for a chipped Leif Davis pass. The Town striker suffered a cut to the head and continued with a bandage.

Town created their first chance of the second half in the 64th minute, Burgess flicking on a Clarke long throw from the right and Moore hooking a shot wide, clearly off a defender, but to the striker’s frustration referee Langford gave a goal-kick.

But, side from that, the Blues had shown little threat since the break and as Cardiff prepared to restart, Broadhead and Hutchinson replaced Sarmiento and Chaplin.

Town began to keep the ball for long spells and in the 74th minute a lengthy period of possession ended with Morsy hitting a 20-yard shot straight at Horvath.

Two minutes later, Cardiff swapped Meite and Turnbull for Rubin Colwill and O’Dowda, then on 77, the Blues replaced Burns and Luongo with Harness and Jack Taylor.

Within a minute of the changes, Hutchinson cut in from the right and curled a shot which was too close to Horvath, who palmed away.

However, the Blues were starting to build up a head of steam with Cardiff struggling to clear the subsequent corner.

And in the 79th minute, Town took the lead. Harness played the ball wide to Moore on the left of the box and the former Cardiff man took it outside Nat Phillips and hit a low shot which curled away from Horvath and tucked neatly inside the post.

As the 3,200-plus Town fans went wild, Moore refused to celebrate his sixth goal, in eight starts and one sub appearance, against his old club, despite the earlier boos from his former supporters.

Cardiff made another change as they looked to get back into the match, Diedhiou replacing Bowler in the 84th minute.

The Blues replaced goalscorer Moore in the 89th minute to a standing ovation from the traveling fans and boos from the Cardiff support. Moore, who was replaced by Ali Al-Hamadi, smiled as he applauded all sections of the stadium.

Referee Langford had kept his cards in his pockets throughout but as the game moved into eight additional minutes, Hladky was booked for time-wasting as he prepared to take a goal-kick.

Cardiff were taking the game to the Blues and three minutes into added-on time, they really should have levelled. Colwill’s cross from the right clipped a Town defender on its way over and reached O’Dowda at the far post from where the Irishman turned it over the bar. It came at an awkward height but nevertheless, O’Dowda should still have scored.

But the home pressure continued and five minutes into injury time, they did equalise. O’Dowda headed a right-wing cross back across goal, Burgess failed to get enough on the clearance and skipper Wintle slammed a low shot through a crowd of players and into the net.

Having got back on terms, the Bluebirds maintained their pressure with the Blues appearing to have run out of steam.

And in the 10th minute of injury time, they won it. The Welshmen won a corner on the right, which Town felt should have been a free-kick for a foul on Davis.

The ball was floated in and fell loose, Ng hooked to the far post and O’Dowda smashed into the roof of the net to send the home fans wild.

There wasn’t time for Town to hit back and referee Langford’s whistle confirmed the Blues’ fifth league defeat of the season.

Having gone in front, Town appeared to have the game won but they were put under significant pressure by the home side in the lengthy injury time, caused by the clash of heads involving Moore and Goutas, with the Blues looking unusually tired at the end, Town having made a habit of finishing games strongly this season, scoring a number of late goals in recent matches.

Cardiff had presented little threat in the second half until going behind but the Blues were faced with wave after wave of attacks in injury time and might have conceded prior to the first Bluebirds goal.

Manager Kieran McKenna warned about Cardiff’s set-piece prowess before the game and the Town defence won’t want to look back at the defending for the two goals, although there was a clear question mark surrounding the corner which led to the second with Davis appearing to have been fouled.

The Blues are now third following Leeds’ 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday last night and four points behind leaders Leicester following their 2-2 draw at Hull City. Southampton in fourth are five points behind the Blues with a game in hand.

Town are next in action when the Owls visit Portman Road next Saturday.

Cardiff City: Horvath, Ng, Goutas, Phillips, Wilson-Esbrand, Siopis, Wintle (c) (Ralls 98), Turnbull (R Colwill 76), Bowler (Diedhiou 84), Grant, Meite (O’Dowda 76). Unused: Turner, Romeo, Collins, Tanner, Ashford.

Town: Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Luongo (Taylor 77), Burns (Harness 77), Chaplin (Hutchinson 66), Sarmiento (Broadhead 66), Moore. Unused: Walton, Tuanzebe, Travis, Al-Hamadi, Jackson. Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands).

