Bruno Ecuele Manga’s 18th minute goal saw Cardiff City to a 1-0 victory over the Blues at the Cardiff City Stadium. The defender nodded home Peter Whittingham’s corner at the near post with Town rarely seriously threatening to find a reply.

Daryl Murphy, Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam returned to the Town side with Brett Pitman and Jonathan Douglas dropping to the bench, while Kevin Foley, who was suffering with bruised ribs after the Bolton game, wasn’t in the 18.

Michael Crowe, who was called back from his loan spell at Braintree earlier in the week, was also amongst the subs with second-choice keeper Dean Gerken unwell.

Cardiff were without their first-choice keeper David Marshall due to a virus and Simon Moore started in his place. Former Blues academy schoolboy Stuart O’Keefe was named in the Bluebirds’ midfield.

The Blues started with Murphy and Sears as a front two with Kevin Bru and Ben Pringle in narrow roles on the right and left respectively of a four-man midfield.

Town were again in their orange third kit, while keeper Bartosz Bialkowski was asked by the referee to change from his green shirt to a yellow one before kick-off - leaving him in the unfortunate combination of a yellow shirt and green shorts - with Cardiff stand-in keeper Moore also wearing green.

Sears struck the game’s first shot in the fifth minute after he battled for a Murphy flick-on. Moore blocked the strike not overly confidently but claimed the loose ball.

On eight Skuse blocked from O’Keefe on the edge of the box but it was the Blues who had made the better start to the game.

There was a scare for Cardiff keeper Moore in the 16th minute when he failed to hold on to Pringle’s corner from the left. The ball was stabbed out to Bru but the Mauritius international was unable to get to it and committed a foul as he looked to do so.

Two minutes later the home side went in front via their first significant attempt of the game.

Whittingham sent over a corner from the left and the unmarked Manga met it at the near post and directed his header past Bialkowski.

After the goal the game returned to its previous pattern of the Blues taking the game to Cardiff. On 23 Christophe Berra headed Pringle’s right-sided corner wide at the far post when the Scotland international clearly thought he might have hit the target.

Soon after, Cardiff had a spell of pressure after Town were unable to clear from a corner, but Murphy then won a flag-kick at the other end, which was returned to Pringle, who sent over a dangerous cross just beyond his team-mates in the area.

Following a spell of Town possession on the right, Murphy headed a Luke Chambers cross wide in the 35th minute.

A minute later, Whittingham whipped in a dangerous freekick from deep on the left which Murphy just managed to divert away from Matthew Connolly in space behind him.

The Blues continued to press and on 40 Moore was forced to punch when under pressure after the home defence had repeatedly failed to clear following a Pringle freekick deep on the left. Soon after, the keeper claimed from Murphy from a Pringle corner on the right.

The Blues were unable to threaten in one minute of added on time and went in at the break rather harshly 1-0 down.

Town had been on top for much of a not hugely enthralling half, however, without overly testing Cardiff deputy keeper Moore, aside from Sears’s early strike and one or two crosses.

While the Blues hadn’t made enough of their set pieces - they had won six corners as well as a couple of freekicks in dangerous areas - the home side had only really presented any threat from theirs, most notably Whittingham’s corner which led to the goal.

Town switched Bru for Brett Pitman ahead of the start of the second half with Sears moving to right midfield.

Neither side created anything of note until the 56th minute when Bialkowski sent the Blues away on a counter-attack following a Cardiff corner.

Pitman flicked on Hyam’s cross from the right to Pringle, who screwed his shot into the side-netting from a decent position on the left of the area.

Town weren’t too far away from an equaliser in the 59th minute when Sears was allowed to reach a long ball from the left. The striker steered the ball past the advancing Moore, but Scott Malone cleared from inside the six-yard box.

The Blues were starting to look more threatening and a minute later Pitman struck a shot from distance which deflected wide.

Town kept the ball for long spells but without creating a further opening, then on 66 Malone broke away for Cardiff after exchanging passes with Lex Immers and hit a shot which flew not too far over Bialkowski’s crossbar.

Three minutes later, Whittingham curled a low 20-yard freekick to Bialkowski’s right, which the keeper claimed comfortably.

Luke Varney replaced Pringle in the 72nd minute, while Whittingham limped off for the home side and Aron Gunnarsson took over.

Sears, now on the left, saw a shot blocked after he cut into the area after exchanging passes with Jonas Knudsen following a corner then Bialkowski tipped Anthony Pilkington’s looping header over from Joe Ralls’s corner on the right.

From the subsequent flag-kick the former Canary went close again, Tommy Smith perhaps getting a touch on the ball just prior to the Irish international connecting with a volley which flew well into the stand behind the goal.

Moore allowed a Sears freekick from the left to slip through his hands and out of play on 79, then five minutes later Murphy shot over from the right with the Blues still unable to create a clear-cut opening.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles took over from Smith for the final two and a half minutes as the Blues continued to look in vain for the equaliser.

