Nathan Blake scored the only goal of the game as Cardiff City punished Fulham for failing to take their chances by taking all three points at Ninian Park this afternoon.
The Whites began brightly with Gary Brazil getting into a good shooting position before failing to seriously stretch goalkeeper Mark Grew. Brazil then played a lovely ball into the feet of Ara Bedrossian but the Cypriot’s shot lacked conviction and the referee Paul Vanes was less than sympathetic to the midfielder’s claims of being manoeuvred off the ball by Mark Aizlewood.
Duncan Jupp floated in a fabulous cross from the right that Peter Baah headed wide, before Julian Hails – who always looked like he had the beating of his full-back – wasted a pair of good opportunities right before half time. The second half almost began with an early Christmas gift for former Fulham forward Phil Stant, who slotted wide of Jim Stannard’s goal after intercepting Duncan Jupp’s sloppy back pass. Perhaps the Fulham full back forgot that Stant was now a Bluebird?
The visitors didn’t heed that lucky escape as Blake blasted a powerful finish into the Fulham third for the third time this season after Jeff Eckhardt had failed to deal with a cross from Cohen Griffith. Hails went close again after being teed up by Simon Morgan but Lee Baddeley somehow scrambled the shot away from the Cardiff goal. Glen Thomas then prevented Stant from snatching a second for Cardiff with a similar block at the other end as Fulham rode their luck once more.
The visitors had Stannard to thank for keeping them in it as the Bluebirds laid siege to the Cottagers goal in an attempt to put the game to bed. The Fulham goalkeeper somehow palmed aside a header from Tony Bird before Stant contrived to hit the post with a late one-on-one opportunity that saw him take an age to try and squeeze a shot past Stannard’s substantial firm. But the points belonged to Cardiff – and who knows how crucial that may turn out to be come May?
CARDIFF CITY: Grew; Searle, Aizlewood, Baddeley, Perry, D. Brazil (Millar 54), Richardson, Griffith, Bird, Blake, Stant. Subs (not used): Kite, Thompson.
GOAL: Blake (75).
FULHAM: Stannard; Eckhardt, G. Thomas, Herrera, Jupp, Morgan, Bedrossian, Hails, Baah, G. Brazil, Farrell. Subs (not used): Harrison, Angus, Tierling.
REFEREE: Paul Vanes (West Midlands).
ATTENDANCE: 5,120.
