The game kicks off and City waste no time in advancing, with Andrew Taylor shooting over the crossbar from inside the area. Wednesday also force an early chance, ending when Michail Antonio fires his shot wide of the post with only 2mins on the clock. Only the offside flag prevents the winger from being in a one-on-one opportunity minutes later as the Cardiff rear guard seems shaky in the opening exchanges. When a short corner by Peter Whittingham breaks down, the Owls attack and earn a free-kick following a foul by Mark Hudson on the recalled Chris O'Grady. The free kick goes into the wall from Miguel Llera and the danger passes, 3mins later and the Spaniard again fires a free-kick into the wall much to the frustration of Chris Lines who was also in contention to strike it. A quick Cardiff attack results in a corner when Jeremy Hélan blocks Matthew Connoly's effort on goal - Whittinghams corner gets saved by Chris Kirkland and Cardiff have another corner kick. Craig Bellamy crosses and Hudsons header goes over the bar. The home side then start to pepper the Wednesday back line and shots from Whittingham (over) and Jordon Mutch (blocked by Llera) test the Owls back line. When Bellamy takes a short corner, Whittingham gets a shot away but SWFC captain Martin Taylor blocks the effort in a good start to the defenders game. The defender, in as a replacement for Gardner (who failed a late fitness test) is keeping tight to Bellamy and closing down quickly. England U21 midfielder Mutch sees his shot blocked by Llera and moments later has his drilled effort well saved by Kirkland. On the half hour mark, the injured Mamady Sidibe is replaced by Gary Madine. The Owls are set-up on a 4-3-3 formation in a bold move by Jones and with O'Grady spearheading the attack - the striker lashes a 20yard shot but Ben Turner gets the block in. The driving rain is making ball control difficult but Kim Bo-Kyung is doing fantastic in the Cardiff midfield, being heavily involved in any attack. As half time approaches, M.Taylor - having a solid game deflects a Bellamy shot into the roof of his own net and the resulting corner is cleared by Lines at the near post. The half closes with no side really pressing and both sets of players will be glad to get into the dressing rooms for 15mins.
HT. A good performance by SWFC, matching the high-flying Bluebirds and a solid display by Taylor. The surprise inclusion of David Prutton also seems a good one as the midfielder is putting a decent shift in. That being said, Cardiff look dangerous attacking and with the quality of Bellamy, Whittingham and Bo-Kyung they have more than enough talent to cause Wednesday problems. Today's HT snack is a coffee and KitKat chunky with some Frazzles (good snack!)
As the second half kicks off, it only takes a minute for Heidar Helguson to have a shot at goal - clearing the bar. A second Cardiff attack is halted when Kirkland saves Bellamys 20yard strike, moments after Prutton sees yellow. On the 50th min, Wednesday make their first real attack, Madine firing his shot just wide of David Marshalls right-hand post. When Whittingham lines up a free-kick the visitors get every man behind the ball and keep out the effort, ending with a Hudson shot saved by Kirkland. The rain is really coming down and the freezing cold sees all fans wrapped up ... except one - the legendary 'Tango' cheering on his beloved Wednesday bare-chested as always. When Craig Conway lashes a shot over the bar, Wednesdays next move sets up their best chance so far when neat play by Antonio sees his pass to Madine, the misfiring "goal machine" tries to stroke the ball into the far corner but Marshall makes a comfortable save. O'Grady is there for the follow-up but can only strike skyward, clearing the bar. A spate of free-kicks breaks up any momentum before it can start. Antonio takes the ball and runs, runs and runs - only to see his cross blocked by Andrew Taylor. In a bid to add attacking influence, Dave Jones replaces Danny Mayor for Jermaine Johnson. The corner in by Lines is easily cleared by Hudson. In the 68th minute, the always dangerous Bellamy sees his shot blocked by his man-marker Taylor, still having a good game. 2mins later and having been on the field for 60secs, Rudy Gestede sees his header from Conways cross, fly just wide. Llera and Lines both do well to clear consecutive corners as the Bluebirds press for the opening goal with no reward and Taylor blocks a Bellamy rasping shot. For all the defensive improvement, the Wednesday back-line switch off when Joe Mason feeds the ball to Conway and his low drive flies into the bottom corner. Cardiff lead with 10mins to play. On the 85th minute, O'Grady makes way for Rodri and the Spaniard is quick into the action. His short worked corner results in a handball by Bellamy and a dangerously placed free-kick is awarded. Lines fires the shot but the impressive Whittingham makes the clearance. As the game comes to a close, M.Taylor attempts to cap a fine performance by scoring but his effort on goal is again cleared by Whittingham. Wednesday force 3 late corners in quick succession, one of which seeing Kirkland head at goal and Marshall making the claim, but the Cardiff back-line defends resolutely. As the referee brings the game to a close, M.Taylor and Chris Lines drop to the turf but quickly make their way to the away end with the team to a round of applause and chant of 'We love you Wednesday, we do...'
FT. A much improved performance by Wednesday, play like that more often and the points will come. Cardiff also played well and they have some gifted players, it's no fluke they're at the summit of the Championship. The players will take heart from the game, especially M.Taylor who just played his best game for SWFC.
Attendance: 22,044 (1,0006 Owls)
Owls Man of Match: M.Taylor
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