WARNOCK A VICTIM OF GILLS HIT LIST
ELLIOTT LIST was the hero for League one strugglers Gillingham as he smashed home a late winner to stun Premier League Cardiff.
Midfielder List buried his finish past Bluebirds keeper Alex Smithies with nine minutes remaining.
It stunned Cardiff, who had been the better side but were unable to make a breakthrough as they twice hit the woodwork and squandered numerous other chances.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing went closest for the visitors when he curled against the crossbar 20 minutes from time, while Gills defender Gabriel Zakuani earlier diverted the ball against his team’s right post.
With top-flight survival the priority, it looked like Cardiff would have to be content with an unwanted replay in south Wales before List emphatically intervened.
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock (right), who made seven changes from the side which lost to Tottenham on New Year’s Day, had no complaints with the result.
But he was unhappy with the medical attention his players got when they needed it after Danny
Ward had to wait for a stretcher. He said: “If you’re medical people and you’re waiting for a stretcher – if he’d had a heart attack he’d be dead now. So they’ve got a lot to learn.
“Whatever division you’re in, you’re concerned about your players if they don’t get the right treatment, and we were waiting for a stretcher for quite a long time.
“Kadeem Harris is having an X-ray on a shoulder and Danny is going for a scan on a cheekbone.”
As for the performance, Warnock added: “We made a lot of changes but I thought we played well and I’ve no complaints about our attitude.
‘‘We’ve had so many chances and we got punished, so good luck to them.
“They battled well and we’ve got a couple of lads in hospital. But I don’t think we would have scored if we’d have played for two more hours.”
Gillingham made just one enforced change due to an injury to midfielder Billy Bingham and his replacement, match-winner List, had the first opportunity of the match. He turned in space to fire an effort which was well gathered by Smithies.
Cardiff began to control proceedings and should have been ahead before the break but Joe Bennett and Joe Ralls had efforts blocked.
For all of their dominance, Cardiff were given a warning minutes before the interval.
Full-back Bradley Garmston produced an inviting cross from the left and unmarked Gills top scorer Tom Eaves headed narrowly over.
Gillingham, just a point above the third-tier relegation zone and on the back of successive defeats, remained a threat in the second period.
They should have broken the deadlock in the 58th minute but Josh Parker fired over from close range.
Then Cardiff were made to pay for their profligacy in the 81st minute as List made the most of Eaves’ ball into the box to powerfully find the net from 15 yards.
Gillingham 1 Cardiff 0 Bob Wroe