By Sam Hill
Cardiff City recovered from a frustrating opening half to claim a 2-1 victory over Stevenage and their seventh consecutive home win.
A second half surge sealed the three points, after Cardiff had trailed to Phoenix Patterson’s 57th minute opener against the run of play.
Callum Robinson claimed a 64th minute equaliser before fellow striker Yousef Salech netted tan 82nd minute winner to send the Cardiff City Stadium into raptures.
Cardiff dominated possession in the first half but were unable to translate their control of the ball into clear-cut chances as the visitors disciplined defensive display ensured the sides were level at the break.
The hosts registered 11 attempts on goal in the first 45 minutes but not one of those troubled Stevenage goalkeeper Filip Marschall, whose side had clearly arrived to play for a draw.
Despite all the hosts’ dominance, it was Borough who struck first.
A well-worked counter-attack move saw them travel with pace and winger Patterson cut in on his right foot and buried a shot in the bottom left corner.
In response, City boss Brian Barry-Murphy opted to shuffle his pack on the hour mark, with Ronan Kpakio and Omari Kellyman replacing Perry Ng and Isaak Davies on the right-hand side.
It was an instant impact from Kpakio and Kellyman, with the Bluebirds venturing forward with a pace and dynamism that they did not have in the opening half.
Robinson levelled the contest by firing home on his right foot following a string of attempts that were well-blocked by the Stevenage back line.
After an uplift in momentum for the hosts, Stevenage boss Alex Revell responded with a triple substitution which saw Jovan Malcolm, Louis Thompson and Chem Campbell replace Dan Kemp, Beryly Lubala and goalscorer Patterson respectively.
However, Cardiff’s attacking approach got them their reward when more neat play down the right side saw Robinson find Chris Willock whose shot was diverted home by the thigh of Salech for his 11th goal of the season.