A superbly respected minutes silence took place for Remembrance Day as the teams stood solemnly on the pitch.
The pre match tannoy entertained the arriving supporters with a variey of pop/punk songs and a singalong Hi Ho Silver Lining to get the fans in good voice.
It was the City fans who were singing the loudest though as the 830 or so Bluebirds saw Jay Bothroyd tap in from point blank range with less than 2 mins on the clock. Crisp passing from Bellamy to Chopra helped set up the goal.
Cardiff were pulling the home side apart with their passing and it was 2 - 0 inside 10 mins when Chopra finished a move that saw Scunthorpe chasing shadows. The move involved the same three players with Bellamy putting Bothroyd in for the set up to Chopra.
Cardiff continued to dominate and at one stage the BBC stats showed that after around 30 mins of the game Cardiff had 78% possession. Scunthorpe forray's towards the away end were very rare indeed.
The City looked to have sewn the game up. Bellamy's free kick was flicked into the net by Jay Bothroyd, the City striker giving a final nudge to Fabio Capello ahead of the England squad announcement. (Bothroyd was rewarded with a call up late on Saturday evening).
City just had to see the first half out and you'd expect a comfortable second half with a three goal cushion.
Scunthorpe had sharted to show some fight though, Freddie Sears missed a chance that he would have scored 19 times out of 20, 6 yards out he placed it wide. But as the 45 min mark came up Scunthorpe got themselves back into the game. City failed to clear and no one picked up McDonaled who side footed it past Heaton to make it 3 - 1 at the break.
The second half saw a change of emphasis, it was Scunthorpe who were pushing, Scunthorpe who were dragging the City players around and there were concerned expressions on the faces of the visiting supporters.
You felt the next goal would be crucial. After withstanding the early 15 mins of second half pressure City looked to have wrapped it up. Bothroyd from point blank range saw his header saved superbly and then his follow up volley also from inside the 6 yard box was incredibly saved again. That would have been game over. Not so, Scunthorpe rallied and came at us again. By this time City had lost Chris Burke through injury in the first half to be replaced by Jason Koumas and in the second half Gyepes and Matthews were on for Blake and Naylor and it was Gyepes who was beaten down the Scunthorpe right, a superb cross off the outside of the boot was met by in the onrushing N'Guessian and it was Scunthorpe 2 - 3 Cardiff.
After being at Plymouth when we lost a 3 - 0 lead and at Peterborough when we lost a 4 - 0 lead I was aprehensive.
City though did look to get forward, it made for a wide-open game with end to end football. Craig Bellamy got close to the byline wide right and his weak effort from an impossible angle went through the keepers legs and hit the post. City broke and had a man over but the final ball to Bothroyd was too heavy and another chance went.
Down the other end Heaton was magnificent. A point blank save was immense and several other dives to tip the ball away for corners kept City in-front.
Then City got a break. Bellamy's corner fell to Koumas 20 yards out and he rifled it back in towards goal where it hit Seyi Olofinaja's arse and deflected into the goal. It killed the home side who never gained the momentum they had at 3 - 2 and the game ended Scunthorpe 2 - 4 Cardiff City.
With Q.P.R. drawing again (7 draws in 9 games for them) Cardiff egained top spot in the Championship.
The drive home was easy enough as well and after a day of bright sunshine and clear skies I knew I was back in Wales when is started hammering it down as we got back to Cardiff.
External Reports
BBC
Cardiff official website
Scunthorpe official website