Cardiff City vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
Ninian ParkAttendance13,602.
Tuesday 29 January 2008 23:17, UK
Cardiff boss Dave Jones pointed to the club's fitness regime as the catalyst for their 3-1 victory over QPR.
Cardiff boss Dave Jones pointed to the club's fitness regime as the catalyst for their 3-1 Coca-Cola Championship victory over QPR. Joe Ledley scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season as the Bluebirds extended their unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was the creative force, laying on the young midfielder's second of the evening and feeding Paul Parry for Cardiff's third. The 35-year-old Dutchman produced a tireless performance as lone striker for 90 minutes until he gave way to Steven Thompson in stoppage-time. "To put on a performance like that after playing on Sunday was excellent and a tribute to our fitness staff," said a delighted Jones. "Their fitness levels were superb and I can't praise them enough as some of our movements were up there with the best we have done this season. "The only downside was conceding a goal and having Michael Oakes injured with a blow to the face but we have a great back-up team here and all our walking wounded will be well looked after." With a three-goal lead established, Cardiff took their foot off the gas, and substitute Hogan Ephraim capitalised with a smart close-range finish after 76 minutes. But it could not prevent the Bluebirds notching up their fifth straight home victory to move within a point of the play-offs. Rangers boss Luigi Di Canio said: "Cardiff surprised us by the way they played and they took full advantage of our mistakes.