Bristol City vs Cardiff City, Five Blasts From The Past

This weekend welcomes the fierce rivalry of football clubs Bristol City and Cardiff City.

Whilst the cities of Bristol and Cardiff may be 44 miles apart, and in Bristol Rovers and Swansea City respectively, have clubs in which they may portray a more passionate hatred towards, fans of both clubs see this as a ‘local’ derby match in which has brought joy and despair for both sets of supporters in years gone by.

To whet the appetite of this weekend’s televised clash, I look back at five of the top clashes between the two clubs since the beginning of the 21^st century.

1.         Bristol City 1-1 Cardiff City

      Football League Division 2

      9^th October 2001

      Ashton Gate

Mickey Bell’s 25 yard wonder strike with his weaker right foot gave Bristol City a point to leave them 3^rd in Division 2 in their quest for promotion. Robert Earnshaw gave Cardiff the lead in the first half with a dubious penalty after Brian Tinnion’s challenge on Jason Bowen was deemed to be unfair by referee Rob Harris. Bell scored arguably the Robins’ goal of the season on the 56^th minute, cutting in from his advanced position on the left wing to bend a shot past Bluebirds’ keeper Neil Alexander with his ‘swinger.’ The home side could have had a spot-kick themselves late on when Steve Jones was bundled over but it wasn’t to be and the two sides shared the spoils. 

2.   Bristol City 3-0 Cardiff City

      Football League Championship

      1^st January 2011

      Ashton Gate

Goals from Brett Pitman, Lee Johnson and Jamal Campbell-Ryce gave Bristol City the perfect start to the New Year with a resounding win in this New Year’s Day rendition of the severnside derby. Jon Stead’s cross for Pitman’s tap-in early on was carbon copied just before the break from the centre forward, this time the onrushing Lee Johnson was the man to find the net in front of the East End. The second half saw the home side see the game out in style against a strong Bluebirds’ side sporting the likes of Peter Whittingham, Michael Chopra and on-loan Manchester City forward Craig Bellamy. Jamal Campbell-Ryce’s mazy run late on left him with space to curl the ball into the far corner of the diving Tom Heaton’s net to seal the win and dent Cardiff’s hopes of automatic promotion to the Premier League.

3.   Cardiff City 1-0 Bristol City

      Football League Division 2 (Play-off Semi Final, 1^st Leg)

      10^th May 2003

      Ninian Park

Peter Thorne’s 74^th minute header gave Cardiff a slender lead to take back to Ashton Gate in the first leg of the Division 2 play-off semi-final. Willie Boland crossed from the right wing for Thorne to rise out of the reach of Louis Carey to head past Steve Phillips who had no chance. Bristol City had the chance to take the lead in the first half when Cardiff-born Christian Roberts’ header was wonderfully saved by Neil Alexander whilst Danny Wilson’s men could have gone 2-0 down in the dying stages when Robert Earnshaw went close. Thorne’s bullet header though was enough to give the Welsh side the lead at the half way stage in the tie and it proved to be the only goal of the two clashes after a 0-0 draw in Bristol on the Tuesday night. Cardiff ran out winners at the Millenium Stadium in the final where they beat Queens Park Rangers to be promoted to Division 1. 

4.   Bristol City 0-6 Cardiff City

      Football League Championship

      26^th January 2010

      Ashton Gate

An embarrassing performance from Gary Johnson’s Bristol City saw Cardiff run out 0-6 winners away from home in this severnside derby. Goals from Peter Whittingham, Ross McCormack, (2) Michael Chopra (2) and an own goal from Liam Fontaine saw the travelling Bluebirds supporters go back across the bridge in shock of what they had just witnessed after a day they’ll never forget. The Robins, playing with two out and out wide men, were asking to be attacked from Cardiff’s centralised midfield, which proved too hot to handle for the Robins as the impressive Whittingham put in a man of the match performance with numerous perfectly weighted through balls for the clinical strike force of McCormack and Chopra. This was one of many poor home performances from the reds which soon led to the departure of manager Johnson. 

5.   Cardiff City 1-3 Bristol City

      Football League Division 2

      29^th December 2001

      Ninian Park

Scott Murray’s double (including a memorable celebration) and Lee Matthews’ strike saw Bristol City go top of Division 2 after an impressive 1-3 win at a hostile Ninian Park. Graham Kavanagh’s calm header from Robert Earnshaw’s cross saw the home side take the lead prior to half time before three goals in five minutes from the visitors stunned the Welsh public. First, fan’s favourite Murray produced a trademark finish after a swift move before a similar goal from the winger, this time finishing at the near post before running 40 yards with an ‘ear-cupping’ celebration in front of the home terrace. Matthews’ fierce strike on the hour left Neil Alexander with no chance and the home side never recovered and sent the away fans back into England with smiling faces who still speak of Murray’s celebration over 11 years on.    

Bristol City vs Cardiff City, Saturday 10th March (17:20 k.o)