Champ Game 42: CARDIFF CTY 3 BURNLEY 1

“Three Is The Magic Number” boomed out as Cardiff City fans stood, applauded and cheered their heroes in Blue off the pitch after a stunning and magnificent 3-1 victory over Burnley to record their third successive three point haul. That’s the first time all season they managed to achieve it, to manage it in just 6 days made for an eggs-cellent Easter. As rivals slipped at home, Cardiff City now incredibly stand just 4 points from automatic promotion with 4 games to go and a game in hand. Win those games – a massive ask but possible – and I’ve no doubt we’ll be in the Premiership automatically rather than taking chances in the play-offs.

Yes, the Dream is very much on and completely alive, you’d better believe it. The thrill and anticipation of what may lie ahead is overwhelming, those final minutes had myself and a packed Ninian Park singing, bouncing, stranger hugging, screaming and joyously jumping. Fantastic and emotional, what an afternoon.

There was no sign of the goals fest in a tough encounter in which Burnley started very well and played their part in full as, first half, Cardiff looked every inch a side carrying a couple of players with knocks and feeling the effects of playing their 4^th game in 9 days. They eventually improved and cranked up pressure but with no City player able to get on the end of a stack of set pieces, corners and balls across goal, it looked set for stalemate until the most dramatic of conclusions unravelled.

Jay Bothroyd opened the scoring with a stunner that had Ninian Park rocking until, just 6 minutes remained, when the otherwise excellent stand-in Darren Purse gifted Robbie Blake an equaliser. That hammer-blow would kill most sides but this City side have heart and balls to go with their commitment and quality and enter the outstanding Ross McCormack to put City ahead seconds after the restart and finish it altogether in added time to send City fans into uncontrollable delirium.

Easter weekend has produced glorious weather in South Wales but there was gloom of sorts with Roger Johnson absent after his mugging by Crystal Palace’s Claude Davis on the weekend left him hospitalised in London until today. We can only wish him well recovering, City hope to take him to Preston this weekend but his health must come first at present. Roger Johnson stood in, Michael Chopra and Jay Bothroyd recovered sufficiently from the rough-house treatment that had at Palace but Paul Parry missed out.

CARDIFF CITY: Taylor; McNaughton-Purse-Gyepes-Kennedy; McCormack-Rae-McPhail-Ledley; Chopra-Bothroyd: Subs: Heaton-Burke-Comminges-Johnson(Eddie)-Whittingham.

Burnley started and finished the day in 6^th spot but now stand 4 points behind City and 4 ahead of Swansea who lead the play-off chasers. I’m still waiting for ‘thanks for helping us out’ messages off my Jack friends – they’re an ungrateful lot!

However The Clarets are having a fine season under Owen Coyle and winning lots of friends by narrowly failing to Spars in the Carling Cup semis and reaching the last 16 of the F.A. as well as having an excellent season in the league. They were unbeaten in 7 and collected 17 points making them the most in-form team of the front runners and City’s win all the more noteworthy.

Well backed by more than 1,500 fans in another excellent crowd of 19,379, The Clarets lined up with the following side:

BURNLEY: Jensen; Alexander-Carlisle-Caldwell-Williams; Kalvenes-Elliott- McCann-Eagles-Rodriguez; Blake.

The opening half hour was uncomfortable as, yet again, the visiting side employed a 4-5-1 formation. Cardiff looked tired and spent a lot of the opening period on the back-foot with the enormously impressive Chris Eagles and Welsh youngster Rhys Williams doubling up on Mark Kennedy’s side and causing considerable problems.

It was no surprise when Kennedy was booked for bringing down Eagles and he walked a tightrope at times as Eagles ran at him, around him or past him but City’s defence were generally as tight and resolute as ever. Stuart Taylor, now on loan with City for the rest of this season, made one save from Rodrigues and watched efforts from Blake and Carlisle go wide.

City, having to defend and almost play like an away side looking for joy on the breaks, were finding it difficult to respond and when they did, the avenue was usually Ross McCormack living up to the billing a few of us gave him at Palace singing to Kings of Leon, ‘woooh ooooh, McCormack’s on fire’. His trickery was troubling the visitors, his marker was soon booked and he was whipping in crosses with pace and swirl but City couldn’t profit from them, Roger was missed more for his threat up front than his presence at the back today.

There was some friction in the Grange End, seemingly caused by Burnley’s followers making those unjustified, outrageous and now oh so boring chants about Dave Jones, boos rang out, City fans were becoming agitated and the stewards pulled a huge green curtain across the terrace in the ‘no man’s land’ between the fans – I was half expecting them to put on a Bank Holiday Disney film for the Burnley mob.

Having been on the ropes with Eagles in charge out there, Cardiff finally managed to turn things around and finish the stronger side before the interval but still failed to adequately test Jensen as Bothroyd headed weakly at him, McCormack did similar after outstanding build up play and Bothroyd hammered an edge of area free kick equally a few yards high and wide of the Canton Stand goal but City had at least settled and were starting to play some quality football.

Half-time: CITY 0 BURNLEY 0

Former City ‘legends’ Dave Carver and Derek ‘Danny’ Showers were introduced on the pitch at the interval but and that was the most meaningful action we had for a while as the 2^nd half opened as cagey as much of the opening period was although we all enjoyed McCormack smashing a volley over the Grange End and into the large tree beyond the ground. Once upon a time, we used to have fans watching for free in there – they would have been taken out by Roscoe’s effort.

