Cup specialists Sheffield United made all the running at Ninian Park but had
to wait for a late strike from substitute Wayne Allison to edge out Cardiff.
The Blades, looking to repeat the heroics that took them to the semi-finals of
both knockout competitions last season, were by far the better side in this FA
Cup third-round clash.
But it was not until the introduction of former Huddersfield frontman Allison
that they made their dominance tell and he headed home with 16 minutes left to
settle the tie.
Having seen his side go five games without a victory, Cardiff boss Lennie
Lawrence chose to shuffle his pack.
Robert Earnshaw was promoted from the bench in place of Andy Campbell while
Alan Lee was named as a substitute at the expense of Chris Barker.
United also opted for new faces with defender Chris Morgan returning while new
loan signing Dean Sturridge also started.
Striker Steve Kabba was not in the squad after breaking his leg last week
against Wigan, but the Blades did not seem to miss his presence too much as they
immediately forced the pace.
Virtually from the whistle they surged forward and after just 29 seconds they
could have gone ahead.
Following some neat passing in midfield, Phil Jagielka raced down the left and
when he crossed into the box goalkeeper Martyn Margetson had to be alert to turn
Jack Lester's shot round the post.
That was a clear statement of intent and for the rest of the half the visitors
looked the more dangerous side.
After Morgan had seen a drive hacked clear by Spencer Prior, on 20 minutes
United threatened again as Lester steered Sturridge's curling centre wide.
Then three minutes later the same player fired close again when he latched
onto Michael Tonge's free-kick.
Cardiff were being pinned on the back foot and it was not until just before
the half-hour mark that they carved out their first chance when Tony Vidmar's
header flew wide.
But that was the best they could muster and in the end they were fortunate to
go in level at the break.
The half-time interval could not come soon enough for the Bluebirds but after
the restart they were soon under the cosh again.
Nick Montgomery was beginning to dominate in the United midfield and after 52
minutes he surged forward before firing in a powerful shot.
Then Stuart McCall unleashed a similar effort that also forced Margetson to
save.
After 63 minutes the visitors' cause was hampered when Sturridge was forced
off with an injury to be replaced by Paul Peschisolido.
At the same time, however, Blades boss Neil Warnock sent on Allison in place
of Ashley Ward and 11 minutes later that switch paid dividends.
The breakthrough came from Tonge's surge down the left and when he crossed
into the box Allison rose above his marker to power home a header and book the
Blades a place in round four.
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook