Cardiff's task at 7:45pm was simple … but daunting. City hadn't lost in 14 games under Lennie Lawrence needed to avoid defeat at Ninian Park where they had only lost 3 of the previous 55 league, Worthington Cup and FA Cup games in 2 years. If they could do that, it would see every fan live their dream - to see the club engraved on their heart in a major final and possibly be 90 minutes away from the Holy Grail that is Division One, a level where a club and city of our size and stature should be as a minimum but haven't operated at for 17 years. The fact it would have been a Millennium Stadium hometown final made it even sweeter.
Stoke's task was simple … but just as daunting. Beaten by The Bluebirds at their own Britannia Stadium 3 days earlier, The Potters had to win by 2 clear goals or 1 goal and a penalty shoot out to progress (they'd have won that anyway!). They hadn't beaten any Top 12 side away all season, won just 2 of their previous 14 away games, were haunted by the memory of blowing promotion and losing play-off semi-finals in the previous 2 seasons and being well beaten at Ninian in league action 3 months earlier. They also had to buck the trend as play off history showed that of 18 sides who had lost their home leg first, only one went onto subsequently win the tie away from home and make the final.
The stats and omens all favoured Cardiff but fate favoured Stoke and won the day. Take away the enormity of the occasion and it was probably the worst game of football at Ninian Park all season. Neither team performed well, pressure had the better of just about everyone but Stoke held their nerve better, made their luck and edged through albeit with the help of an appalling refereeing decision. Any fair-minded fan will accept that they were the better side over the two matches and give them credit, good luck to them in the final.
Like the vast majority of City fans, I had not felt so tense before a City match, let alone during it, for years. I woke at 5:30am, couldn't think, work, eat or even drink (until I got to the pub after work!). Pre-game atmosphere amongst fans was surreal, all confident but quiet and worried it would go wrong, as nervous as at any time in their lives, it really meant that much to the diehards.
Ninian Park may be on its last legs but with a big crowd, it remains a great atmospheric venue. Every part of the ground full except for Stoke scandalously taking only 650 of their 1,700 allocation and a larger than usual “no mans land” between home and away fans in the Grange End taking the attendance to just under 20,000, City's biggest for a “league” game since 1977 unless I'm mistaken.
The atmosphere was white hot as kick-off approached which City whipped up more with the p.a. playing anthemic songs to get all in the mood then both teams appearing through the haze of fireworks, flares and explosions on the pitch.
Cardiff were unchanged, Danny Gabbidon had not recovered from the injuries that forced him to miss the closing stages of the season. Andy Legg had recovered but Lennie decided not to risk him, even as a substitute, one of several errors. You cant help feeling the outcome would have been different had either or both been available as both offer City something positive they didn't have without them, it was a blow. Stoke bravely countered City's 4-3-3 by matching them with Gunlauggson and Deon Burton thrown in from the start.
City started strongly and took the game to Stoke, the support screaming and willing them on. Earnie looked particularly sharp as he almost broke through twice in the opening exchanges before things gradually tightened and fell into a pattern that hardly changed for the rest of the night.
Chances were at an absolute premium. For a Cardiff viewpoint, their game never started. Passing and moves broke down, they lacked cohesion while some of the big players failed to rise to the occasion and produce that moment of magic or something to make City overcome their opponents.
The Bluebirds only had one real first half chance, a Kav free kick which Stoke failed to deal with properly, the ball fell kindly to Scott Young with clear sight of goal from 12 yards but he miscued, the ball bobbling harmlessly wide.
Stoke carved a couple of chances and really should have converted one when James O'Connor broke into the area, squared the ball across goal for Stoke's donkey striker, Iwelumo, made a complete ass of himself by somehow putting the ball over the bar from 5 yards with the goal gaping. Ee aw, ee aw.
Half-time: City 0 Stoke 0
A bit of half-time entertainment as Ali played The Clash's "I Fought The Law And The Law Won", a jibe against the Stoke idiots fighting with police at Britannia Stadium. By the end of the night, the joke rebounded with disorder between a large numbers of Cardiff “fans” and police causing Stoke supporters to stay in the ground for 50 minutes after the match ended.
We were quick enough to condemn the Stoke brain-dead at the weekend and we're always quick enough to condemn police being unfair to City fans at away games but
so we must condemn our own too.
It was heartening though to see the Bob Bank point out a second half coin thrower amongst them to stewards and police who was swiftly arrested. We never seem able to escape or rid ourselves of the reputation, those who go all the time know it is undeserved but some always ruin it for us. The reason we had to go to Stoke by coach only, have the hassle of restricted number all ticket away games, sensitive games played at awkward times is because of this, nothing else. It is unfair but it will never change until these incidents stop altogether.
This is a club going forward, we don't need or want to be held back anymore. It's time some of our fans really learned the difference between what is acceptable intimidation and passion at matches compared to unacceptable misbehaviour and disorder.
The second half was in the same vein as the first half. Not a great deal to admire with tension and anxieties increasing as the clock ticked down.
Taking an objective view of City in such a crucial, pressurised game is hard but there were areas where we didn't function, some players who didn't perform and, while it's churlish to criticise Lennie after the wonders he has achieved in such a short time and easy to comment in hindsight, he did make tactical errors and costly decisions or indecisions.
Defence were solid and reasonable enough, the fact Stoke had to win and Alexander had so little to do is testimony to that. There were problems in midfield though and this is where City's troubles started. Willie Boland was City's best player again by far, incredible fitness, he was everywhere, what an outstanding season. Mark Bonner worked his legs off too maybe not as effectively as usual but Kav was a major disappointment and poor again. Some suggest he ‘bottled it' against his former club. I don't believe that but it's undeniable when City needed him most, in the final weeks of the season, he really didn't perform for us as he can or should.
Fifteen goals from midfield was an outstanding contribution but the last of those was late February just before his last suspension. Before that, his worst spell without a goal was 4 matches. He did not score, or came close, in his 10 matches since. Kav claimed to be over-worried about a further suspension pre-play off and confesses to feeling some intimidation at Stoke but could have no such excuses tonight. Our Captain, Player of the Year and first £1 Million player spluttered.
With midfield unconvincing, the forwards had to feed off scraps but were a huge disappointment too although credit should go to Stoke's outstanding defence. Earnie faded after his start and caught offside too often although on at least two first half occasions, his perfectly timed runs were denied by a poor linesman looking at Earnie when the ball arrived rather than his position as a pass was made. Leo couldn't produce his recent performance levels, he was too wide and often too deep, he's not needed for that. Peter Thorne worked but never found the space or the angles that he did at Britannia.
As mentioned in most recent reports, 4-3-3 works perfectly away for City. It suits them breaking fast against teams at home who need to attack us but at Ninian, they come to defend and hold on. City have struggled in every home match under Lennie using this system. It needs to be put right next season.
Thorne came closest to winning with City's only real chance of the second period. Earnie hit a high and hopeful ball over his head that dropped at the far post where Thorney stretched backwards and managed to loop a header over Cutler. He couldn't quite get enough power, Cutler scrambled back to grab the ball on the line almost as it bounced over, that's the difference between glory and failure.
Cutler looked uncertain every time City put the ball in, hardly ever caught, punched poorly and dropped too. Four times it happened, four times Stoke got away with it, it always went to the wrong player, it was that sort of night.
Stoke had to gamble and push in the closing period, the 4-3-3 system really broke down. Bottom line was the onus was on Stoke and City didn't need to score, didn't need to take risks so why persist with three forwards? The situation called out for Lennie to bring on Bowen on Maxwell for Leo and go 4-4-2 to help City going back and forward. Instead, City dropped deeper.
Nerves were shot around the ground, 10 minutes to Millennium, 9 minutes to Millennium, each passing minute twice as long as the one before it seemed. The crowd did everything they could to sing City home, some were quiet, City weren't doing enough to get us all behind them. Noise and tensions increased.
When Lennie made a change, it turned out be a disaster. Just 2 minutes to go and he swapped Campbell for Earnie, so late in the game, it was unnecessary. From the restart, Stoke stunned City as they scored to take the game into extra-time with our most likely match winner was now on the bench and out of the match, magnifying the substitution gaffe.
With the game just about to enter the 90th minute, a scrappy match was only likely to produce a scrappy goal but, for Stoke, it was priceless. A Stoke player found room on the left after a clearance, passed low into the area, O'CONNOR swung at it from 10 yards out, his scuffed effort glided wide of Alexander passing through Kav's legs on the way.
There was a feeling of complete horror and devastation etched on every face around me, it was to get worse.
Full-time: City 0 Stoke 1 (2-2 on aggregate, extra-time tobe played)
Extra time passed as extra times normally do. Hardly anything worthwhile happening as neither side takes risks to win but concentrates on not making an error that would finish their seasons. If needs be, they prefer to take their chances on a penalty shoot out instead of throwing it away going for glory. Ominously, Cutler looked twice as big as Alexander if it came to penalties and you felt City wouldn't score now.
At the start of the second period, Lennie threw on Bowen and Maxwell for Bonner and Thorne, maybe mindful of the penalty shoot out. Maybe if he'd brought one of them earlier, it would have been so different but it's all ifs and buts. If we had got rid of Alan Cork earlier for the proper manager that we now have, we could have been Champions. If we'd held on to 2-0 at Huddersfield, we could have gone up anyway, if Earnie had scored to make it 3-0 at Stoke, this match would have been a formality.
There was hardly a chance worthy of the name to either team when the referee made his only bad error of the night which just 4 minutes remaining but it was a decision which potentially cost City a major final, promotion and a vast pot of money, we'll never know.
Stoke knocked a ball forward to the edge of the area, ex-City loan player Deon Burton who scored Stoke's lifeline goal in the 1st match backed into Prior who stood his ground and nodded the ball away, all perfect and fair. The ref inexplicably blew and awarded a Stoke free kick, Prior, City's defence and 19,000 fans were livid. A wall of 10 or more players from both sides lined up, everyone freely nudging and pushing, the stakes were massive.
O'Connor's free-kick was poor, it went into the wall but hit OULARE and sent the ball in the opposite direction, Alexander helpless as the ball rolled in. What should have been a City fairytale turned into one for Oulare instead, the player apparently close to death after a blood clot on his lungs at the start of the year, told he wouldn't play again this season grabbed the winner in a late substitute appearance on his second game back.
Wronged for the free-kick, sickened to see Stoke score from it and identifying with the quiz show contestant who used his lifelines and got the big question wrong, Prior lost it. It personally cost him any chance of a £250k promotion bonus negotiated as part of the deal for accepting lower wages to come to Cardiff City (not that£6k per week makes him a pauper!). As the game restarted, Prior argued with the ref over another decision, called him a cheat in the heat and emotion of it all and got a red card which will rule him out at the start of next season.
City had one final chance and should have scored as Kav spooned a ball to the far post where Leo, under pressure, headed wide in front of goal from 5 yards.
Final whistle was awful. Stoke players and fans celebrated, Cardiff's fell to the ground, fans stood or sat motionless not knowing what to do or think or say. Rhys Weston and Neil Alexander were particularly distraught and helpless. The season was over apart from that festival of football better known as the FAW Premier Cup final.
Thoughts of being on nodding terms with Ipswich, Derby, Leicester and Wolves next season were replaced by the reality that it is lousy Luton, piddling Plymouth, the mean streets of Chesterfield, the chicken run that is Colchester's Layer Road away terrace and, if they win, the third division play off, an even worse away end at Stalag Cheltenham instead. Whoever said the glamour has gone from football is absolutely right.
Oh well, season ticket prices will stay down and we'll see the strippers at Wycombe again, hope the grumpy one isn't there next time! I hope our seaside trips are at nice times of year but I bet they'll be mid-winter again. Barnsley will be a new ground for me and so will Stockport which also means an overnight stay at an infamous nightclub complex (those who know about it, will know where I mean!).
City must lick their wounds, enjoy their break and come back better and stronger next season. To have got this close is a tribute to Lennie Lawrence and the players in the past 2 months but the reality is promotion was missed because the same players were poor for much of the first 6 months under Alan Cork. The club should have had automatic promotion, that has to be the sole aim next season. Play-offs were an achievement this season, next season they must be considered as failure. It's hard but it's reality and expectation at this club under Sam Hammam.
It is undoubtedly a huge blow in football and financial terms for Sam and the club. Cardiff didn't buy big and pay the money they are to stand still. In effect, we have but in reality, we have progressed a considerable way in 12 months, there is no reason presently to suspect that will not continue.
People around Canton and pubs afterwards were in total shock, nobody really able to say anything, it was like someone had died. I managed only 4 and a half hours sleep this time, even less than the night before the game. I was a grown man crying but there were plenty of us around the ground that were exactly the same.
Finally, it's important that we all remember at times like this when it feels like the end of the world that Bill Shankly was so wrong when he remarked that the game is more important than life or death.
Take a moment to reflect on those worse off than us. There are others having to survive in squalor at ramshackle places with no money, no hope, no happiness, no real future who are envious of us and all we have. Anyway, enough of Swansea City, Brighton, Bristol City, Welsh rugby, their fans and stadia! There's always next season for us, just watch those Bluebirds go!