Ralls helps Bluebirds fly above North End in battle for play-offs
JOE RALLS opened the floodgates for Cardiff with a cracking opening goal – and after that the dam burst for Preston.
The midfielder fired the Bluebirds ahead in the 69th minute but Daniel Johnson pulled Preston level just four minutes later – only for visitors to wash their hopes away.
First came a super strike by sub Nathaniel Mendez-Laing with eight minutes to go before Robert Glatzel scored a third in added time.
The win for Cardiff means they leapfrog North End and move into the play-off spots and boss Neil Harris is delighted that his side are starting to buy in to his ideas.
He said:
“I was impressed with the character that we showed. What I wanted to see was a reaction and I got it.
“We are certainly making progress now – and the right sort of progress. Sometimes it takes time for a manager to get his ideas across and for the players to really buy into what you want.
“But that’s happening now. I think we could have showed more quality but the character made up for that.”
Ralls had played a robust part in Cardiff’s performance before his opener but in truth the first half was quiet from teams who started neck and neck in the play-off stakes.
But in the end, Cardiff showed their quality and their composure to take the game by the scruff of the neck and end their run of unhappy results against Preston over the years.
The Bluebirds’ first push forward of note ended with a longrange shot by Leandro Bacuna being deflected for Cardiff’s first corner, which proved fruitless.
A quick break forward saw Cardiff’s Sean Morrison glance a header goalwards but keeper Declan Rudd had it covered.
The deadlock was broken when Dion Sanderson’s cross found Ralls who had to battle with Patrick Bauer before slotting past helpless Rudd.
Preston hit back quickly when Johnson was in the right place at the right time to tuck a blocked shot into the bottom corner.
But the killer goal came nine minute later as super-sub MendezLaing broke down the right side, swept past Preston’s defence and unleashed a low drive that had Rudd beaten hands down.
North End threw on three substitutes late on in a bid to retrieve at least a point from the match.
But when Cardiff sub Glatzel hit home with a cool shot, it was all over for Preston.
Lilywhites boss Alex Neil said: “This was a tough one to take.
“I don’t think there was that much in it, really, but we need to try and be more clinical and stop making mistakes at the wrong time – it was silly mistakes that ultimately cost us.”