Paterson to the rescue as Bluebirds salvage a draw against familiar rivals

CALLUM Paterson was once again Cardiff City’s saviour as they came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Reading.

Yakou Meite proved to be the scourge of the Bluebirds for the second time in a week as his early goal handed the visitors the lead at Cardiff City Stadium.

And, for most of the evening, it looked like the Royals would head home with all three points during a fiery, albeit rather drab contest.

However, Cardiff snatched a point 20 minutes from time after Paterson, who like Meite also netted in the draw at the Madejski in the FA Cup last week, pounced on a goalmouth scramble to bundle home. Cardiff were sluggish for much of this game, but Paterson’s third goal in as many games ensured they earned a share of the points.

With just five points separating City from the play-offs, and with a much-needed morale-boosting win over West Brom under their belts, hopes were high that Cardiff could lay down a marker for the second half of the season with a win here.

Despite this clash being Cardiff’s third game in six days, boss Neil Harris chose to make just one change from the side that triumphed over the title-chasing Baggies, with the talismanic Lee Tomlin preferred ahead of Robert Glatzel.

With Cardiff working hard on late additions, much of the pre-match talk surrounded a potential exit for full-back Lee Peltier as he sought to complete a deadline day move to The Hawthorns.

There was still time for the club to confirm their intention to get a replacement in for the former Liverpool man, although any concerns over Peltier’s departure were likely to have been exacerbated inside the opening 10 minutes.

A lovely through ball from Ovie Ejaria set Sam Baldock through, who in turn slipped in John Swift, resulting in a teasing cross that was met by the head of an unmarked Meite to nod home from close range.

Slow starts are becoming a worrying constant for City this season and, a curled effort from Tomlin aside, Reading were largely untroubled during the opening 20 minutes.

Then again, the Royals struggled to fashion any further clear-cut chances too, with Ejaria’s wayward halfvolley about as close as the visitors came to doubling their lead in a first half that also saw stewards intervene inside the away end, with one fan ejected by stewards.

Tempers threatened to boil over on the pitch too, with Reading’s Baldock arguably lucky to escape with a yellow follow a shocking tackle on Will Vaulks on the stroke of half