RALLS SHOWS HE’S NO ORDINARY JOE
Carson; Wisdom, Keogh, Davies, Forsyth; Huddlestone, Ledley, Russell, Vydra (Johnson 78th), Lawrence (Thorne 88th); Nugent (Martin 61st) Downing seeing two shots deflected clear.
Sol Bamba was involved at the other end shortly after the hour mark.
The Cardiff centre-half was adamant he had scored after a penalty-box scramble.
His prodded effort from Sean Morrison’s square ball was hacked away by Assombalonga, who was standing on the goalline.
Cardiff’s players protested that the ball had crossed the line, but referee Andrew Madley waved SHEFF WEDS: Westwood; Hunt, Lees, Loovens, Fox; Wallace (Matias 82nd), Lee, Bannan, Reach; Hooper, Fletcher (Lucas Joao 65th) play on. The referee was involved again with seven minutes left when Traore flew into a reckless challenge as Mendez-Laing turned in the area. Madley rightly pointed to the spot.
Ralls drilled his spot-kick past Randolph.
And the visitors should have added a second goal in the dying seconds, only for Hoilett to head wide of the target.
Boos rang around the Riverside at the final whistle.
The Teessiders have failed to win any of their last five matches, and find themselves in the bottom half of the table despite having started the season as promotion favourites.
Manager Garry Monk said: “We understand the fans’ frustration, but what’s very clear is that we stick together.
“It’s easy to lose focus on what the players have done really well, even today there were a lot of good things.
“We’re getting punished for errors but we know the good Matej Vydra S Duncan things we’re doing will get us through. We’re very close to getting to that situation where those things go for us.
“When we do get through this period, you’ll see a lot of positives.”