Sun 21st Oct 2001.

Swindon Town
Griemink
Gurney
Ruddock
Reeves
Hewlett
Howe
Duke
Robinson
Edwards (P)
Grazioli (Edwards N, 68)
Invincible

Subs not used
McKinney
Osei-Kuffour
Heywood
McAreavey

Cardiff City
Alexander
Weston
Prior
Gabbidon
Simpkins (Legg 84)
Kavanagh
Boland
Bowen
Brayson (Low 76)
Earnshaw
Thorne (Gordon 79)

Subs not used
Young
Hamilton

Report from NigelBlues.
CARDIFF CITY collected their first win Swindon's County Ground in six attempts since 1964 and, in this season, their first league win in six attempts too (the last win was against Northampton over a month ago) to hopefully put a season threatening to disappear into obscurity back on track for now.

It was a superb performance, arguably City's best of the season, in front of more magnificent away support who virtually turned the atmosphere into a home game. City worked hard to earn the right to play football then tore their opponents apart with skill and pace, they were far stronger and powerful. On the day, Cardiff were very good and Swindon were very poor. Swindon virtually surrendered in the second half but that only made it more enjoyable to us watching it.

Swindon should be a straightforward away journey being little more than an hour from Ninian Park. However the M4 before Swindon was closed for the final 17 miles, after a 24 hour siege with an allegedly armed father holding his young son hostage in a custody battle that had got out of hand. It was settled peacefully but not in time to stop fans taking trains, waiting in 14 mile traffic jams or detouring through the Cotswolds before the motorway reopened.

It left us with time for a quick pint and missing the first few minutes of the game (we had our priorities right!) but it probably did us a favour as Swindon's idea of pre-match entertainment was getting someone to sing opera to the crowd.

The County Ground gives little hint that it hosted Premier League football only a few years ago. City fans were in the old open terrace which is now an open stand and the end sections of the original wooden type stand. It was hard to work out where the Swindon fans were.

They had a few in a stand behind the opposite goal which was similar to Merthyr's family stand (in its looks and the number in there) while their boys (about 50) were at the back of a stand near the City end. They were just about seen but never heard and all went home early anyway realising they couldn't compete on or off the pitch.

Alan Cork came in for pre-match fan criticism for fielding an unchanged team despite some strong claims from the 'fringe' players in the midweek 7-1 drubbing of Swindon but both the fans and Cork will have been relieved to see the players who have generally not performed well recently played well on the whole. The game was won however because of an outstanding team effort.

City took time to settle although they looked the better side from the early stages. The football was too cautious and seemed to be going nowhere. The reasons for that were the same as they have generally been for a while - Kavanagh playing too deep, passing backwards or sideways and Weston/Simpkins giving away possession cheaply.

Gradually City woke up, showed more confidence and started finding Brayson and Bowen who created problems. Swindon were now being exposed with a seemingly inadequte three man central defence. Their biggest mistake seemed to be Neil 'Razor' Ruddock marking Earnie of all people.

When Ruddock was booked for climbing over Earnie in the 16th minute, you knew he was in trouble. Earnie must be covered in bruises as he took a kicking from Ruddock all afternoon but he took the game to him constantly, knowing that Ruddock couldn't tackle him again. It made for one of the most humorous sights of the season as Earnie peed all over him, Ruddock got frustrated and should have been sent off for some bad challenges, more jumps on Earnie (identical to those that had him booked) and constant complaining/whingeing. A lesser player wouldn't have got away with it.

Cardiff were starting to control the game with Boland disrupting Swindon and setting up move, Kavanagh starting to support and Weston giving it a good go. They had little in the way of efforts at goal to show for it and rarely broke into Swindon's penalty area. It was Earnie who so nearly opened the scoring with a moment of sheer audacity and magic.

Rhys Weston played a ball through the middle, Cardiff and Swindon players alike missed it and it ran to Earnie 35 yards out who looked up, saw the keeper off his line and instinctively chipped over him. Griemink was beaten and would have been totally relieved to see the shot only just go high and wide, it would have been a brilliant goal.

Straight from the goal-kick, Swindon should have scored with their first effort of the half. The ball quickly went downfield and Swindon had an extra man on the left, the ball found him but Rhys Weston was excellent putting him off as he shot when a goal looked inevitable.

