Cardiff City became the first team into the hat for the FA Cup fourth-round draw by comfortably beating Colchester United 3-1 in Wales this evening.
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The Championship side went into a three-goal lead by the hour mark and, although Freddie Sears struck back for the visitors, it was only a consolation.
Joe Ralls had already forced Sam Walker into a good diving save when he opened the scoring on 33 minutes. His long-range strike took a deflection off Cole Kpekawa and left the Colchester keeper with no chance.
Although Kaspars Gorkss had come close for United with a header, it was a deserved half-time advantage for the Bluebirds, who had hit the crossbar on 29 minutes through Peter Whittingham's overhit cross.
It took Cardiff just eight minutes to strengthen their position in the second period as young winger Kadeem Harris acrobatically guided Ben Turner's flick-on past Walker, who had denied Tom Adeyemi before the break.
Russell Slade's side now had a spring in their step and Harris came close to getting his second before Kenwyne Jones turned home Whittingham's corner for their third, one minute after his introduction from the bench.
Craig Noone and Adeyemi had chances to increase Cardiff's cushion further, but it was their opponents - who are second from bottom in League One - who scored next as Sears finished after a Sanchez Watt layoff.
The former West Ham United striker's reply gave Colchester something to cling on to as they applied minor pressure on the home goal in the final stages, but Cardiff had already done enough to secure victory.
Joe Fish
