Cardiff finish in the play-offs following a breathtaking final day of the Championship- Cardiff City 3-0 Hull City

Captain Sean Morrison heads in Cardiff’s second goal

A comfortable victory for the Bluebirds over Hull meant a fifth place finish in the league and the chance to get promoted to the Premier League through the play-offs.

Going into the final day, City needed a point to seal a place in the top six. Swansea were three points behind and Nottingham Forest were level on points. However, remarkably, the two teams from South Wales, Cardiff and Swansea, finished fifth and sixth respectively with Forest missing out on the play-offs.

As for the Cardiff game it was pretty comfortable throughout. First half goals from Junior Hoilett and Sean Morrison put the Bluebirds firmly in control, with Danny Ward coming off the bench to add a third.

Cardiff started the game strongly with Robert Glatzel having a couple of close effort. The first was a long-range strike which was saved by Hull goalkeeper George Long. The second was from a closer distance which he fired wide from an angle.

The first goal came in the 20th minute through Hoilett. He received the ball from a Joe Bennett header, before driving down the wing without being closed down and firing into the far corner. It was a very good finish.

Morrison doubled the lead in the 34th minute. It was very poor defending from Hull, leaving Morrison unmarked and he took advantage by heading high into the goal to double the lead.

There wasn’t much action during the second half with Cardiff managing the game well. Hull came close once but Morrison managed to block James Scott’s effort. It was brilliant defending from the skipper. Following that, Alex Smithies saved well from Mallik Wilks to preserve the clean sheet.

To round off the scoring, substitute Ward scored past Long after the keeper’s save from Bennett’s free-kick. The result was hardly in doubt throughout the whole game.

Hull struggled to find an intensity to threaten Cardiff, most probably because were realistically already relegated due to their inferior goal difference. That made it even more comfortable for the Bluebirds.

Following all the results, City will face fourth-placed Fulham, who finished the regular season with a 1-1 draw at Wigan. At the moment Wigan will be playing in League One alongside Hull next season unless they appeal successfully against their 12 point deduction for going into asministration. The other club to be relegated are Charlton who suffered a 4-0 loss at champions Leeds. It is harsh on Charlton who have had to try and overcome many obstacles this season, including plenty of injuries and losing their star man for the games after the break.

If the 12 point deduction to Wigan remains, Barnsley will be safe, having surprisingly won 2-1 at Brentford, who could’ve gone up automatically with a victory because of West Brom’s 2-2 draw at home to QPR. Barnsley finished one point above Charlton, while Brentford were two points adrift of West Brom and will face Swansea in the play-off semi-finals.

West Brom managed to hold on to second place to go up automatically, even though they didn’t manage to hit the ground running following the restart. Brentford has the opportunity to overtake them, but lost their last two games against Stoke and Barnsley and will have to settle for a place in the play-offs.

Before the match day it would’ve been sensible to predict that Nottingham Forest would’ve at least got something of their game at home to Stoke. But, what followed was extraordinary. Stoke had been fighting relegation for the majority of the season while on the other hand there was talk at one point of Forest challenging for automatic promotion.

But, in the end Stoke won 4-1 which coincided with Swansea’s 4-1 victory at Reading which meant that Forest fell out of the top six and Swansea replaced them. There needed to be a five goal swing for this to happen and that is what happened. It shows how competitive the Championship is, that anyone can beat anyone on their day and that nothing is guaranteed.

Going back to the bottom of the table and Luton Town, it has been an incredible effort for them to stay up. Nathan Jones returned to the club during the break and he has turned it around for them. Their final game was a 3-2 win over Blackburn at home. They have collected 16 points off their final 9 games to pull off what seemed impossible at one point.

Rounding up the other results by starting at St Andrews and Derby’s 3-1 victory over Birmingham. Birmingham finish two points above the relegation zone after a disappointing season while Derby finish in 10th. Star youngster Jude Bellingham played his final game for boyhood club Birmingham as he has completed a transfer to Borussia Dortmund. He was very emotional following the game.

Bristol City and Preston, who at one point were challenging for the top six, played out a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate. Preston finish in 9th with Bristol City in 12th.

Millwall finished only two points off the play-offs following a 4-1 win over managerless Huddersfield, who have since appointed Leeds United assistant Carlos Corberan as their new head coach.

