Cardiff City produced a determined display of character and resolve in their 4-2 win over Birmingham City on Saturday.
Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock came into the game under a bit of pressure following the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Swansea City in the South Wales derby the week previous.
And he would have been fearing the worst after seeing his side go behind early on, with Kristian Pedersen grabbing the lead for the visitors in the third minute.
But Cardiff dug deep and grew into the game, in the heart of the Bluebirds' defence. A hat-trick from Joe Ralls annd Nelson's scrambled effort saw the home side emerge with three very important points .
This is how the Birmingham-based media reported on the game...
Brian Dick, BirminghamLive
"For 25 minutes this was as dominant an away display as Blues have produced in the last few years, in fact I can only think of QPR away last season as a comparable exhibition of such total supremacy.
"Pedersen gave them a third-minute lead, Jude Bellingham hit the angle of post and bar, Dan Crowley found the opposite upright and Lukas Jutkiewicz forced an excellent save as Blues took a one goal lead that should have been two or three times that.
"Some of the interplay between Bellingham, Crowley, Fran Villalba and Kerim Mrabti was spellbinding and a fragile Cardiff team were there for the taking.
"However, the main difference to that match at Loftus Road in February was that Che Adams’ finishing prowess meant Blues were 4-0 up before half-time and had enough in the bank to see out victory. Albeit only just. Adams’ absence is so, so obvious.
"Since his departure the repeated failure to cash in when the going is good must be a cause of concern for Pep Clotet because it means they are never safe.
"Not safe from a opponent chancing their arm - or as it was on Saturday the softest of soft refereeing decisions. I can’t understand what Andrew Madley saw that so bothered him and persuaded him to award that penalty.
"For Blues this was a very familiar feeling, short-changed both in terms of goals and points. But for Cardiff this could turn out to be a watershed moment.
"Neil Warnock described the victory as a fresh start - which just shows how fine the margins between success and failure, between writing the narrative and being controlled by it, truly are.
"Midway through the first half with his team playing with all the assertiveness of a new-born mouse, the Cardiff fans broke into a frustrated chorus of ‘Warnock, Warnock sort it out’. After last Sunday’s loss to Swansea the implication was obvious.
"Had Cardiff not managed to find a way back into the match - handed to them or otherwise, Warnock might have been left with some difficult questions to answer - not so much about mounting yet another promotion campaign as about his own future.
"No wonder he felt Madley had handled the game well."
