Post-match reaction

Tim Hobbs reports

Cardiff City claimed the biggest scalp of them all by sending Premiership leaders Leeds United crashing out of the FA Cup.

Defender Scott Young smashed home the all-important winner just four minutes from time as Alan Cork's underdogs snarled their way to an historic success.

Young's goal, from a corner that Leeds failed to deal with, capped a wretched afternoon for David O'Leary's side, who saw Alan Smith sent off again and lost skipper Rio Ferdinand with what is believed to be a serious ankle ligament injury.

But a potentially awkward afternoon had started swimmingly for the big boys as Mark Viduka rifled them ahead with unerring accuracy to suggest that only Derby and Sunderland from the top-flight would not feature in the fourth round draw.

Cardiff skipper Graham Kavanagh levelled with a super free-kick before the game swung with the controversial dismissal of Smith four minutes before the break - for the second time this season and the sixth in a fiery but fledgling career.

The England hopeful tangled with Andy Legg on the half-way line and as the striker tried to free himself an elbow went up and caught the full-back in the face. Whether it was intentional is debatable, but what cannot be questioned is that the Leeds striker's reputation for the unsavoury is starting to preceed him with Premiership officials.

But Cardiff's success did not hinge on the sending off alone. Even before the dismissal they rattled Leeds' expensively-assembled side, shorn of several star turns and again opting with Smith on the right-hand side of midfield.

The loss of Ferdinand - after a crunching tackle from behind from Gavin Gordon - hardly helped Leeds' cause yet they shrugged off the early setback to steal ahead with a finish of Premiership quality.

Spencer Prior's ambitious cross-field pass was picked off by Gary Kelly who rolled a precise ball into the path of Viduka and the in-form Aussie arrowed an unstoppable effort inside the right-hand post from 20 yards without breaking stride.

That should have been the springboard for Leeds to extinguish the threat of another shock, but with Robert Earnshaw making a mockery of Ian Harte down the left, Cardiff came careering back and drew level with an equalising strike every bit as good as what had gone before.

Smith's miserable afternoon began when he was penalised for upending Legg and with the visitors failing to hold a solid wall, Kavanagh stepped up and curled a fabulous free-kick past the Nigel Martyn and into the top right-hand corner of his net.

The subdued Robbie Fowler then lobbed way over the top before the outstanding Young blocked Viduka after a long punt downfield had disturbed the Bluebirds otherwise unruffled centre-back pairing.

Having seen several bottles from the crowd aimed at his men throughout the opening exchanges, O'Leary was clearly irratated by first-half events and his mood did not improve as Cardiff came out after the break even more pumped up. Not only did they let Leeds know the battle was far from over, they started to make their numerical advantage tell.

Mark Bonner fizzed a fiersome effort just wide while Young saved his side again with a superbly-timed tackle as Viduka threatened to add a second having broken clear of the backline.

Bluebirds boss Cork - an FA Cup winner with Wimbledon - then played his trump card by throwing beanpole striker Leo Fortune-West into the fray just when the 10 men of Leeds looked to have settled for an Elland Road replay.

The big striker made little impact until four minutes from the end when he met a Legg corner with a downward header than reared up of David Batty on the line and fell kindly for Young to lash home and seal a place in the history books and his own chapter in the unfolding story of Cardiff City.

Cardiff: Alexander, Gabbidon, Prior, Young, Legg, Boland, Bonner, Kavanagh, Brayson, Earnshaw, Gordon (Fortune-West 79).
Subs Not Used: Maxwell, Bowen, Weston, Low.
Booked: Boland, Bonner.
Leeds: Martyn, Mills, Woodgate, Ferdinand (Duberry 10), Harte, Kelly, Bowyer, Batty, Smith, Viduka, Fowler.
Subs Not Used: McPhail, Robinson, Wilcox, Richardson.
Sent Off: Smith (43).
Booked: Harte, Duberry.

Att: 22,009
Ref: A D'Urso (Billericay)