Goals from Craig Noone and Anthony Pilkington have given Cardiff City a 2-0 lead against Sheffield Wednesday this afternoon.
Right-back Lee Peltier was only passed fit to play late on, and the defender showed some signs of rust as he was booked for a heavy challenge on Daniel Pudil inside the first five minutes.
Toby Watt was fouled inside the area after going for Kieren Westwood in the Wednesday goal, and Noone converted the resulting penalty to give the Bluebirds the lead on 21 minutes.
Wednesday almost restored parity two minutes later when Liam Palmer's cross struck a post and bounced back into David Marshall's arms.
Ross Wallace forced Marshall into a save on the half-hour mark when he cut in from the right and let fly from range.
However, Wednesday's task of getting back into the game was only made more difficult when Anthony Pilkington raced on to a long ball before rounding Westwood and rolling into an empty as the visitors pushed men forward in search of the equaliser.
Kenwyne Jones thought that he had made it 3-0 towards the end of the half but his header was flagged offside after Westwood had denied Watt.
Paul Gorst
