Birmingham City 0-1 Cardiff City: Josh Bowler scores only goal of the game to earn Bluebirds win on the road

Josh Bowler scored the only goal of the game as Cardiff City snatched a 1-0 win over Birmingham City at St Andrew's.

It was a high-octane match, with chances at both ends, but it was a sweetly-struck finish from the Nottingham Forest loanee, the fourth of the season for him, in the second half which earned Erol Bulut's side all three points in the Midlands.

An injury-hit Bluebirds named only 19 players in their matchday squad, with no Mahlon Romeo nor Callum Robinson included. There was, however, a rare start for Aaron Ramsey, his first since September, but it wasn't to last. More on that later.

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The crowd at St Andrew's were on a knife edge, with supporters firmly in the knowledge of just how important this fixture was for their survival, with every positive piece of play cheered and every nervy moment very much felt.

With Blues keen to really go for it, it made for an exciting, end-to-end game, with the hosts almost getting on the scoresheet early thanks to Koji Miyoshi's low drive from 20 yards, but it smashed straight into the post, with Ethan Horvath rooted to the ground.

Cardiff would have to wait half an hour before they registered a serious shot on goal and it came by virtue of an impressive, driving run from the ever-industrious Karlan Grant. The West Brom loanee picked the ball up inside his own half and ran 30, 40 then 50 yards before chopping inside, when he saw the ball fall kindly into Yakou Meite's path. The striker's hammered shot from the edge of the box, however, was straight at John Ruddy.

Birmingham tried to hit back straight away with their own chance and it was a lovely strike from Wales' Jordan James, whose bending