Earnie was in the mood and wouldn't be denied. With the fans warning "Earnie's gonna get ya" he scored in the style that only he can. City messed about on the left wing with Simpkins unable to get a cross in (the ones he did were very poor anyway) but the ball found Paul Brayson who knocked in a low cross that Earnie superbly flicked on and inside the far corner.

That was class and the supporters went mental, they had been since kick-off though. Loads of chants, non-stop in variation, it was very vocal with the sections of support in both stands singing to each other (the open end was dubbed the Grange End, the covered stand was the Grandstand). As for Swindon, we would have chanted "shall we sing a song for you" if we could have seen them anywhere in the ground.

City had to aim to keep the lead to half-time and looked comfortable but with the last action of the half, enter Neil Alexander to be the hero. His handling, control of his area and taking of crosses have been superb all season but he hasn't been the best shot stopper. That all changed with two awesome saves in a minute. Grazioli first shot across him and he dived brilliantly to push the ball for a corner.

From that corner, Alan Reeves headed downwards from close range. The goal looked inevitable but Alexander produced the best save I've seen anywhere this season to somehow fling himself across goal with lightning reflexes and push the ball onto a post. Even Swindon players on the radio afterwards were proclaiming it.

As City cleared the ball, Gabbidon picked it up and ran 80 yards before unleashing a shot that was just deflected wide. Gabbidon yet again looked a class above anyone else on the pitch in just about all he did. Alongside him, Spencer Prior at last showed his capabilities with his best performances for weeks.

Half-time: Swindon 0 City 1

Swindon yet again showed they have no idea of entertainment and they tortured us with a cheerleading exhibition at half-time to the tune of "it's raining men" - I'm not sure the girls appreciated the comments they had from 3,000 City fans. Ex-City and Swindon hero and Canton resident (top man!!), Bobby Woodruff, did a half-time draw. He's still got the same balding pate as he had in the 70's although he's grey now.

Within 45 seconds of the restart, the game was virtually over as City doubled their lead. There was a dazzling build up as City put together a sweeping 6 man move which found Kavanagh in space. His cross was poor, a looping far post ball, but Howe under no pressure made an appalling error heading straight to Jason Bowen who had plenty of time to chest down, shape up and drill the ball home from 6 yards.

Swindon were gone and City were in total control. There was great passing and movement as City threatened to score every time they attacked. Thorne lead the line brilliantly, winning ball after ball in the air, Earnie was running them ragged, Ruddock and Co didn't know what to do.

Ruddock was niggly and very, very close to losing it. City fans taunted him with "same old English, always cheating" which adapted itself to "same old Ruddock, always eating". When catering staff appeared shortly afterwards carrying a tray of burgers towards the players tunnel, everyone there thought it was Ruddock's post-match snack! But he takes stick well, City fans chanted "Ruddock, Ruddock, what's the score?" Ruddock, knowing it was 2-0, gestured with a 2 finger salute to us!!

Earnie made his own 2 finger gesture a minute or two later when, with his back to Ruddock, he dummied the ball, turned and ran past Ruddock and leaving him 20 yards behind in the chase. Swindon couldn't handle City's pace with Earnie, Brayson and Jason Bowen terrorising them time and again.

On the hour, if there were any doubts left, they were dispelled as Swindon were (harshly) reduced to 10 men. Kavanagh brought the ball out from the area and seemed to lose control, he was challenged and went down. It didn't seem bad at first glance (and apparently not on television either) but to our total joy, it was David Duke's second yellow therefore a red card.

Ruddock responded by going berserk with the referee and Kavanagh in turns, he shoved Kav away, he sarcastically applauded the ref. The linesman flagged and there were thoughts that he could be in trouble too but the ref either bottled or ignored it. Ruddock lost it again moments later when his edge of area free-kick was blocked, this time he seemed to be complaining about the price of fish.

The game went quiet as City decided to stay calm and take the heat out of things. The passing and movement was probably the best we have seen this season but, at times, it was over elaborate although you could always rely on Simpkins to change that.

The only times Swindon looked a threat was Simpkins conceding possession. His crossing was abysmal again and one shot of his in a good position was inches away from going out of the stadium. In an excellent team performance, Simpkins again looked good defensively but the weak link in the side. Swindon had a couple of half chances, all cleanly saved by Alexander.

City introduced Gavin Gordon and Josh Low for Thorne (who looked injured) and Brayson for the final 11 minutes and with their first touches, they set up the third goal.