Photo: Matchday Images

Saxonblue74 added 09:09 - Mar 10 How many times does our style of play have to be explained? Our "slow starts" are part and parcel. Every now and again we come up against an opponent who decides to come and play football, that gets punished. Otherwise teams are looking to shut us down. Playing in our own half, sideways, backwards, whatever it takes to draw the opponent and slowly grind them down. Our late goals are not luck or coincidence! "Hairy a***d" CB's as someone called for are not our style and belong in lge1 and below. Our defence may not be rock, but they ARE ball players who create chances. Lief Davis has been superb but would not grace our team on defensive quality alone. Rock solid, ball playing CB's are few and far between and currently way beyond us. Anyone notice how many raking passes come from Cam Burgess with his wand of a left foot? Axel is solid and a firm favourite of mine, but has a long way to go with passing and attacking attributes to be a perfect fit for us. That was described by Cardiff manager as their best of the season, for us it was way down the list. That for me speaks volumes about our team. Plenty more twists to come in this fantastic season, enjoy it ffs!!!!

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atty added 09:28 - Mar 10 What we have achieved thus far would be considered good for any established Championship side, let alone a new promoted one. However, that should not mean that the players and the manager should get a free pass when they fail to perform. What kind of mentality is that? Oh never mind, we were poor but heh we’re doing well. Professional sport is not like that. It’s a continual pursuit of excellence. We went off the boil when GH got injured, which doesn’t reflect well on the manager, when the back up, we’ll back up in theory, had bern shipped. In comes Moore and we’re up and running again in terms of results, if not performances. Too many dramatic late goals etc. l would like to see good solid competent performances for the whole game, not these roller coaster dramas.

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martin587 added 10:03 - Mar 10 I don’t post now but reading many of these posts that are absolutely disgraceful it has therefore forced me to comment as I won’t stand by and read rubbish from the same so called supporters who I wonder really are Town supporters.We are firmly in the play-offs and still within a chance of getting automatic promotion.We are punching well above our weight with almost the same team as last season.Of course there will be mistakes but come on we have only lost five games in the league all season WHAT MORE DO YO WANT.Get behind the team and enjoy the ride while it lasts.And to the knockers grow up or shut up.Yes we’re all entitled to comment on here but just think before you print and respect YOUR team.

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Saxonblue74 added 10:16 - Mar 10 Atty, your comment would carry more weight with a club who's backroom staff had been around for a good few seasons. In such a short space of time MA and KmK have worked miracles, identifying areas for improvement and doing incredible work during transfer windows.
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barrystedmunds added 10:25 - Mar 10 Ah!!! 4 pages of comments!! We must’ve lost!!!
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Cadiar added 10:45 - Mar 10 Martin 587, totally agree, same names again & again. Not true supporters. The team now needs the fans more than ever, SW next weekend, hopefully another full house. The least we can hope for is the playoffs, I think we are 20 points clear of 6th place. Just waiting for Blueboy to demand KM's sacking AGAIN. Get behind the boys, we've been on an incredible journey in the last 26 months & we can help to keep it going. Allen Ipswich. Vamos Ipswich

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cat added 11:04 - Mar 10 Totally agree with Martin, Diss, cadiar, walk etc that we are in a brilliant phase in our history and should enjoy and appreciate it. Those not understanding McK style of play need to get an understanding of entertaining football. As for the angry little Blueboy, what can you say. You’d have thought he was still eating humble pie or wiping the egg off his face after looking a complete tw@ last season lol.

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Dissboyitfc added 13:28 - Mar 10 Saxon Martin Cadiar and Cat, all great posts! I would defend anybodys right to an opinion but we do unfortunately have people who spout rubbish and that is ok as long as they remember its only their opinion and quite often it couldnt be less factual. I met up with my cycling buddies( Norwichfans) this morning and they didn't give me any stick over the fact we lost and they stuffed Rotherham, in fact they were dissapointed we lost, they want us to get promoted so they can laugh at us every week, the truth is they fear playing us in the playoffs and they realise they will come second best to us if we both stay in the championship! Times they are a changing and if you cant enjoy and see the progress that is taking place, you need to find something else to follow. At the end of the day i think i can safely say we will may never be the top team in England so there will always be room for improvement and a reason for some to moan, although we could be the top team in England and it still wouldnt be good enough for some! The last league game we lost inspired a 6 match winning run, and it could happen again as well!