To finish it off, Middlesbrough secured their safety by beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Hillsborough.

It was a final day full of excitement, which was expected. The Championship is always full of action and this certainly proves that.

To finish the season there will be the play-offs. The first legs will be on the 26th and 27th of June and the second legs on the 29th and 30th of June. They are Swansea against Brentford and Cardiff against Fulham, with the possibility of a South Wales derby in the final. That would be nail-biting and probably too much to take for both sets of fans.

We will wait and see what happens in what should be a gripping play-offs.

Massive win for the Bluebirds over Derby- Cardiff City 2-1 Derby County

Cardiff’s Lee Tomlin celebrates his winner through showing support for ‘Black Lives Matter’

Lee Tomlin’s second-half goal gave Cardiff victory over Derby to end the run of consecutive defeats and to boost their play-off hopes.

It was a tough game against a strong Derby side and City went through periods with very little possession of the ball. However, it was Cardiff who took the lead through Junior Hoilett.

It came from Jason Knight’s very poor back-pass which was too short for the goalkeeper and allowed Hoilett to pounce, before rounding the keeper and slotting in to put City in front. Cardiff had been the better team from the start and deserved to be in front.

But, Derby gained control of the game soon after the goal and started to dictate the play. They managed to equalise in the 30th minute through Knight, who made amends for his shocking mistake for the opening goal.

It was very poor defending from Cardiff. Both Sean Morrison and Joe Bennett went to tackle Louie Sibley which left Knight free and Sibley was able to play the ball through for Knight to score.

From then on, Derby dominated possession and City struggled to have a touch of the ball. It was a tough watch for a period of the game. Whenever Cardiff got the ball they just gave it straight back to a Derby player. Derby weren’t really threatening but whenever they got near the box, the defenders hesitated to make a challenge.

Cardiff managed to get though to half-tome without conceding and managed to wrestle some sort of control back by the end of the half. Hoilett had a good effort saved as the Bluebirds ended the half strongly.

City were solid during the second half and managed to control the game. There weren’t many clear chances for either side until Tomlin fires in the winner. It came following a mistake from a Wayne Rooney. Tomlin tackled Rooney, who was too relaxed on the ball, and ran with the ball before finishing well into the bottom corner. It was a very good finish.

They had the chance to seal the win but Joe Ralls headed against the bar from substitute Danny Ward’s cross. It was a great chance to make sure of the victory but Ralls failed to take advantage. However, City held on for the win.

The defeat for Derby all but ends their play-off hopes as they are six points off Cardiff with an inferior goal difference. There would have to be a dramatic turnaround for them to make the top six.

On the other hand, the win for Cardiff strengthens their place in the top six. Following all the results from the midweek games there is a two-point cushion to Millwall in seventh. Millwall are still firmly in contention after overcoming Blackburn 1-0 through Mason Bennett’s goal. This result meant that Blackburn cannot mathematically finish in the top six.

It looks like it is a three-horse race between Cardiff, Millwall and Swansea. Swansea drew 2-2 at Nottingham Forest. They were twice pegged back by Sammy Ameobi after Rhian Brewster and then Andre Ayew had put them in the lead. They are now three points off the Bluebirds. Preston have dropped to five points behind City after losing 1-0 to automatic promotion hopefuls Brentford with Ollie Watkins scoring his 25th goal of the campaign.

Bristol City were frustrated by Stoke City with Danny Batth’s second half goal cancelling out Filip Benkovic’s opener to bring the Potters very close to safety.

It is still very tight in the race for the final place in the play-offs. The last two games for Cardiff will be tough against two teams are fighting against relegation. The first of those is a trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday. Boro are very close to being safe as they are five points clear of the relegation zone. Neil Warnock has had a good impact since becoming their manager and he will certainly provide a stern test for his former club. We will have to be at our best to get a positive result.

The following Wednesday the Bluebirds will take on Hull at the Cardiff City Stadium on the final day of the season. If City win both of those games they will end up in the top six. It is in their hands but they will need to be at their best.

As I have said before it will be an exciting end to the season as it always is in the Championship.

