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Will Fish reeled Wrexham in as Cardiff deservedly beat their Welsh rivals to reach the quarter-finals Will Unwin’s report has landed … and his hard work has been rewarded with a splendid headline. Thanks for reading this MBM. Cardiff’s Brian Barry-Murphy speaks to ITV. “The character of the team [pleased me most] … the way we responded to a difficult setback in the second half … the personality that we showed through the course of the game, but even more so then … it was hugely satisfying for us … the team is improving all the time … strong glimpses of what we can achieve … it’s going to take a lot of work to get where we want to go … tonight was a very good and important stepping stone for us … I was so desperate for the players to get the reward I felt they deserved … that’s probably why I was more agitated than usual! … for [our fans] to travel at this distance and at this expense on a Tuesday night is an incredible contribution so to reward them with a victory is hugely satisfying for us. ” A disappointed Phil Parkinson gives his admirably honest verdict when asked by ITV whether the best team won. “Yeah I’d agree with that … first half, we were passive … we didn’t press with enough aggression … second half, we did better and got back in the game … just frustrated to concede the goal the way we did, a tight angle from a set play … I haven’t seen [the free kick that led to the winner] back so I’m not gonna comment on that … the first half we were off it … not enough intensity … they pressed us and forced us into mistakes … the second half a lot better … I fancied us to go on and win the game but that moment decided the game … it was just disappointing … you have to give credit to Cardiff … they came out aggressively … pressed high as a team … we didn’t deal with it as well as we’d have liked … it shows that if you’re not right at the races, you can get punished in football. ” While we wait for some managerial reaction from the Raceground, here’s Aaron Bower’s report on Brentford steamrollering Grimsby … … and Jacob Steinberg on Fulham squeaking past Wycombe Wanderers. The match-winner Will Fish, who scored his first goal for Cardiff tonight, speaks to ITV. “When I saw the ball come over, my eyes lit up … to get the winner means the world … very happy … we knew it’d be a tough game … the way the boys stuck together … we always looked fairly secure … we can take massive confidence into the season coming up … we knew the magnitude of this game … what Wrexham have done in recent years … massive credit to the boys and all the staff … we worked hard for this one. ” Wrexham were vastly improved in the second half. Kieffer Moore introduced a huge threat, caused bother, equalised, caused more bother, missed chances. But Cardiff were so superior in the first period, it’s hard to argue that they don’t deserve their victory on balance, even if the final possession stat was exactly 50-50 and the x G wasn’t quite as lopsided as one might imagine: 1. 27-1. 88. Thing is, the Bluebirds could very easily have been out of sight by the break, and only a woodwork-bothering mix of profligacy and bad luck kept their score down. Omari Kellyman was particularly impressive during that first half; Cardiff would have surely won easier had he not gone off. They go onto the quarters, while Wrexham must take solace from their second-half performance, and the fact they’re still one division above their Welsh rivals. In the meantime, Fulham have beaten Wycombe Wanderers 5-4 on penalties, and join both Cardiff and their west-London pals Brentford in the quarter-finals. Here are tonight’s results … Grimsby Town 0-5 Brentford Wrexham 1-2 Cardiff City Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Fulham (4-5 pens) … and here’s the card for tomorrow night. Some big matches there. Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion Liverpool v Crystal Palace Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur Swansea City v Manchester City Woverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea Nothing comes of it, and Cardiff advance to the quarter-finals at the expense of their Welsh rivals! 90 min +5: Kabore crosses long from the right. Chambers and Fish confuse each other, the latter nearly slicing into his own net! The ball squirts wide left. One last Hail-Mary corner. 90 min +4: Wrexham can’t get anything going. Time running out for an ending a Hollywood scriptwriter would think twice about. 90 min +3: “There’s only one team in Wales, ” trill the Bluebirds support. 90 min +2: Robertson is booked for a hearty clank into Dobson. 90 min +1: Kabore crosses from the right. Moore’s sheer presence on the other flank is enough to win a corner. But the set piece delivery is no use. Cardiff clear their lines. 90 min: There will be five extra minutes. Can Wrexham save themselves and take the tie to penalties? 89 min: Moore and O’Brien contest a couple of headers in the Cardiff box. They win both of them, but the latter is harshly penalised for a mid-air nudge on Ng. O’Brien is incandescent. The referee cuts him some slack and makes do with some calming words. 