Away Defeat Report No.3533: Cardiff City 2-1 Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers took their losing streak to an international audience this weekend, instead of finding defeat in England this time it was Wales who saw first hand just how terrible we are on the road.

Play-Off chasing Cardiff City welcomed our already-relegated heroes, and would have surely fancied their chances of adding to our away-day misery and to then bolster their own promotion hopes.

It would prove to be a game completely dominated by the home side, as the BBC stats bore out:

So it was a shock to all when Wanderers took the lead through a brilliant Zach Clough free kick:

Beckham esque.@OfficialBWFC's @ZachClough with brilliant free kick.

All the goals from 9pm on @Channel5_TV https://t.co/ea82knhgg0

— Football On 5 (@FootballOn5) April 23, 2016

However, the lads had to play two-thirds of the game with just ten on the field, following a deserved red card shown to Niall Maher who floored Craig Noone. The best thing to come out of this was that Darren Pratley was substituted, giving a debut to left-back Tyler Garrett, who performed well.

Wanderers were again guilty of missing chances, with Emile Heskey and Clough guilty.

It was then a surprise that we managed to hold out so long before conceding. Dutch attacker Kenneth Zohore levelled after shooting between Ben Amos' legs. It was a poor goal to concede - add that to the rest, eh Ben?

Kaiyne Woolery went on to spurn another good chance, allowing goalkeeper Marshall to save when he really should have scored. It would cost Wanderers in the 94th minute when an unnecessary challenge from Garrett led to a penalty, which former Aston Villa man Peter Whittingham inevitably scored, laving the home side just four points behind Sheffield Wednesday with two games left.

So we move on to Hull City at the Reebok this Saturday, and wonder what could possibly go wrong next.

Cardiff City manager Russell Slade said:

"We left it late, if I had any hair, it would all be gone.

"Our chances are still slim, but probably not as slim as they were before a ball was kicked.

"The gap is now four points, and we have a cup final next weekend. We need to dust ourselves down and be ready for it.

"I've always said that if we can take it to the last game of the season, at home, then we would take that."

Our Jimmy Phillips said:

"The sending off made it difficult, but it's great that we have come into an away game and got the first goal. It was a fantastic free-kick from Zach Clough.

"I thought we kept a good disciplined shape when we were down to 10 men. We then had three good opportunities - the best of the half - but we didn't manage to stick one in the net.

"I feel it's important the club appoints a new manager soon. Whoever does get the job has to decide which players need replacing. The sooner we start that process, the better."