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Everything about today was special. 4,508 fans (a very healthy pre season crowd, probably the biggest for a decade or two),  the new Grange roof was creating a very loud noise from the fans who were stood under it, the pitch was superb, the front of the bob bank is nearly ready and City fans were wearing the coming seasons shirts.

Add to that the total domination of Crystal Palace by Cardiff City, a team in Div 1, and the mix was complete. Graham Kavanagh opened the scoring with a direct hit from an edge of the box free kick. Then it was the Rob Earnshaw show. Earnie twisted and turned in the box and fired low to the right to open his account. Then in the second half he fired a shot that came off a defender and over the line before the Palace keeper could scramble it out and that was followed by an Earnie special, where he picked up a poor back pass, Earnie was in like a whippet and rounded the keeper to complete his hat-trick.

The starting XI was Alexander, Weston, Prior, Young, Gabbidon, Low, Hamilton, Kavanagh, Legg, Earnie and Gordan.

David Hughes replaced Prior at half time and as the second half wore on we saw appearances by Leo, Bowen, Brayson, Maxwell, Jeanne and maybe another.

Below are some pictures from today, the Grange End looked superb, the lower bob will be brilliant when full of fans.

Palace brought around 120 fans, most had left at around 70 mins.

A brilliant start to the the home season.

In addition to my pictures try this link. www.cpfc.org great pictures from the match.

Report by NigelBlues.

CARDIFF CITY (0) 4
Kavanagh 9
Earnshaw 27, 70, 72

CRYSTAL PALACE (0) 0

Att: 4,508

Away Support: 100 approx.

Weather: More suited to Roath Park than Ninian Park, no breeze and temperatures in the high 80's

Pitch: Superb, a new drainage system fitted this summer made surface look even better, if that's possible

City fans couldn't have asked for any better than a sizzling display on a sizzling day as they blew away Crystal Palace to complete 4 'first-team' victories within 6 days, scoring 16 goals and conceding just one.

Today's side featured players who may well be in the starting 11, the only shuffle from the pre-announced team saw Michael Simpkins missing with injury resulting in Daniel Gabbidon playing in the left wing back role and Scott Young called up at centre-half.

The team (playing 4-4-2) were
Alexander
Weston
Prior
Young
Gabbidon
Low
Hamilton
Kavanagh
Legg
Gordon
Earnshaw

The first impression of the afternoon was caused by the ground. The Grange End is totally transformed with the roof over it. It was probably just a quarter full but the first time that the fans sang out, the noise boomed across the ground.

So intimidated were the 100 or so Palace fans from chants, not all welcoming!, by the City faithful in The Grange and Lower Grandstand that they could hardly bring themselves to look at the City support and tried to fix their gaze on the pitch. Away fans, starting with Wycombe in a fortnight, definitely won't forget a visit to Ninian in a hurry.

Also looking impressive was the Bob Bank terrace. Not yet finished/open, the terrace looked very good with the concrete down and barriers (in solid rows 100 feet or so long).

Then there was the p.a. system, vastly improved and booming all around the ground with a new announcer, Ali, who whipped up the atmosphere nicely. Every time City scored or did well, there was a strange noise coming out of the p.a.. After a while, we worked out it was sheep blaring!!

On the field, all the new signings had superb ovations and all settled immediately as City looked impressive and bringing out spontaneous applause from the support.

The reason why the game was won and lost and why the performance was exceptional were because of;
1. City looked fully organised with every player seeming to know what was expected of them, this isn't the Cardiff City we've been used to these past years!!
2. The defence were solid, organised and tight. The Palace strikers, Dougie Freeman and Clinton Morrison, are very good players but hardly posed any threat all afternoon.
3. Midfield is as good as it's been for years too with a combination of flair, hard work and accurate passing the key feature.
4. Attack has everything. Quality, strength and, most of all, pace. Palace couldn't handle Cardiff coming at them with exceptional pace, the type which suggests the team could pose a major threat in away games, possibly doing as well or even better than at Ninian where most visitors will surely come intent on packing their defence and trying to squeeze the life out of City.

In other words, City were solid right through the team and definitely through the middle. It all shapes up for a very exciting season and, on this evidence, the optimism of another successful season rather than consolidation isn't as silly as it may sound.

After 9 minutes, it was 1-0 and it was all about Graham Kavanagh. The £1M signing and Captain won the ball in midfield, held off a Palace challenge by using his body and carried the ball to the edge of the area where a Palace player took him down with a late challenge. Kavanagh's free kick was perfect too, a curler over the wall and into the top right corner. It was quality although Palace's bulky Latvian keeper, Kolinko, seem to let the ball go through his hands en route.

But who cared? Not City fans who went wild, nor Kavanagh who charged back to halfway celebrating in front of the Grandstand nor the p.a. which played its first blast of baa baa noises to greet the first chant of "One-Nil to the Sheepsh*ggers".

Cardiff were in control, Palace were seeing as much of the ball but didn't really have any idea what to do with it, a combination of City's organisation and their ineptness.

It was no surprise to see City double their lead on 27 minutes and it was another beauty. From a Palace corner, the ball broke to Josh Low who almost had the crowd shout "ole" as he dropped his shoulders and went past three Palace challenges with ease and at his customary break-neck speed. He carried the ball 70 yards, opening up Palace, before releasing Earnie on the right edge of the penalty area. Earnie's first effort, a cross to advancing far post attackers, was blocked but the ball came back to him. Most players would have a 2nd attempt at a cross but not Earnie who instinctively brought the ball back, cut past his marker and unleashed a low 20 yard angled drive surprising everybody as it flew inside the near post. It was pure quality
as Ninian went mental with Earnie's first home somersault of the season. Palace fans meanwhile were treated to a rousing chorus telling them to go back home to London ... not as politely of course!