88 min: Davies takes the ball down the Cardiff right and towards the corner flag, wasting precious seconds. Cardiff firmly in end-game mode now. 87 min: Ashford is replaced by Osho, an extra defensive piece for Cardiff. 86 min: O’Brien sends Windass into acres down the right. Windass crosses low and long for Moore, whose slap-shot from the left-hand edge of the D is blocked. Moore’s had his chances to equalise. 84 min: Moore spins into a little bit of space, 25 yards out, but can’t get any oomph behind his shot, which dribbles through to Trott. 83 min: Davies has a blooter goalwards from long range. Burton is behind it all the way. The tension at the Racecourse is palpable. 82 min: Cardiff make another change, replacing Bagan with Ng. 81 min: It’s all a bit scrappy now, as both teams approach the business end of this all-Welsh affair. The first meeting between these sides in 21 years; is it really any wonder? 79 min: The game between Wycombe Wanderers and Fulham has gone to penalties after finishing 1-1. 78 min: … and then Hardie comes again, dribbling into the box down the left, but unable to shake off Fish in order to make room for a shot. Still, a lively introduction by the striker who helped Plymouth beat Liverpool in last season’s FA Cup. 77 min: O’Brien is brought down on the left. Before the free kick is taken, Wrexham send on Kabore and Hardie for Barnett and Coady … and Hardie’s very first act is to meet the free kick and flash a header straight at Trott. 76 min: It’s finished at Blundell Park. Brentford have beaten Grimsby Town 5-0. 75 min: Robertson one-twos his way down the right and wins a Cardiff corner. He’s been lively since coming on. It’ll be their tenth of the evening. Bagan takes long, and from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, Salech loops a header across Burton and into the right-hand side of the net. But the whistle had long gone for some unnecessary pushing and shoving in the middle. 73 min: Wrexham try to respond immediately, Longman advancing down the left and cutting back for Moore, whose first-time shot is deflected wide. Then from the resulting corner, the ball comes in from the left, and Moore slaps a header wide right when everyone expected the net to bulge! Good cup-tie this now! Barnett comes through the back of Chambers out on the left. From the resulting free kick, Bagan is found in space out on the wing. He crosses long and the ball drops to Fish, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Fish meets the ball by volleying low and hard into the near corner. Cardiff back in front! 69 min: Davies wins Cardiff another corner, this time down the right. Nothing comes of this one, either, but the away side are beginning to reestablish their earlier dominance. 68 min: Robertson has a dig from distance. Deflected. Wide. The corner leads to nothing. 66 min: Cardiff make a double change, sending on Robertson and Turnbull in place of Wintle and Joel Colwill. “I mean, a handful of Welsh speakers would find it funny, but I don’t for one second think it’s useable, don’t worry! Just sent it cos it made me chuckle. ” Matt Dony there, completely underestimating my [flicks through Great Welsh Songbook] impulse to become reactionary. 64 min: The Colwill brothers combine, left to right and back into the centre, hoping to tee up Salech, six yards out. Coady nudges the striker in the back to put him off. Not enough for a penalty, though Salech isn’t happy about it. “Wrth gwrs, mae Alan Pugh yn iawn, ” begins Matt Dony. “Dylai hyn fod yn Gymraeg. Ond fe wnaeth ein gormeswyr Seisnig wneud hynny’n anodd iawn amser maith yn ôl. Welsh Not alive and well. ” 62 min: Wrexham have enjoyed 77 percent of possession since the equaliser went in. Rubin Colwill tries to turn the momentum back in favour of Cardiff with a whack from distance, but while well hit, it’s straight at Burton. 60 min: Brentford are giving poor old Grimsby a proper working-over. Nathan Collins makes it 0-5 on 75 minutes. 59 min: Joel Colwill and Moore tussle and fall to the ground. Moore has tweaked his shoulder upon landing. Think an ersatz version of Sergio Ramos versus Mohamed Salah in the 2018 Champions League final, and there you have it. Well, up to a point: Colwill’s challenge seemed innocent, while after some treatment, Moore looks fine to continue. 57 min: … who goes into the book. Wrexham want a red card, but distance from goal plus covering defender plus another covering defender equals yellow. But Kpakio will now miss the quarter-final should Cardiff get there. 