Craig Bellamy helps Cardiff stretch Championship lead

Published on 08/12/2012 03:53

Cardiff stormed four points clear at the top of the npower Championship with a 4-1 win last night that leaves Blackburn’s own promotion ambitions in a sorry state.

Having earlier collected a fifth booking of the season to rule himself out of City’s next game against Peterborough, captain Mark Hudson headed the visitors into a 30th-minute lead from Craig Noone’s cross.

Craig Bellamy, who counts Rovers among his vast collection of former clubs, struck the crossbar towards the end of a first half in which Blackburn produced a woeful 45 minutes – a worryingly familiar theme of their 
recent outings. One of Rovers’ few bright sparks, on-loan Manchester United forward Josh King, brought them level in the 51st minute, only for Bellamy to restore Cardiff’s advantage four minutes later.

Substitutes Joe Mason and Kim Bo-kyung completed Blackburn’s misery, leaving Henning Berg to survey a fourth defeat from eight games in charge that leaves his side 15 points behind the leaders after 21 games and, perhaps more significantly, four shy of the play-off places ahead of the weekend fixtures.