Town continued to push during four minutes of injury time - Sears saw an effort blocked during a goalmouth scramble - but, as for most of the rest of the half, rather unconvincingly and referee Andrew Madley’s whistle confirmed the Blues’ defeat.

Having gone in behind after the first half, Town had a lot of the ball after the break but largely huffed and puffed and were unable find a way through a solid Cardiff defence.

The Blues probably deserved something from the game on the balance of play but created too few clear-cut opportunities, while the home side took their one real chance, which from a Town perspective was very preventable.

The defeat and results elsewhere see the Blues stay eighth but now four points behind Sheffield Wednesday - who won 3-0 at Nottingham Forest - in sixth, although still with a game in hand.

That match is Blackburn’s visit to Portman Road on Tuesday with Rotherham - who came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Derby today - in Suffolk next Saturday.

Cardiff: Moore, Peltier, Connolly, Manga, Malone, Noone, O’Keefe, Ralls, Whittingham (Gunnarsson 73), Pilkington (c) (Dikgacoi 83), Immers. Unused: Wilson, Morrison, Ameobi, Zahore.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Smith (Maitland-Niles 88), Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Hyam, Bru (Pitman 46), Pringle (Varney 72), Sears, Murphy. Unused: Crowe, Digby, Tabb, Douglas. Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire). Att: 15,175.

Photo: Action Images

Penguinblue added 17:11 - Mar 12 McCarthy OUT
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yerfdog87 added 17:12 - Mar 12 Get this season over with. Woeful n forgettable
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NoCanariesAllowed added 17:12 - Mar 12 Why, for a game with potentially huge consequences for the playoff race, did that feel just like a mid-table end of season dead rubber? That was an absolute fat lot of nothing. Both teams were utterly underwhelming, the stadium was half empty because most of the local population is only interested in the rugby today, and the game itself was the most bland, bog-standard Championship encounter decided by a set-piece. To be honest, the fact we can play out such a non-event and still lose it is the most depressing thing of all. Five straight defeats I've wasted my money attending now. Seen us score one goal in that time. I love my team, but honestly: Mick, as much as I'm not one of those calling for the axe, when the hell are you and your team going to give me and thousands of others something worth leaving the house for?

44

RaymondovicBlue added 17:13 - Mar 12 Unmarked Magna? ?? I heard on the commentary that he was Berra's man?? If that's the case. ... is a real shame that he's not consistent...he's a great player at this level ....but..... 6 points from next two games or bye bye playoffs!!
7

prebsa added 17:14 - Mar 12 Was never very positive before the game but now it's finished it just feels awful. This shows how important not throwing away that Bolton game was. Another soft goal given away from a corner. We had plenty of corners ourselves that we rarely looked like scoring from. 4 strikers on at the end and we still didn't look like getting a goal. Rotherham showed everyone how to come from behind today and that was to 3 goals. We couldent even manage 1! Bring on the minus marks for being negative and all that rubish (essex57 that's your cue!) But how can you be positive when you see us defend corners like that! Mick is a defender by trade and sorted that out when he came in but recently goals like that against agains Bristol City and quite a few more this year are just not acceptable. If we want to be a team that gets out this decision then the goals against needs to read at least 10 less. Anyway next two home games we must win both if we want to keep our play off chances alive! Optimistic but not a definite. We shall wait and see!

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TimmyH added 17:21 - Mar 12 Pretty uninspiring game (again) you wouldn't have thought it was a possible '6 pointer' game judging by the standards both teams applied. Overall yet another game of narrow margins - just waiting for the typical MM post match interview that states 'we were the first team to blink' which is by and large what happens when we play play-off contenders or teams at the top. So far this year in the league W:4 D:3 L:5 - hardly sounds like a team leaping towards the Premiership (as per last season at this time). On another note when are we going to stop getting injuries to players in our midfield? - hardly settled consistent team in that area, but no excuses more activity could have and should have been done in January as this is part and parcel of the long Champioship season. Disappointing.

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happybeingblue added 17:21 - Mar 12 co commentator on suffolk made more sense than mathie has in last 5 yrs :) too many grafters in the team and not enough ball players .. can we get super jim out of retirement :)
16

bluefeast added 17:22 - Mar 12 Only two sides in championship won at home vs 6 away winners. Bonkers league , other than we are a very stale and sterile side under Mick ,a side that lacks ideas and has players shackled with discipline and structure. We go one nil down and have no plan other than launch forward. We do not look efficient with Murphy in the starting eleven ,how about him being a sub and coming on when we are winningg in order to get the ball to him early and defend a lead. Might even shake Murphy into performing.