After a blistering opening in blistering heat, it was not surprising to see the pace of the game drop totally. City's blue shirts noticeably had gone a few shades darker as they were all caked in sweat, players must have lost a few pounds in weight for their afternoon's work. Every time someone was injured, it was noticeable that every player and even the officials and ref ran to the dugout area for water.

City continued to dominate and in all areas too. Alexander in goals looks a quality capture. His handling is superb, his shot stopping looks supreme, he takes control of his area and his confidence almost extends to arrogance. One wayward backpass saw Alexander bounce the ball up and down on his knee a couple of times before booting upfield, bemusing Morrison who tried to close him down. Made a superb reflex save when Freedman was one on one with him too. An instant crowd favourite.

Spencer Prior is quality. He had superb awareness and the ability just to put a foot out and make decisive tackles. His organisation and shouting to those around him makes him a natural leader and it was noticeable that he wasn't content just to win balls in the air but, without exception, he was directing his headers to City players to start the next move.

The biggest defensive worry for City was a seagull which camped on the edge of City's area and wouldn't move even when the ball and players were near him. Gabbidon, I swear, had to swerve around him a couple of times and he played a role at one Palace corner. The Eagles biggest threat was a Seagull!

Kavanagh won all the half-time praise in the ground. He is exceptional, never wasted a pass all afternoon it seemed and was the pivot of the side. Hamilton looks the part too with exciting skills although the supreme moment of the half was Earnie's tackle and back-hell pass back to Rhys Weston almost in the same instant. I'm going to try that skill on the beach tomorrow, probably be trying all day and still won't do it.

And don't forget the players we've seen before. Leggy was immense at left-wuing back, he may be 35 but he went past players time and again. Weston is far happier, and better, at right-wing back. Gordon worked hard as did Gabbidon and Young while Josh Low causes mayhem on the ball and, there's always Earnie.

Half-time: City 2 Palace 0

The second-half was a quiet affair the opening 20 minutes. Both sides stroking the ball around but only City had a cutting edge and incisiveness about their play. Palace had good individual players but City had that and looked more of a team too.

It got to the stage where fans were wondering if the team had peaked too early, could this be their best show of the season etc. All this while the players are still getting to know each other!

The skill highlight of the half was Des Hamilton beating three men in a 50 yard run along the touchline with the ball rolling along the line all the way. I won't try that on the beach, I can't run that far.

The game burst into life again with two goals in two minutes after 70 minutes. The first was all about pace again, Josh Low bringing the ball out of City's half, leaving Palace players in his wake, his through ball to Gavin Gordon was perfect. Gordon's pace took him away from his marker and into the area at an angle. He miscued his shot across goal but it turned out to be the perfect pass for Earnie who, to complete a mini-comedy, also mishit his effort back across goal but it hit a Place defender and deflected into the net with the keeper blocking the ball only after it had crossed the line.

Earnie ran down the front of the Grandstand extolling them to cheer louder and another somersault. Two minutes later, his gymnastics were off again as he completed a hat-trick and made it 4-0.

Earnie intercepted a poor back-pass but few players would have taken the opportunity and finished like he did as he faced up to the keeper, looped the ball over him, controlled it then passed into the empty net. What style.

From that moment, City chose to make several changes, roughly coinciding with half the Palace support going home early. They had come to Ninian with confidence, boasting of 4 pre-season wins and scoring plenty of goals but there's a world of difference between winning at Exeter and Torquay compared to playing the current City side and future Division 1 opponents.

I thought they were a poor side and slightly lucky to have beaten City in the Worthington Cup last season, said so at the time, and they only avoided relegation with a last day of season away victory. Cardiff are better, they are worse, they are clearly in for a long season and, on this evidence, will do well to survive this time but take nothing away from Cardiff.

Bowen, Leo, Brayson, Boland, Hughes, Maxwell and Giles all made appearances and all performed well too. City staying comfortably in control, Palace were well beaten and knew it too.

We are going to face a tougher pre-season test in Coventry on Wednesday and better Division Two opponents also but there is nothing to fear.

Get set for what promises to be another thriller of a season - well, we never have mid-table consolidation seasons do we??

Palace report from www.cpfc.co.uk
Steve Bruce suffered his first defeat as Palace boss with a disappointing performance at Ninian Park as they went down 4-0 against The Bluebirds.

The damage was done by Robert Earnshaw who completed a hat-trick when he intercepted a back pass from Hayden Mullins to complete the victory with the fourth goal of the afternoon.

The opening goal of the afternoon came on nine minutes when a free kick from the edge of box, after a foul by Mullins, was curled over the wall into the top corner even though Kolinko got a hand to it.

It was not too long before the home side increased their advantage following a run by Josh Lowe that saw him cut inside to find Earnshaw. His left foot shot beat Kolinko at the near post to give him his opening goal of the game.

The visitors made an early change at the start of the second half as winger Wayne Carlisle replaced Aki but he was not on the field long before the third. It was another for Earnshaw as he met a cross from the right after Berhalter failed to cut out the cross and the Bluebirds striker slotted home number three.

The mistake by Mullins late in the game to let in Earnshaw capped a disappointing afternoon in a match which Palace were short on chances, the best falling late to Freedman but a defender was on hand to clear the danger and dismiss any chance of a consolation goal.

Palace now entertain Premiership new boys Fulham on Wednesday evening when they will be looking to get back to winning ways with the league season only a fortnight away.

Team: Kolinko, Fan Zhiyi, Mullins, Berhalter, Smith, Thomson, Aki, Rodger, Morrison, Kirowski, and Freedman.

Substitution: - Carlisle for Aki, Gray for Smith, Kabba for Kirowski, Harrison for Morrison