BLUEBIRDS MAKE POINT TO STAY TOP

Bluebirds make their point – report, reaction and pictures:

CARDIFF City won’t have much time to dwell on this hard-earned draw, but when the points are tallied up at the end of the season they might rightly reflect on an astounding display of character and confidence at Craven Cottage.

It’s a horrid cliché, but games really don’t get much tougher than Fulham away. Teams don’t come more elegant. Even a half-strength home side — denied their captain and talisman in Tom Cairney — were content to strut Slavisa Jokanovic’s stylish stuff, and an occasionally cumbersome Cardiff back four passed an important test.

That was after Ryan Sessegnon’s coolly-taken opener threatened to end the Bluebirds’ unbeaten start to the season — and ultimately did put paid to their 100 per cent record.

Danny Ward will take the plaudits for his 83rd-minute equalising header, but the real winners were Cardiff’s gritty midfielders, Joe Ralls following in Aron Gunnarsson’s footsteps as the Iceland captain gave a lesson in tough-tackling honest midfield play.

For all of Fulham’s fast interplay and fancy footwork, it wasn’t the most dignified game of football, nor was Cardiff’s performance the prettiest we’ve seen in this dream start to the season. But Neil Warnock’s boys were ruthlessly effective once again.

As in the 2-1 win over Wolves at Molineux, Cardiff deeply unsettled their more prestigious opponents. Time after time the Craven Cottage crowd screamed their disapproval as Joe Bennett, Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier picked up yellow cards.

In fact, Cardiff gave as good as they got as four Fulham players were also booked.

It was a more equal contest than those in West London would have you believe. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was the recipient of some hefty challenges from Denis Odoi, while Kenneth Zohore’s battle with Tomas Kalas was more like a WWE wrestling contest than a footballing one.

Say what you like about the Bluebirds’ bruising style — and plenty are talking about their physicality — but this draw was founded on sheer determination. Character. Personality. Bouncebackability. Call it what you want, we shouldn’t be surprised, nearly a year into Warnock’s tenure in South Wales, to see Cardiff play this way.

On 75 minutes they were presented with an almighty challenge that could, in time, prove to be a significant moment in the season.

Having previously played with a fairly cagey game-plan that suggested they would have been content with a draw, Cardiff’s defences were finally breached by a fine pass from the Fulham midfield, which Floyd Ayite latched onto.

Bennett was there with a valiant last-ditch tackle-cum-block but nobody could prevent Sessegnon slotting home from close range when the ball broke free.

As the Fulham fans celebrated wildly, Warnock looked around to assess the mood of his Cardiff players. Would heads begin to drop?

Helped by another raucous ovation from a travelling support numbering 3,500, the Yorkshireman got his answer. Chins remained up and Warnock was already concocting the recovery plan.

He ushered deadline-day signing Liam Feeney onto the pitch, joining Craig Bryson and Ward off the bench in a triple-pronged dice roll.

It was Feeney’s cross that found a leaping Ward for the leveller and Feeney who struck the crossbar in the dying moments.

So for all Fulham’s numerous chances to win the game, it could have been Cardiff who strolled clear of the Thames with another three points.

It wasn’t to be of course, but Warnock got the response he wanted and the draw he would have settled for, as he revealed after the game.

“It’s a different game to any other in the Championship,” he said of the unique challenge posed by Jokanovic’s side.

“Nobody else plays like Fulham and I thought we coped really well. If you’d had said before the game ‘would you take a point?,’ I would have snapped your hand off.

“A point at Fulham is very good and the way we got it epitomised the whole side.”

What Warnock was referencing, of course, was that character which has become indicative of this outfit, playing with such confidence at the moment. And why not? It spoke volumes that Lee Tomlin was an unused