BLUEBIRDS & SWANS MATCH REPORTS
CARDIFF City were denied their first away win of the season as a Tom Bradshaw double ensured Millwall took their share of the spoils at The Den.
Danny Ward took his chance early on when he headed home but City were hit with a sucker punch against the run of play when Bradshaw hit his first leveller.
A stunning strike from Junior Hoilett looked to have sealed the points for City, but Bradshaw hit another heartbreaking equaliser.
City played possibly their best football away from home all season, but that away win still alludes them.
Just one look at the team sheet and it was evident Warnock was yearning for his first win on the road.
It was an attacking line up, far more attacking than what we have become accustomed to away from home this campaign.
The manager placed his trust in Lee Tomlin to pull the strings in behind Ward, a striker who has been banging on the door for an opportunity in recent weeks.
Yes, Gavin Whyte and Junior Hoilett were restored to the wings to add that defensive cover, but, overall, that front four is one that can excite and one capable of both devastating on the counter-attack and sticking to its defensive duties.
It was interesting to note Leandro Bacuna had been jettisoned from the squad all together following his reaction to being substituted against Sheffield Wednesday last Friday.
The Curacao midfielder has been in form in recent weeks and adds a little more physicality than Marlon Pack and Joe Ralls, the preferred to in the middle of the park, which Warnock typically likes, especially on the road.
The game start with a little toing and froing, but the hosts were finding joy down the right-hand side, as has often been the case this season, with a flurry of crosses resulting in strong Millwall headers having to be denied.
But once Cardiff got their foot on the ball, they looked a lovely team to watch at teams. The link-up play between Ralls, Tomlin, Hoilett and Ward was Cardiff at its best. And it soon paid off.
Hoilett had right back Mahlon Romeo in knots for much of the first half, driving with purpose and skill and beating his man on more than one occasion.
It was his pinpoint cross to Ward that saw City go in front. The Canadian beat his man and whipped it to the far post, where Ward was gladly waiting to nod home after just 12 minutes.
And the Bluebirds were in the ascendancy, they dominated much of the first period and the Lions were being tamed.
The hosts couldn’t get out of their own half and a flurry of shots from Ward and Tomlin forced Bartosz Bialkowski into action in the Millwall goal.
But there was a sting in the tail to come.
A break up into the Cardiff half just before the break brought the equaliser. Aden Flint and Joe Bennett were caught napping at the far post and Bradshaw drilled an effort across goal which ricocheted off Sean Morrison and into the City goal on the stroke of half-time. A real sucker punch just before the break.
Cardiff picked up where they left off, though and played some beautiful football, Tomlin and Hoilett again causing the trouble - and it was the winger who finally got his reward.
He burst in from the wing, as he did all evening, and bent a beautiful effort into the far corner from the corner of the box to restore the lead before the hour.
With the derby just days away, however, it was worrying to see him hobble off just minutes later because, all things considered, he was City’s best player on the night and would have been busting for Sunday’s clash.
But Bradshaw was found, against the run of play, and nicked it past Aden Flint before rifling home the second equaliser of the night.
It was a far better performance by Cardiff, who were exciting and fluid at times, but silly mistakes proved costly. That feels like one that got away from them.
They are still without a win away from the capital this season and Sunday is now the perfect time to rectify that.
Cardiff City XI (4-2-3-1): Etheridge; Peltier, Flint, Morrison, Bennett; Pack, Ralls; Whyte, Tomlin (Bogle 86), Hoilett (Murphy 67); Ward (Paterson 86)
Subs not used: Smithies, Nelson, Mendez Laing, Glatzel
Millwall XI (4-4-2): Bialkowski; Romeo, Hutchinson, Cooper, Wallace; J Wallace, Williams, Thompson, O’Brien (Mahoney 86); Bradshaw, Smith (Bodvarsson 70) Subs not used: Steele, McCarthy, Pearce, Molumby, Ferguson Timothy Robinson 11,769
Referee: Att: