Tues 18th Sep 2001.

Cardiff City
Alexander
Gabbidon
Simpkins
Prior
Legg
Hamilton (Leo FW 58)
Kavanagh
Bonner (Boland 67)
Weston
Brayson
Thorne

Subs not used
Kendall
Hughes
Jeanne

Northampton
Welch
Spedding
Marsh (Carruthers 18)
Dempsey
Hope
Hunter
Hunet
Forrester
McGregor
Wolleaston (Asamoah 69)
Parkin

Subs not used
Gabbiadini
Sollitt
Hodge

Brayson on the atack (www.bbc.co.uk)

Report from NigelBlues.
Cardiff City beat Northampton 2-0 at Ninian Park, moved up to 11th place with games in hand and another home game this weekend, are very well placed to rocket into the play off/promotion positions. Win one of those two games in hand on most teams above us and we're in the play off positions, win both and we go top. Ultimately, that's all that matters.

Just as well as there were few other positives to take away from a substandard game that made a mockery of higher Division football producing better quality football than Division Three. I honestly can't recall the last time I saw Cardiff City play as poorly and end up 2-0 winners.

Northampton are bottom of the table, having now lost 7 out of 8 games this season, they have players missing and had to use others out of position. In basic terms, they're as simple an opposition as we can expect to play at Ninian Park this season without underestimating them.

You could understand why they have lost so many because Neil Alexander did not have a shot to save or a cross to catch all game. Northampton's last chance to register a shot on goal with an edge of area free kick in injury time saw the ball sail 20 yards over the bar.

Yet, as bad as that is, Northampton were the better passing side and frequently showed more movement, it emphasises how dismal this game was to watch.

Both sides looked messy, Northampton had purple shirts sand yellow shorts while City players seemed to be wearing three different types of blue sock - some had all blue, others had a white rim and half of them had white lower halves with blue top halves. The game was a mess too.

After the defeat at Cambridge, both Alan Cork and the media decided that the fault and problems lied with the players. Cork went further by revealing that five players went missing so widespread changes were expected from the man who continually tells us that players in his super sized squad will keep their shirt if they play well.

In the event, he swapped two. Andy Legg replaced Leyton Maxwell whilst Peter Thorne made a full start instead of Leo Fortune-West.

The tactics yet again, for much of the game, were so glaringly wrong. It is best summarised if I tell you that the only incidents of note until City opening the scoring on 28 minutes were an early Northampton shot which whistled wide and two strange refereeing incidents. Firstly, Peter Thorne won a corner which the referee, Parkes, awarded as a goal kick. Northampton's centre half, Chris Marsh, pulled a hamstring in the same incident and was out of the game. Next, the ref also caused another stir when he stopped the game to insist Andy Legg take a throw in with the ball that went out of play rather than one given to him.

In between, we witnessed dismal fayre. City had little shape, midfield were overrun, nobody would go wide so the game was condensed in the middle of the pitch. Balls were knocked long or diagonal or, most often, to a Northampton shirt. Cardiff were clueless. In the first half, I counted three occasions only when City put more than two passes together.

There were problems everywhere you looked. Spencer Prior got booked needlessly and was totally out of sorts again, Michael Simpkins had an absolute stinker as only 1 pass in 90 minutes found another City player, Weston was little better on the other side of the field. Paul Brayson was out of position alongside Peter Thorne and Andy Legg, for all his passion, did nothing more than knock balls inside for others. Danny Gabbidon kicked 4 bouncing balls back towards goal before he worked out he should head them instead. Graham Kavanagh, although a poor performer, turned inside 4 or 5 times and found nobody anywhere near him or making space for him to pass to.

I could go on but you get the picture. If this is how City want to play, they really needn't have wasted all the millions to bring in players of good quality, your average kick and run merchant with no tactical brain will do. It's not just about players, it's about motivation and, yes, tactics and know how. At the moment, we are lacking these qualities.

The only players looking better than dross in this spell were Peter Thorne, starved of service, but he is going to be a superb line leader. He wins the ball well in the air or on the ground, plays it off well and into space. Thorne was also central in the incident that helped open the scoring on 28 minutes.

A ball was thrown towards the area by Legg, Thorne intelligently flicked the ball on under pressure towards Brayson. Brayson got lively and crossed, the ball hit the Northampton substitute, who replaced Marsh, on the arm. The ref was happy to continue, the linesman flagged and a penalty was awarded. I was on the opposite side of the pitch but it looked harsh, Northampton players were furious.

Peter Thorne and Kavanagh seemed to be arguing over who should take the penalty but Kav, being captain, won. With the hardest shot at the club, you would expect him to blast home but it was obvious from his body position and run up that he was aiming to place it. His penalty was poor, hit straight at Welch, but he was very lucky to see the ball come back to him which was dispatched home with power. It was a lucky penalty, it was luckily converted.

It made the crowd happier with singing ringing for the first time. Even The Ayatollah, first sang at City games exactly 10 years ago, was being aired. Happy Birthday Ayatollah!

But still City got no better and Northampton nearly equalised with the last action of the half as a sizzling shot across goal missed Alexander's far post by a fraction.

Half-time arrived with many City fans thinking that the QVC Shopping Channel had probably seen better entertainment in the past 45 minutes ... but we were winning.

Half-time: City 1 Northampton 0

City nearly made it two nil with the first incident of the second half as Mark Bonner produced an identical effort to Northampton's end of first half shot, it missed the same Grange End far post by a fraction.

Other than that, the game carried on in the same vein. I felt angry that City had failed to take on Northampton defenders at any point in the match, it was so apparent that, just like at Cambridge, they were there for the taking. Yet we never ever bothered even warming Leon Jeanne up.

Corkie made a positive change and City got brighter, by comparison to what the fans had endured before. Des Hamilton yet again departed early, today for Leo, what is the problem that means he hardly ever plays more than an hour??

Leo was buzzing and putting himself about, a rarity tonight. Paul Brayson moved wide. City had more purpose. Just afterwards, Willie Boland came on for Mark Bonner.

As if to prove the point, the first time City attacked Northampton with width, they won another penalty as Northampton couldn't cope. Paul Brayson was brilliant in flicking the ball past a marker 40 yards out on the touchline with his back to goal. He won the race to the ball, cut inside one defender outside the area and as he passed another once he entered the box, he was crudely bundled over.

There was no disputing this penalty which Brayson himself took, Kav presumably nerved by his earlier badly taken one. Brayson sent Welsh the wrong way on 71 minutes.

City took this long to realise how to undo Northampton. Leggy went down the wing twice, the first time his cross was just cut out, the next time, he squared back for Willie Boland to thunder a 15 yard drive which Welch parried away well. Leo was close with a header from a rare centre.

City fans started singing bye bye to Northampton fans sneaking out early but it was just as applicable to City followers, quite a number were drifting away too.

There was one inadvertent moment of humour as Parkes amazingly found 6 minutes of injury time invoking a puzzled scream of SIXXX?!?!?? In the 4th minute of it, Kav stupidly challenged badly and came off second best in an incident that saw him finish limping badly.

There was no sign of Sam tonight, if he missed this game, he was a very lucky man.

A better team than Northampton would have turned City over, there are a lot of problems to be addressed. Let's hope that happens immediately or we could be in trouble against Huddersfield this weekend because, playing like this, City have no chance of promotion.

Report from www.sports.com
Goals from a penalty rebound and from the spot itself gave big spending Cardiff City the win they just about deserved after they had been made to feel uncomfortable by bottom of the table Northampton Town for much of the first half.

Graham Kavanagh netted Cardiff's first and Paul Brayson their second, but new striker Peter Thorne, a £1.75million signing from Stoke City last week, was given little opportunity to display his skills as the Bluebirds midfield struggled to get the better of a much more determined Town side.

Northampton may have gathered only three points from their first seven matches of the season but they had by far the better of the early exchanges against a Cardiff outfit that looked hesitant and nervous.

Tricky winger Paul McGregor gave Michael Simpkins a testing time while Jamie Forrester made sure that an uncertain Spencer Prior, at the heart of the Cardiff defence, was kept on his toes.

But despite their pressure and possession Northampton did not create an opening until the 12th minute when midfielder James Hunt picked up a flick from Forrester, but sent his angled shot just wide of Neil Alexander's left-hand post.

Northampton suffered a blow in the 18th minute when Chris Marsh was helped off with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.

Chris Carruthers took over and after Cardiff's Daniel Gabbidon had headed a dangerous McGregor cross to safety it was the unlucky Carruthers who provided Cardiff with the chance to go ahead in the 28th minute.

Brayson crossed from the right and 18-year-old Carruthers handled in the area. Referee Trevor Parkes did not appear to see the incident, but his linesman did and immediately flagged for the penalty.

Even then, Cardiff made hard work of it. Kavanagh's poorly struck spot-kick was directed straight at Cobblers keeper Keith Welch who beat it out but was not able to hold the ball. It rolled gently back to Kavanagh and the midfielder did not waste his second opportunity.

Cardiff still failed to convince but almost increased their lead three minutes into the second half. A long throw by Andy Legg was flicked on by Prior to Des Hamilton, who laid the ball off to Mark Bonner only for the midfielder to send his 15-yard shot just wide.

It was another penalty in the 71st minute that finally settled Cardiff's nerves. Brayson cut into the area from the right and was crudely bundled off the ball by Paul Dempsey. This time Kavanagh was not involved and it was Brayson who picked himself up to net from the spot.

Suddenly Cardiff were bristling with confidence and Carruthers had to move smartly to cut out a Legg cross just before Brayson could reach it.

Substitute Leo Fortune-West headed a Rhys Weston cross just wide and set up a half chance that Willie Boland could not accept as Northampton struggled to recovered their early composure.

Referee Parkes added six minutes of injury time and Cardiff held on comfortably, although they will know that a sharper side than Northampton could have put them out of the game before half time.