It will also be exciting in the race for automatic promotion. Following yesterday’s results, Brentford are only a point behind West Brom. Brentford beat Preston while West Brom drew 0-0 at home to fourth-placed Fulham who can still mathematically catch West Brom. The other team who occupy a place in the top six are Nottingham Forest.

We have a lot to look forward to in the next week and there is definitely a lot to play for.

Sloppy mistakes cost Cardiff against Blackburn in a 3-2 loss- Cardiff City 2-3 Blackburn

The Blackburn players celebrate Adam Armstrong’s stunning winner

The Bluebirds’ unbeaten run since the return was ended against a Blackburn side who still have slim hopes of making the play-offs.

It was a tough game for Cardiff against a team who overall have had a good season even though they had lost their last three games. Many would’ve predicted that City would comfortably win, especially as they haven’t lost since the return. However, Blackburn had other ideas.

It is a reality check for the Bluebirds who were looking increasingly likely to finish in the top six. Hopefully this will take any complacency out of the team and we can push towards the play-offs.

The first half went well for Cardiff and some decent football was played. Will Vaulks put City in front in the 14th minute with a fantastic finish from the edge of the area. He ran onto Joe Ralls’ pass before chipping over Blackburn goalkeeper Christian Walton’s head. It is a goal which supporters would definitely have enjoyed if they were present.

But the lead didn’t last long with a lack of concentration from a corner leading to an equaliser. Dion Sanderson didn’t stay tight to Darragh Lenihan who headed against the post, before the ball rebounded off the post to bounce off goalkeeper Alex Smithies to Danny Graham who tapped the ball in on the line. It was a scrappy equaliser and it was definitely avoidable.

After coming close a couple of times, Robert Glatzel our Cardiff back in front. It was a well-worked goal, with Ralls playing the ball out to the returning Josh Murphy who found Joe Bennett on the overlap. Bennett crossed the ball in for Glatzel who had a simple finish from point-blank range.

City went in at half-time in front after a solid half, but it was clear that they would have to work hard to come away with the three points. Even though Cardiff played well, Blackburn matched them for the majority of the half.

Into the second half and many would’ve expected the players to learn from the first goal conceded and wouldn’t switch off at the back again. However, a minute after the restart, Dominic Samuel drew Rovers level. They had a shout for a penalty just before the goal after a challenge by Curtis Nelson. Moments later a cross came into the box and Samuel beat Bennett to the ball to fire past Smithies. It was another poor goal for Cardiff to concede.

Blackburn were the better side during the half and they went ahead in the 70th minute after another mistake from the Bluebirds. Leandro Bacuna played a poor pass to Armstrong who brilliantly fired first-time over Smithies from about 40 yards out. It was an excellent strike but it came from Bacuna’s mistake.

From then on Cardiff struggled to create any clear chances in what looked like a completely different team to the team we saw in the first half. Murphy and Ralls has decent efforts from outside the box but they weren’t threatening enough.

It is a very disappointing results for City but there were still a few positives to come out of the game. However, the only thing that matters at the moment is results and the team needs to make sure that they come on the right side of the results.

We’ve been hard to beat and break down since manager Neil Harris came in and this was only the fourth loss in the Championship under Harris. However, this was not what we’d got used to seeing. All three goals were poor goals to concede.

We need to get back to playing the way that was evident in the previous games. The run-in isn’t easy at all with games against play-off hopefuls Fulham and Derby. They will realistically need at least four points from those games to consolidate our place in the top six. However they will be very tough games and the Bluebirds will need to be at their best to get results.

After losing 2-0 to West Brom, Derby remain three points behind City. The game between the two sides is going to be huge. Fulham have been looking strong recently and beat fellow play-off challengers Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Tuesday.

After those two games, City travel to Middlesbrough and then host Hull on the final day of the Championship season. They will face former manager Neil Warnock when they face Boro. Warnock’s had a positive impact since joining, winning two out of four games to help Boro in their battle to stay in the league. One of the losses was against Hull, although Hull currently occupy 22nd place and need results to stay up.

They will both be tough games, with both teams still fighting for something. Overall, all four games are against teams who have something to fight for. That will make it tougher but I’m sure that the team will be confident that they can pull it off.

The Bluebirds will next be in action on Friday at Craven Cottage against Fulham, starting at 8:15pm. It is looking like a massive game for City.