Cardiff City 4-0 Plymouth Argyle: FLW reports as Bluebirds thrash Tom Cleverley's hapless Pilgrims | OneFootball

League One action from the South Wales as relegated sides Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle locked horns at lunchtime.

Cardiff City ran out comphrensive 4-0 winners over Plymouth Argyle on Saturday's early kick-off in League One.

The opening 40 minutes of the contest were rather bitty, as both teams had glimpses of goal, before a quickfire double for Cardiff from Ryan Wintle and Chris Willock gave the league leaders a two-goal cushion heading into the break.

A goal five minutes after play resumed from Cardiff's captain Ruben Colwill pretty much killed off any hope of a Plymouth comeback, before substitute Isaak Davies added a fourth in second-half stoppage time to cap off a wonder afternoon for the Welsh side.

Cardiff City 4-0 Plymouth Argyle

The hosts had the first real chance of the game once both sides had settled down in the opening ten minutes. Yousef Salech with some great individual skill to take the ball down and burst into the box, but he was deemed to have been too rough on his marker, Brendan Wiredu.

Just minutes later, the Cardiff striker was involved again with a lovely cross-field pass to Ruben Colwill, who tried to find Salech with a low-driven cross, but the danger was snuffed out by Wiredu once again.

The Bluebirds were having a lot of joy down the Argyle right, as once again another dangerous cross was flashed in, this time by Chris Willock. It was begging for a touch to guide it into the back of the net, which never came.

Just before the half-hour mark, Plymouth had a great chance to take the lead when Matty Sorinola guided a lovely free-kick onto the head of Alex Mitchell. The Charlton loanee got the power on the header but not the direction, and his effort sailed wide.

Lorent Tolaj was then unlucky to not be able to fashion a shooting opportunity from a long ball forwards. He beat the offside trap and barreled towards goal, however his second touch was too heavy, which allowed Nathan Trott to collect the ball with ease.

The new number nine then latched on to a loose ball from another long free-kick which was knocked down by Bradley Ibrahim. Again, the effort lacked direction and power, as it was another easy take for Trott.

FIve minutes before half-time, the hosts took the lead via a wonderful strike from Wintle. A clear handball was somehow missed in front of the linesman, and the ball was recycled back to the midfielder on the edge of the box, who found the top corner with a stunning effort.

Not even two minutes later, Cardiff doubled their advantage with a deflected strike from Willock. The attacker cut inside on the edge of the box and shot, with the effort taking a deflection on the way through which deceived Ashby-Hammond.

That would be the final action of the half, as referee Scott Oldham called time on the opening 45 minutes of the contest, with the Welsh side on cloud nine after finding the net twice in two minutes.

Seconds after play resumed in the second-half, Ashby-Hammond had to be prevent Willock from doubling his account. The ex-Fulham man pulled out a great save from close range to keep his side in the contest.

Down the other end, a nice piece of hold-up play from Tolaj allowed Caleb Watts to cut inside and have a crack at goal, which was met by the strong palm of Trott.

Within five minutes of play resuming, the game was all but over. Another strike deflect off Wiredu from skipper Ruben Colwill once again sent Ashby-Hammond the wrong way, giving the Bluebirds a 3-0 advantage over their fellow relegated club.

Tom Cleverley switched formation after the third goal, with Bim Pepple joining Tolaj up front, and the visitors somewhat woke up after the tactical switch.

Ibrahim forced Trott into another fine save from distance, whilst some nice play gave Sorinola a chance to volley past the Bluebirds' keeper, but he fluffed his lines, which pretty much summed up the Pilgrims' afternoon.

Every passage of play from Brian Barry-Murphy's team was absolutely excellent, and it almost culminated in an exceptionally well-worked team goal. Some lovely build-up set Willock loose again, he played a neat give and go with Salech, but fired his shot narrowly wide.

Ashby-Hammond then produced an excellent double save to deny the Cardiff skipper from doubling his tally. The first effort from inside the box was parried well, but Colwill got a second bite of the cherry, which was again blocked by the 24-year-old.

The keeper then had to produce two more saves in the final ten minutes to prevent the Bluebirds from making it four. First from Callum Robinson, then from Tanatswa Nyakuhwa.

As four minutes of stoppage time was added on, Cardiff rubbed even more salt into the already gaping wounds they'd inflicted. Substitute Isaak Davies burst down the left, cut inside, and fired past Ashby-Hammond, who got a hand to the strike.

Thankfully for the travelling Green Army, referee Oldham spared any further blushes by calling time on the contest. A dominant victory for Barry-Murphy's side saw them extend their lead at the top of League One, and keep yet another clean sheet.

It was once again back to the drawing board for Cleverley and Argyle, who'd taken two steps backwards after securing their first league win last week. It seems the Devonian side have some work to do before the transfer window closes on Monday.

Cardiff City player ratings

N. Trott - 8

R. Kpakio - 8

W. Fish - 8

D. Lawlor - 8

J. Bagan - 8

R. Wintle - 8

J. Colwill - 7 (P. Ng 85'(6))

R. Colwill - 9

C. Ashford - 7 (T. Nyakuhwa 67'(7))

C. Willock - 9 (I. Davies 67'(7))

Y. Salech - 7 (C. Robinson 67'(6))

Unused substitutes: M. Turner, C. Chambers, D. Mafico

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Plymouth Argyle player ratings

L. Ashby-Hammond - 5

K. Szucs - 6

A. Mitchell - 6 (J. Edwards 72'(6))

B. Wiredu - 4

M. Sorinola - 6 (F. Issaka 65'(5))

M. Boateng - 6

B. Ibrahim - 6

C. Watts - 6 (J. Hatch 72'(5))

A. Benarous - 5 (A. Pepple 52'(5))

B. Mumba - 4

L. Tolaj - 5

Unused substitutes: Z. Baker, B. Galloway, C. Roberts

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Match attendance

There were 21,813 fans present at the Cardiff City Stadium for the early kick-off on Saturday, including a sold-out away end of around 3,000 Janners making the trip to the South of Wales.