Three first-half goals saw League One leaders Cardiff City
beat an in-form Luton Town 3-1 in south Wales to go four points clear at the
top of the table.
The Bluebirds started on the front foot and went close after four minutes when Ollie Tanner found a pocket of space on the edge of the 18-yard box, but his curling effort went narrowly wide of the far corner.
Cardiff took a deserved lead when Joel Colwill found David
Turnbull near the penalty spot, and the former Celtic man found the bottom
corner with a first-time volley.
Luton, who had won back-to-back games going into the
contest, drew level nine minutes later when Joel Bagan brought down Isaiah
Jones inside the area. Captain Jordan Clark's resulting penalty was placed
perfectly into the side netting.
After a rare spell without any chances, Cardiff sprung into
life in the closing stages of the first half.
They restored their lead when Colwill capitalised on a
mistake from Kasey Palmer before wrong-footing Josh Keeley from the edge of the
box.
Five minutes later the hosts had a third with the pick of
the bunch, Perry Ng driving in from 25 yards out to raise the roof at the
Cardiff City Stadium.
It could have been even worse for the Hatters before the break, as former Luton man Gabriel Osho headed Alex Robertson's free-kick onto the bar.
Cardiff felt they should have had a penalty of their own at
the end of the first-half when Ollie Tanner's shot appeared to be blocked by
the hand of Gideon Kodua, but referee Ollie Yates waved away the fervant
appeals.
The abundance of chances in the first half was not
replicated after the break, though Chris Willock did sting the gloves of Josh
Keeley from distance.
The biggest cheer of the second half came in the 69th
minute, as Cardiff welcomed back Rubin Colwill from a lengthy spell on the
sidelines with an ankle injury - suffered against Northampton on 22 November.
Colwill almost marked his return with an assist in the third
minute of stoppage time, but Keeley somehow kept out Callum Robinson's effort
from a couple yards out.
And while Luton always carried a threat, their first-half
penalty remained the visitors' only shot on target of the contest, as Cardiff
extended their unbeaten run to 11 games.
Analysis: Double-digit advantage over play-off places
While Cardiff's four-point lead over Lincoln at the top of
the table will delight Bluebirds fans, arguably the more important margin is
that over Bolton in third place.
Lincoln and Bolton could not be separated in a 1-1 draw,
which opens up a 10-point cushion for Barry-Murphy's side on third place.
Victory at the Cardiff City Stadium also extended their
unbeaten run of games to 11 games.
With Rubin Colwill back from injury and top scorer Yousef
Salech making progress in his recovery, it is all smiles at present for
Cardiff.
Luton, meanwhile, miss the opportunity to close the gap on
the play-off places following Huddersfield's defeat earlier on Saturday.
It also ends the Hatters' run of consecutive wins, as they
slip four points behind the top six.
Cardiff City: Trott, Ng, Bagan (Kpakio 54’),
Chambers, Osho, Turnbull, Robertson (Lawlor 89’), J. Colwill (R. Colwill 69’),
Tanner, Willock (Ashford 69’), Kellyman (Robinson 69’). Subs Not Used: Tyrer,
Fish.
Luton Town: Keeley, Andersen, Mengi, Lonwijk,
Clark, Cole (Wells 66’), Jones, Richards (van den Berg 73’), Kouda (Al Hamadi
45’), Johnson (Morris 66’), Palmer. Subs Not Used: Shea,
Naismith, Saville.