With it being the 4^th game in 9 days and the second in the space of 48 hours, the bench was always going to come into play and first change saw Whitts replaces Chopra just past the hour to go wide with McCormack pulled alongside Bothroyd. Chopra showed his commitment by playing after a knock too him off at the weekend and gave it everything.

Within moments, Jay Bothroyd had but missed the most glorious chance of the game. A huge punt saw Carlisle miscontrol his header which arced towards goal, the ball dropping invitingly for Jay but in trying to help the ball over Jensen, he succeeded in giving him an effective tame back-pass.

However Cardiff were now well on top and the support were behind them in full as well, willing them on, with them in every kick. Our defence were tighter than a trumpeter’s bum cheeks playing a top note with Purse and McCormack both outstanding and a succession of quality balls were flying across the box but, most unlike Easter, we couldn’t find anyone to get on the end of crosses!

Score updates were flying in – 10 man Birmingham had levelled at home to Brum, Sheffield United couldn’t beat 10 man Nottingham Forest at home, Reading had blown a 2 goal lead at Blackpool while Wolves were having their own drama at Derby while play-off chasers Swansea and Preston were going to win away, fans knew a point would be good but 3 points felt essential.

Then, from absolutely nothing, City crafted the opening goal and it was exceptional. Simple but stunning. A punt down the line, McCormack created an opening with a back-heel flick into the box and JAY BOTHROYD ran onto it and smashed high with venom high onto Jensen’s top corner leaving the keeper helpless and the net struggling to stay on. Pure ecstasy and legal too! The noise was incredible, AC/DC currently on Tour couldn’t match it.

Burnley tried to hit back immediately and almost did as Robbie Blake twisted and turned then hit a shot at goal that took an awkward bounce and struck a crouching Taylor on his forehead … although I thought he was show-boating by saving shots with headers!

Taylor, for such a big keeper with the potential to dominate his box, seems to suffer the same White Line Fever that many do and is loathsome to leave it even when a ball is obviously is but despite some awkward moments again, and needing defence to save him, he is doing a good job.

The game had majorly opened up. While that suited Burnley, it did City no harm either and then came within a whisker of finishing it as a scintillating McCormack run from halfway down the touchline, beyond the final defender, into the box and cut-back saw Whittingham’s effort deflected wide while the resulting corner was met on the full by Gyepes which started a roar of anticipation until Jensen – dubbed the Flying Pig and reminded of his portliness by the Grange End all half – took off across goal to take it.

City fans were cheering, at enormous noise, every tackle and header won with the game in its closing moments and were behind the rock that was Darren Purse today as he won three successive aerial challenges but City couldn’t pounce on the second ball and when it dropped behind him, Purse played the most horrible under-hit back-pass that placed ROBBIE BLAKE clear on goal and levelled the score on 84 minutes.

Darren Purse and defensive mistakes have been too frequent over the last year or two but, deputising a couple of times recently, he has been superb and didn’t deserve that. It’s not too often I feel for Darren Purse but today I did.

A fair number of fans in the Grandstand and elsewhere in the ground took that massive setback at the cue to leave but Cardiff matches have featured goals in the last 10 minutes in all of their last 7 games and this is a side who have proved all season long that they are never beaten and don’t given up.

However, even Spielberg would have rejected the script for what followed as just too outrageous. City kicked-off, the ball was turned back, played forward, Bothroyd flicked on and there was ROSS McCORMACK to burst past defenders and fire home low into the bottom corner surely within less than 10 seconds of the kick-off. When fans tell you how football can be better than sex, it’s moments like these that they are talking about. Incredible euphoria, unbelievable climax, fantastic shooting. Old men danced and hugged, a few had tears in their eyes, the noise was ear-splitting.

This was heart-stopping stuff, City restarting the game with Eddie, Eddie, Eddie replacing Bothroyd and Burnley trying to hit back for a second time but City were in no mood to let it slip again although Joe Ledley showed the nerves out there as he headed a Clark Carlisle header behind for a corner when it was drifting wide anyway.

Eddie delighted the baying home crowd by twice getting on the end of clearances and charging down the pitch into a corner. It was that tense that I don’t think anyone noticed the 4^th official add 4 minutes, it wasn’t announced either.

Another Burnley attack, another City clearance cheered as if we’d won the F.A. Cup, Champions League and World Cup in one but, this time, it felt like it too as ROSS McCORMACK get the ball halfway in front of the Bob Bank, yet again showed amazing pace as he left two defenders for dead but instead of going to the corner, he bore down on goal from an angle and slotted past Jensen for another incredible personally made and taken goal – his 23rd of the season and his 2^nd double in 3 days. Ninian truly erupted, the place has seen so many outstanding moments but the last few minutes of this encounter is right up there with them all.

There is no praise high enough for the monumental efforts of this team in which everyone played their part. It’s hard to single out anyone but KEVIN McNAUGHTON’s defensive masterclass rightly earned the man of the match plaudits. There’s no time to reflect in this glory either as Preston next up away on Saturday is a game that impacts both on City’s auto-promotion hopes and their play-off ones as well. I got a funny feeling our following at that game will increase significantly.