Sharp sees red as Cardiff and Wigan share spoils

Report by Dave Seddon - Wigan Evening Post

Simon Haworth saw the green, green grass of home on his return to Wales - but Kevin Sharp saw red.

Haworth's home coming to the club where he launched his career had been the main talking point before the game, but Sharp ended up grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons.

The full back was sent off in the 61st minute for two bookable offences, leaving Latics to fight on bravely with 10 men for almost half an hour to maintain their unbeaten league start.

He had been shown his first yellow card after just three minutes by Premiership referee Dermot Gallagher for clattering into Winston Faerber.

And when the Dutchman went down like a dying swan under another challenge, a second yellow followed by red appeared from Mr. Gallagher's top pocket.

To be fair to Sharp, even if he had stayed on, I doubt whether the scoreline would have been any different.

It was an afternoon when both defences were on top, and even while Sharp was in the dressing room taking his early bath, the home side never really looked like taking advantage of the extra man to force a winner.

Admittedly they piled on the pressure in the closing stages, but a late shot from Faerber which Roy Carroll saved well, and an effort over the top from Kevin Nugent was all they had to show for their efforts.

A man down for the majority of the second half and Ninian Park never being the easiest place to visit, Latics can console themselves that a point was a good result, bearing in mind too that they performed well below par.

Perhaps the two hours of football against Watford last Tuesday or losing Mark Bowen with a suspected broken ankle after just 16 minutes didn't help their cause.

While Sharp was in the limelight, team mate Haworth's return to his home city and to the club who sold him to Coventry two years ago for a £500,000 fee, ended up being a low key affair.

During the week, the big striker had received a threatening letter from someone claiming to be a Cardiff supporter.

But apart from some half-hearted jeers from a small section of the home faithful and a badly written banner pinned up behind one of the goals branding him a "reject" there was little venom aimed at him.

In fact, Haworth received a warm cheer when the teams were read out before the game - bigger than any of the home side!

But the rest of the afternoon proved to be frustrating for him, as it did for strike partners Stuart Barlow and Andy Liddell, with few chances coming their way.

Haworth found himself well marshaled by his good friend Scott Young, and the Cardiff central defender must have been pleased with his afternoon's work.

Latics saw one change from the win over Watford, with the fit again Liddell replacing Roberto Martinez who dropped down to the bench.

Manager John Benson opted for a 3-4-3 formation - Bowen, Arjan De Zeeuw and Stuart Balmer at the back, with Sharp and Carl Bradshaw flanking Michael O'Neill and Darren Sheridan in midfield.

But he lost the services of Bowen early on when the defender was injured in a challenge with Andy Legg as he tried to let the ball run out of play for a Latics goal kick.

After lengthy treatment, he bravely soldiered on for a couple of minutes before signaling to the bench that things were far from right.

On came Gareth Griffiths for his first appearance since May and off went Bowen to hospital for an x-ray, but only after watching the rest of the game from the bench!

Griffiths made his mark early on, following Sharp into the referee's notebook within four minutes of coming on, for a foul on Jason Bowen.

Latics looked the better side in the first half though, but all they had to show for their efforts was an off target effort from Liddell, and an inswinging corner from Sheridan which was headed off the line by Faerber.

Cardiff’s best chance of the half came in the 40th minute when Faerber's cross picked out Bowen in the area and his shot looked to be aiming goalwards until it struck O’Neill on the head and went behind for a corner.

Five minutes after the interval, Carroll fumbled a high cross from Faerber and the ball dropped invitingly for Nugent 14 yards out.

He hit a first time shot towards the far corner but Griffiths got his head in the way to divert it away from goal.

At the other end, Griffiths headed over from Sheridan’s corner, while Haworth had Latics’ best chance of the half in the 55th minute.

Taking possession outside the right corner of the penalty area, he turned his marker and bent a left foot shot inches wide of the far post with home keeper Jon Hallworth beaten.

What the reaction would have been if that had got in, I don't know!

Within five minutes of that effort though, Latics were reduced to 10 men with Sharp's sending off.

He caught Faerber with a tackle just outside the box, and while the wing back rolled around on the floor clutching his ankle, out came the red card.

Sharp looked distraught and had to be persuaded to leave the field by team mates.

If there's any consolation for him, it should only be a one match suspension, but having just come back after a hernia operation, missing a game is the last thing he wanted.

Barlow was immediately sacrificed and replaced with Martinez, and Sheridan stepped back into Sharp's role.

From the resulting free kick pumped into the area by Jason Fowler, Young rose unchallenged seven yards out but headed straight at Carroll.

Cardiff turned up the pressure and almost took the lead in the 77th minute.

Legg's cross from the left wing was won in the air by Nugent and as it came down, Faerber struck a first time shot which Carroll plunged down to save at the foot of the post.

Then with three minutes left, a rocket throw-in from Legg found Nugent in the box, but to Latics' relief, his volley was inches too high.