A ball through the middle was headed wide by Gordon (as he was poleaxed by Ruddock coming through him) and Josh Low at his best accelerated past two men, got to the by-line and chipped to the far post leaving Kavanagh to bury a header into an empty net.

Bobby Gould, summarising on a live HTV broadcast, apparently declared it as the crowning moment in Kavanagh's man of the match performance which confirmed my belief that he wasn't that impressive. He seemed slightly off the pace for most of the game, still tended to play deep playing the ball back or sideways and put in few crosses from good positions. However when he pushed forward, he was at his best and he showed that in getting to the far post ahead of our strikers for the third goal.

The final stages were City putting together moves of 20 to 25 passes, accompanied from oles and yays from the City support as well as the proverbial "it's just like watching Brazil". The cutting edge was missing but the game was over long before.

Late on, Michael Simpkins seemed to have got badly injured after appearing to be clattered by Spencer Prior as both clashed into each other with a hurried clearence. Simpkins was stretchered off, obviously in pain, but after Spencer Prior had a word with him, he was flat out on the stretcher doing the ayatollah which was hilarious and got him huge applause and hero status.

He must be a doubt for Port Vale in midweek but as he's failed to convince many people and it could give Andy Legg the chance to show what he can do, it may not cause any harm at all.

City were given a huge standing ovation (I don't remember any of us sitting down even with 3,000 seats) at the final whistle and the pessimistic mood before the game immediately turned into celebration and prospects that if we beat Port Vale midweek then Tranmere at home next Saturday, then we'll be in contention again.

It's a nice though but Cardiff City have been brilliantly inconsistent this season. Three wins in 8 days is possible but it's a dream too. Let's hope the team make it a reality.

Today showed what the team are capable of and should have been achieving this season. Away wins don't get anymore commanding than this one and we must keep it going. A brilliant awayday and a great journey home with fans tooting, waving and ayatollahing all the way home (top marks to the guy on the motorbike waving three fingers to show the score and ayatollahing on his crash helmet). Oh happy days!!

Report from The Western Mail.
Cardiff City ended their 37-year wait for a victory at the County Ground in spectacular style yesterday as they swept aside Swindon Town with their most accomplished display of the season so far.

Goals from Robert Earnshaw, Jason Bowen and captain Graham Kavanagh gave City a win that could reignite their faltering promotion challenge.

The Robins, who had lost only one of their last nine games, were overrun, and if this is how City perform live on TV then no doubt Bluebirds manager Alan Cork will want the cameras at every match. However, City's day was spoiled by injuries to two key players.

Striker Peter Thorne could be out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury, while Cork is hoping the knee ligament problem suffered by left-back Michael Simpkins is not too serious.

"We played some good football but we've played well in the last four games. We've played only one bad game this season, at Cambridge," said a delighted Cork.

"Have we turned the corner? I don't know. You turn the corner when you've won three or four games on the bounce."

This win - City's first at Swindon since 1964 - ended a run of five league matches without a victory, a sequence that meant the Welshmen started yesterday's clash in 17th place.

Cork added, "This is a good result, but I would have been happy with 1-0. We've been threatening to score goals in most of our games. Look at our last game against Wigan. We drew 2-2 but should have won 5-2.

"We scored goals, passed the ball well and we also kept a clean sheet, but there's still a long way to go.

"We're still making little errors. We've got a few inexperienced players but eventually it will come right. It's going to click.

"Who knows, maybe things will change for us after this. A year ago we beat Carlisle 2-0 and we went on to achieve promotion. It could be deja vu."

Cork kept faith with the 11 players who started the home draw with Wigan 10 days ago.

His only reaction to a second-choice City thrashing Rushden & Diamonds 7-1 in the LDV Vans Trophy last Tuesday was to include Gavin Gordon, who netted five in that match, and Josh Low on the bench.

After a tentative opening the match came alive after 19 minutes when a piece of quick thinking from Earnshaw nearly produced a stunning opener.

Swindon central defenders Andy Gurney and Neil Ruddock were caught horribly square by a ball through the middle and Earnshaw, aware that goalkeeper Bart Griemink was way off his line, tried a first-time lob that went just wide.

Less than 60 seconds later the home side squandered an excellent opportunity to take the lead. The unmarked Paul Edwards ballooned his shot over the crossbar after he was picked out by Bobby Howe.

After a good spell of possession - Swindon had not crossed the halfway line for a good 10 minutes - the Bluebirds broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with a glorious effort from Earnshaw.