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ImAbeliever added 13:55 - Mar 10 Some very good posts above from some very good people. Respect.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 18:54 - Mar 10 They did an us on us. Suck it up and learn. Every time we make strategic errors we grow. The least we can expect from the season based on our current position is a play off place. Thank you Ipswich Town.
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DerryfromBury added 20:35 - Mar 10 For me there were 2 things that went wrong in yesterdays game: - 1. Cardiff never scored from either of their 2 early chances. None of us like to see town give away early goals, but, we all know the result and outcome, it spurs the guys on to take the game to another level from which the opponents struggle and there's mostly only one outcome. 2. I would have left Moore on for the last 10mins. however, hindsight is a wonderful thing. A big thumbs up to the guy in the crowd who lead the entertainment during treatment of Moore's injury. Lovely couple of days out even if the result was not what we all wanted. Never mind onwards and upwards. COYB

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Europablue added 20:48 - Mar 10 A tired performance from a squad who has given their all for so long. Those dramatic come back wins are probably as emotionally draining for the players as they are for the fans. It is puzzling how we performed in the added time. We know that sitting back doesn't work for us. Even so, we were very unfortunate. The win would have really brought Leicester back into it, shame. Anyway, we move on and go for it again.

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blue2thecore added 08:19 - Mar 11 Let's keep going boyz, move on to Saturday, in McKenna we trust....
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Sandman180 added 08:49 - Mar 11 Monday morning - nearly 48 hours have passed since, and I've finally calmed down (I think, anyway..) Football hey.. bloody hell! The lads look tired now, the intensity that was evident throughout the majority of the season is now pretty much non-existent, and the first half was very laboured, can't recall a real chance of note and Cardiff looked dangerous, especially down our right hand side. Second half was improved, we dominated the ball albeit without any real chances, and I thought that once we scored, we'd continue to press, but in sitting back and inviting pressure, the inevitable happened - you could see it coming, couldn't you, well, the first goal perhaps, but to concede again was criminal. Game management, poor marking, switching off - all applicable here. Defensive frailties are ultimately going to cost a team promotion - the old adage of 'if they score 2, we'll score three' coined by Keegan whilst in charge of Newcastle's great entertainers, is no more apparent than at Portman Road this season - yet, eventually, as it cost them the title back in 95/96, the luck runs out. 49 goals conceded, around the same as QPR & Stoke, who are both fighting relegation. We can sit there and wax lyrical about how so and so has improved, how one is the 'best left back in the country and should be starting in the Euro's for England' (come on, now guys..) and so on, yet, the prime objective is to not concede goals, and the weaknesses have been apparent on that front from game one. At the FT whistle, a real mixture of anger and shock (did that actually just happen?) within the away stand - afternoon/evening subsequently tarnished as a result, I wish football didn't have that effect on me, but it does, sadly. Yet, i guess these things happen, right? Whether you lose by being 3-0 down at HT (the visit to Deepdale) or in crazy circumstances like Saturday afternoon, the prize on offer remains the same - zero points. My rationale afterwards was, we've become so used to not losing under Mckenna, that every defeat seems like the end of the world - 'it's over' 'top 2 is gone' 'rubbish performance' - the usual go to's, I myself am guilty of just that, in fact, those phrases formed the basis of my rant as I walked back from the stadium on Saturday.. A real reactionary response, yes, but I and other fans can be forgiven, surely, given the circumstances. Every team loses, even the very best - very cliche, but it's the response is what matters. A win and a solid performance vs Sheffield Wednesday, and we'll be back in the top 2 (for 24 hours at least) and firmly still in the hunt with 8 games to go - certain to be a few more twists and turns between now and May too, I bet. Once this season is over, however it ends, I'm sure we'll sit back and realise just how incredible it's been, when you weigh up all the different variables in play. In the meantime, the objective stays the same - take one game at a time, and get as many points as you can on the board, whilst hoping those also vying for promotion fail in said objective. Seems easy, but it never is, is it? I know one thing, any more afternoons like Saturday and me and football might be done for good you know, although, I suspect, just like a relationship with a toxic ex, it'll always have me coming back for more, however turbulent things might be! Uppa Towen!

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Saxonblue74 added 13:20 - Mar 11 Sandman, agree with some of your post however, prime objective is not avoiding conceding. Mccarthy has long gone and our new and exciting style will see us concede a fair few.
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