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.

The Championship returns to action

The Hawthorns — West Brom players take the knee before their game against Birmingham

This weekend was the Chamionship’s turn to get back to playing and it didn’t disappoint.

I will be focusing on Cardiff City’s fantastic 2-0 win over title chasing Leeds but will also provide a round-up of the rest of the action over the weekend.

Starting on a more serious note, the Championship followed the Premier League in holding a one minute’s silence before kick-off to honour those who have lost their lives to coronavirus and to thank the NHS for all their hard work.

As well as that, in all the games players and officials took a knee following the referee’s whistle to support the Black Lives Matter movement. We will all be hoping that this has a massive impact as millions of people will be watching the football over the coming weeks.

In regards to the action, there were significant results across the division and plenty of drama which supporters would’ve certainly enjoyed. I’ll start by giving a match report on Cardiff’s huge win.

Cardiff City 2-0 Leeds United

Junior Hoilett holds up a tribute to Peter Whittingham after scoring

Cardiff boosted their play-off hopes with a victory over second-placed Leeds in an exciting encounter at the Cardiff City Stadium.

As well as the minutes silence and taking the knee, there was also a tribute from both clubs to former Bluebird Peter Whittingham and former Leeds players Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry who have passed away since the last games played. All three are legends of their respective clubs, making over 400 appearances.

Whittingham passed away back in March, aged 35. He died in hospital following a head injury after a fall in a pub in Barry. Whittingham, or ‘Whitts’ as he’s known by so many, will forever be remembered for his fantastic ten years at the club. He had a wand of a left foot and was an exceptional footballer. Many will consider him as one of the greatest footballers to ever play for Cardiff.

Hunter passed away in April after contracting coronavirus. Cherry died very suddenly and unexpectedly in April. Both were fantastic players for Leeds.

There was a minutes applause before kick-off and there were banners laid out in the stands for all three players. It was a fantastic tribute to three fantastic players.

The game itself started at a fast pace, with the Bluebirds coming out of the blocks well, starting strongly. However, Leeds managed to get a hold of the game and started to dominate with Cardiff unable to keep the ball for long. It was starting to look like it would be a very long game for City.

Leeds came very close when from a corner, Will Vaulks had to clear the ball away, after it was heading towards the far post. It was a fantastic clearance, but it only felt like that was only going to temporarily halt Leeds.

For all their dominance Leeds failed to capitalise and with 35 minutes gone, Kalvin Phillips gave the ball away to Junior Hoilett, who ran at the defence before firing past Leeds goalkeeper Illan Mesliet with a powerful left-footed shot. It was a strike that Whittingham would’ve been proud of. Following the goal, Hoilett paid tribute to Whittingham by holding up a Cardiff top with ‘Whittingham 7’ on the back.

Leeds came very close to equalising in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Patrick Bamford was the saviour for Cardiff, blocking Jack Harrison’s attempt while standing in an offside position. The Bluebirds were very lucky to get away with that.

Leeds continued to dominate the ball in the second half and had another excellent chance, but City goalkeeper Alex Smithies saved at point blank range from Tyler Roberts. It was excellent goalkeeping. Smithies had a fantastic game for Cardiff.

Neil Harris made substitutions, bringing on Nathaniel Mendez-Laing after being injured for six months, and Robert Glatzel, and doing after Cardiff doubled their lead. Both players linked up to score, with Mendez-Laing playing the ball to Glatzel, who controlled it before volleying in off the post. It was a great finish from the striker.

The goal came following another mistake by Leeds. This time it was Liam Cooper who gave the ball away, with Mendez-Laing intercepting his pass.

Cardiff managed the game fairly well for the rest of the game, holding on for a massive and crucial win to boost our play-off hopes. It has also slightly dented Leeds’ title challenge. Next up for the Bluebirds is a big game at Preston next Saturday, which could see us move into the top six with a victory. It will be a very tough game though against a good team.

Hopefully the team can push on to end the season strongly and possibly bring Premier League football back to Cardiff.

In regards to the rest of the league, there was some big results with plenty to fight for at the top and bottom of the division.

Three points separate sixth and twelfth. Blackburn, Swansea and Derby all managed to win as well as Cardiff to put them right in the mix. Sixth-placed Preston conceded a late equaliser to relegation-threatened Luton which will be a frustrating result for them.

Derby beat Millwall and Blackburn best Bristol City with all four teams in that play-off battle.

Looking towards the bottom of the table, it is still very tight. Wigan moves up to 17th after a crucial 2-0 victory at fellow strugglers Huddersfield, who are now only one point above the relegation zone. Charlton also won, beating Hull 1-0 which led to them escaping the relegation zone with Hull replacing them. Barnsley gave themselves a chance of staying up with a 1-0 win at QPR and as I’ve mentioned already, Luton managed to get a point at home to Preston.

There is still plenty to play for across the whole division and there will be excitement, as there always is in the Championship. The next round of fixtures is next weekend.