56 min: Cardiff respond through Ashford, who is sent into the Wrexham box down the inside-left channel by Rubin Colwill. Ashford aims for the bottom left. Burton parries around the post for a corner, from which Wrexham break upfield. Longman threatens to break clear down the right, and is cynically brought down by Kpakio … 55 min: Wrexham tails are suddenly back up. Longman dances in from the left and curls a low drive across Trott and towards the bottom-right corner. Not sure the keeper was getting there, had it been on target, but it flies wide so it’s all moot. 54 min: Cardiff will wonder how on earth they’ve been pegged back. But here we are! Cup football, ladies and gentlemen. Bagan, perhaps irritated, slides through the back of Dobson and rightfully goes into the book. … so having said that, Wrexham draw level! Longman crosses from the left. The ball glances off the top of Fish’s head, and loops into the six-yard box. Moore, rushing in, is always going to be the boss of Chambers, and easily wins an aerial duel to power a header home from close range! The Racecourse erupts! 50 min: Salech tees up Wintle, 25 yards out. Wintle races onto the ball and sends a rising screamer high and wide of the top-right corner. Cardiff continue to look the more dangerous, despite Wrexham upping their own intensity. 49 min: Wrexham are signally more snappy in the tackle, and vigorous in the press, during these early second-half exchanges. A fair shout that Phil Parkinson set the old hairdryer to The What-For during the break. 47 min: Windass is immediately into the thick of the action, floating a long shot towards the top-left corner that on the one hand is easy pickings for Trott, but on the other, Wrexham’s first shot on target. Cardiff get the second half started. Wrexham have made three changes, sending on mascot Wrex the Dragon Moore, Windass and James for Rathbone, Broadhead and Smith. Cardiff have replaced the impressive Kellyman with Davies. Some more on-the-scene / almost too on-the-nose reporting from our man Will Unwin at the Racecourse. “I am not saying things are going badly for Wrexham but the mascot is currently doing a vigorous warm-up. ” It might already be all over at Grimsby, but the scoring never stops. Fábio Carvalho, who already has an assist to his name for the Reiss Nelson goal, slots a 54th-minute penalty to make it Grimsby 0-4 Brentford. It might be half-time in Wrexham, but the football never stops. Fulham have drawn level at Wycombe, Josh King scoring after three minutes of the second half. It’s still 3-0 to Brentford at Grimsby. … and that being the case, Wrexham are booed off by a small but vocal section of their support. It’s not stretching a point to say that Cardiff could be three, four, even five goals in the lead. As it stands, though, we’ve still got ourselves a live cup-tie. 45 min +1: Smith advances down the inside-right channel, takes a touch infield, then swivels and whistles a low drive inches wide of the bottom-right corner. Trott was rooted to the spot and, had that been on target, not getting there. By some distance Wrexham’s best moment of the game. A 1-1 half-time scoreline would have been a total absurdity, mind you. 45 min: Wrexham have two first-half minutes to survive before launching Mission Regroup/Reorganise. 44 min: O’Brien crosses from the left in the hope of finding Smith at the far stick, but the striker’s swarmed by blue shirts. Then Salech accidentally stands on O’Brien’s foot. That’ll have hurt. Not a banner moment for poor O’Brien. 42 min: Wrexham enjoy a rare period of sustained possession in Cardiff territory … but go nowhere in particular. The away defence holding its shape. On which subject, here’s Charles Antaki: “A bit of surprise for Arsenal fans to see Calum Chambers in action, but pleased that he’s prospering. He always looked a bit gawky and unformed while at the club, and now, manly beard added, seems to have settled into maturity. But it does make one realise how far the club has come – compare the current defensive lineup with Cech, Chambers, Holding, Carl Jenkinson and Sead Kolasinac. Anyway - good luck to him. ” 40 min: A bit of space for Rathbone down the inside-left channel. But he’s got very few passing options, and can’t decide whether or not to shoot. He eventually lays off to a blue shirt. Cue more groans from the red-clad faithful. 38 min: Ashford crosses from the left. Kpakio should slam a header home, unmarked as he is, six yards out, but the young man mistimes his header, which flies straight down and back up into the grateful arms of Burton. Some more booing, louder this time, from the Wrexham faithful. Their team haven’t turned up yet. 37 min: Ashford’s corner is punched away with conviction by Burton. Wrexham desperately need to hear the half-time whistle and regroup. 36 min: Kellyman has a curl towards the bottom left from distance. It’s deflected out for a corner, from which nothing comes. Cardiff come again, Fish throwing a line in from the right for Joel Colwill, whose attempted header from six yards out is deflected out for another corner on the left. This is relentless. 34 min: It doesn’t look as though Brentford are going to grow complacent, as per Kári Tulinius (16 min). They’ve scored a third at Grimsby, through Reiss Nelson on 43 minutes. The Bees have scored three this season against Manchester United, Liverpool, and now the giant-killing Mariners. Is there no stopping them?