City Flashback - 2010 | Boxing Day victory at CCS
With today's fixture against Coventry City being postponed, we take a look back at a past Boxing Day victory over the Sky Blues at Cardiff City Stadium, back in 2010.
After a rampant start to the season, with ten wins from the opening 14 matches, Dave Jones’ side were looking to bounce back from a tricky period during which they fell to losses against Nottingham Forest, Queens Park Rangers and Middlesbrough.
The Bluebirds did so admirably in front of 24,595 spectators in the Welsh capital, securing a much-needed 2-0 victory over Coventry, who were then managed by Aidy Boothroyd.
City were rewarded for their formidable start to the game, as loanee Seyi Olofinjana latched onto Craig Belllamy’s free-kick to open the scoring after 21 minutes.
The 48-times capped Nigerian international midfielder, who went on to score six goals for the Bluebirds during his season-long loan spell from Hull City, celebrated his strike against Coventry with a snowy Ayatollah in front of the City supporters.
After a first-half of constant pressure from the Bluebirds, Coventry thought they had found an equaliser through current Birmingham City man Lukas Jutkiewicz, but the striker was denied by the offside flag.
Having set up the opener, Bellamy later turned from provider to scorer, wrapping up the victory in the 83rd minute. The Welsh international capitalised on hesitancy in the Sky Blues defence to fire home from 25 yards and hand City the three points.
City impressed throughout the campaign and looked to be on course for promotion to the Premier League, yet narrowly missed out in the final week of the season.
A defeat to Middlesbrough and a 1-1 draw with Burnley on the final day secured the Bluebirds’ Play-Off fate, finishing four points behind second-placed Norwich City.
Reading were the opponents in the Play-Off Semi-Final, but, after a goalless draw at the Madjeski Stadium, goals from Shane Long and Jobi McAnuff sent the Royals to Wembley at City's expense.
Despite the Bluebirds narrowly missing out on promotion in the 2010/11 season, our Boxing Day win over Coventry at Cardiff City Stadium was certainly one of several highlights of the campaign.