5

essex57 added 17:27 - Mar 12 Dont listen to match on radio very often but must say Barry Kemp is a brilliant match analyst.
-4

bluefeast added 17:28 - Mar 12 Cant believe Mick was given another contract extension a few weeks ago ,its crazy to think how we can move forward under a manager with such a limited philosophy. Graft vs craft , we don't make best use of the craft that exists in our squad as the manager is clearly anti that.
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prebsa added 17:29 - Mar 12 It's okay essex57 your comments normally show us that you don't listen or watch much! Thanks for stating the obvious though.
5

TimmyH added 17:33 - Mar 12 @bluefeast - quite simple, the owner see's Mick at the best manager available who'll do as much as possible with such a continuing small budget, The entertainment factor purely doesn't come into it as far as Evans is concerned. 'One hand washes the other' is a term that can quite succinctly wrap upthe relationship between Evans and McCarthy.
7

Warkys_Tash added 17:34 - Mar 12 Very underwhelming result. Last week 6points from six, this week 1 from 6. So inconsistent. Play-offs are a long shot on this form. There is no spark around the squad :-(
7

prebsa added 17:37 - Mar 12 Oh TimmyH if only you were wrong. It really does look that way dosent it. I know we cant say for sure but the way it comes across it really does look like that!
3

prebbs007 added 17:39 - Mar 12 As expected !! Team and manager with no quality no guile no ability no creativity no clue. Nothing will change with ME & MM in control, we will continue to pick dross players out of position, puck the favourites no matter how they perform, and continue to play shocking football with no hope of opening teams up. The total lack of pure ability is embarrassing. It's ok though "we can't get better than we have" Enjoy playing in front of 12k next season Mick. Your players are terrible, your planning and style is awful and your plan B non existent. The defending is a shambles and the goals against column is the exact reason we won't make the play offs. 😂😂😂

15

NSL added 17:47 - Mar 12 It felt like a dead rubber because both teams and supporters know that ultimately, they are nowhere near good enough to get promoted.
10

battyblue added 17:48 - Mar 12 BORING.BORING ,MICK MC'CARTHY
8

BriggEnd added 17:48 - Mar 12 premiership yor aving a laugh championship yes yes yes Garbage shambles embarasing at best.
3

Taricco_Fan added 17:48 - Mar 12 Even though we are (somehow) still in with a shout of a play-off place, this has to be the dullest time to be a Town fan for many a year. There's never been a time before when I've actively looked for another way to pass a Saturday afternoon.
9

TractorBoy666 added 17:53 - Mar 12 I didn't get too carried with winning 2 or 3 on the bounce the other week as its been a rare occasion this season, and we are just utterly inconsistent. Where have the goals gone? It's alright saying oh but we do have didz out, and we do have bishop out! But why didn't we replace these players for the rest of the campaign? Surely mick knew they were going to be out for most of the last part of the season. We have Skuse, Douglas, Hyam and Foley who are our central midfield starters, where is the creativity in there??? For me the season was over when we didn't sign any players in January.

15

cartman1972 added 17:54 - Mar 12 Useless boring dull terrible lifeless, scant excitement, crap crap crap why do we never get a result when needed.......??????? Who'd be a blue? Tedious to the extreme.
16

afrodids added 17:55 - Mar 12 At least we'll get to play the scum again next season obviously not in the desired league however a local derby is a local derby!! Didn't expect anything from today tbh. Tired of it all now.
9

Cakeman added 17:56 - Mar 12 The way I see it is that we must win a minimum of five of our remaining home games and pick up a few scrapps away from home. Possible yes, realistic no. Sorry to say that another season in the Championship with fewer supporters. Mr and Mrs Cakeman are away on holiday at the moment and we're talking today (before the match) about whether we would renew our season tickets. We have decided to but our patience with how this club is going is wearing fast. We could easily get entertainment around the corner at Kirkley and Pakefield which would then see players putting the proverbial shift in without being grossly overpaid and actually trying to entertain.

11

essex57 added 18:02 - Mar 12 Cartman who are you refering to Penquinblue and prebsa
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MicksZzzTactics added 18:07 - Mar 12 WOW! "Vast" improvement on our most recent 1-0 losses ..... instead of managing just ONE meager 'shot on target', today we managed a lofty TWO!!! :-) Actually I reckon we had fairly plenty of possession today incl. especially several good moves by Mr. Sears -- obviously since he for 'a change' was not stuck exclusively out on the wing!!! -- but overall we still struggled to create them real clear-cut chances. Offensively (and statistically) Cardiff certainly neither overran nor outplayed us over the 95 minutes! but they did have a couple of decent chances in the last quarter to add to their lead ... Thus imho a point would probably not have been a complete case of "miscarriage" of justice, even if you remove them "bluetinted" glasses. :-) Kudos to The Dinosaur for FINALLY giving Sears a much more suitable attacking role .... but also thumbs down for some "vintage Mick" mindboggling substitutions (removing all the already SCARCE creativity/danger from our midfield in the 2nd half instead of removing woefully uncreative/undangerous Mr. Hyam or Mr. Skuse ... or both! Yep it sounds mighty mighty daring and ultra banzai to have our eon-old-school manager play 4 strikers on the field at once .... but apart from the occasional I-can-do-it-by-myself nifty moves by Freddie whom are generally going to supply them with initial good "service"??? Our Hoof-inclined back-4??? or perhaps rather the 2 Messi-wannabees Mr. Hyam and Mr. Skuse??? lol

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