Bowen fed Paul Brayson on the left and Earnshaw turned his low cross past Griemink with a delicate flick - his fourth goal of the season.

The Wales Under-21 striker could have doubled City's lead three minutes later. A long pass from the increasingly influential Kavanagh fell beautifully to Earnshaw, who had wriggled free of marker Ruddock.

But his first touch was poor and he shot straight into the grateful arms of Griemink. Neil Alexander made his first stop of the afternoon a minute before the break when he turned Giuliano Grazioli's rasping drive past the post.

His second save was even better. From Howe's resulting corner the Scottish goalkeeper, who has had his critics since arriving at Ninian Park from Livingston in the summer, displayed remarkable agility to tip Ruddock's powerful header against the woodwork.

City were lucky with the rebound - it fell straight to Kavanagh rather than someone in a red shirt. City counter-attacked immediately. Daniel Gabbidon abandoned his position in the heart of City's defence and ran almost the entire length of the pitch, but his deflected effort from the edge of the box shaved the Swindon upright.

Less than a minute into the second half City went 2-0 ahead thanks to a dreadful Howe error.

Kavanagh's chip was going harmlessly out of play when the Robins midfielder inexplicably headed the ball to Bowen, who had time to chest it down before beating Griemink for his first goal of the campaign.

Ruddock nearly halved City's lead in the 52nd minute with a free-kick from 20 yards, but soon after Earnshaw nearly headed his second, Griemink diving to hold his effort following a fine cross from Rhys Weston on the right.

Roy Evans's men were reduced to 10 men with just under half an hour to go when midfielder David Duke was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Kavanagh.

Duke had previously been booked in the 16th minute for a challenge on Brayson.

His departure ended any chance of an unlikely Swindon comeback and the outstanding Kavanagh - voted man of the match - sealed the win with eight minutes remaining, the silver-haired midfielder emphatically heading home substitute Low's inch-perfect cross.

Swindon manager Roy Evans said after the game, "We made Cardiff look better than they are but they deserved their win. No-one will disagree with that.

"They played very well and their players showed they have good ability. They had more of the play in the first half but I thought we had the better chances - their 'keeper made a couple of great saves

"The referee, poor and inconsistent as he was, did not cost us the game. We've got to look at ourselves. Our passing and movement were poor.

"Their second goal was down to a communication problem between our goalkeeeper and Bobby Howe. On the day we just didn't play well."

Report from www.sports.com
Robert Earnshaw scored his fourth goal of the season as Cardiff City won their first league game in six attempts at Swindon Town.

Alan Cork's men arrived at the County Ground on the back of four successive league draws.

But Earnshaw put the Welsh side on the way to their second away win of the season when he flicked Paul Brayson's cross past Bart Griemink after 36 minutes.

Cardiff keeper Neil Alexander denied Giuliano Grazioli and Alan Reeves with reflex saves at the end of the first half.

But Cardiff winger Jason Bowen extended Cardiff's lead straight after the restart after a mix-up between Swindon midfielder Bobby Howe and Dutchman Griemink.

Bowen doubled Cardiff's lead from 12 yards before Bluebirds captain Graham Kavanagh sealed the points with a header from a Joshua Low cross 10 minutes from time in front of an 8,373 crowd.

Danny Invincibile had headers saved by Alexander in the second half after referee Chris Foy, on the hour mark, had sent off David Duke.

Duke was dismissed for a second caution during an M4 derby that saw Merseyside based official Foy hand out three more bookings to Swindon players and one to Cardiff's goalscorer Bowen.

Cardiff boss Alan Cork, speaking exactly one-year after taking over at Ninian Park commented: "When I arrived Cardiff we started off with 10 game unbeaten run and hopefully this result and the 7-1 win on Tuesday night will be the start of another good spell for us.

"It is about time we had some luck and Neil Alexander has produced a couple of very good saves for us.

"Swindon are a good side and I am delighted we kept a clean sheet in front of 3,000 Cardiff fans.

"Their support was worth a goal to us today.

"Michael Simpkins and Peter Thorne have picked up a couple of knocks so we will be looking at them tomorrow."

Swindon manager Roy Evans added: "We made Cardiff look good today which was disappointing.

"They are one of the better sides in the division but we made them look better than they are.

"The referee was poor but he didn't cost us the game today, we cost ourselves the game."