Wilson's modest triumph leaves Roberts cold

Cardiff City 0 Bristol City

There was so much more than national pride at stake as Bristol City completed an audacious Saturday evening raid across the border to leave with three points and leapfrog Cardiff City into second place in the Nationwide Second Division. With the doomsayers ringing the death knell for the clubs locked in the League's dungeons, there has never been better reason to escape and reach the plateau from where they can at least peek into that promised land known as the Premiership.

A penalty by Brian Tinnion in the opening minutes of the second half, supplemented by a strike from Christian Roberts with 14 minutes to go, ensured that Danny Wilson's side inched ahead in this particular tale of two cities, who should not really be in this race for survival. When Peter Kenyon, the Manchester United chief executive, recently drew up his hit-list of 40 clubs to emerge from the current economic blitz, you can be fairly sure that these two clubs were on it.

Indeed, in the cash-driven mind of the franchiser, Bristol and Cardiff would be two of the most fertile areas in which to set up Premiership shop. Along with Hull, they are the most densely populated cities not to have a representative in the top two divisions, although if Cardiff's owner, Sam Hammam, who has invested £6m in the club since he arrived in 2000, has anything to do with it, that will not be the case for long.

But on Saturday it was the West Countrymen who proved that they have used their meagre funds wisely, especially by investing in Wilson, a young manager who has already taken Barnsley on a dream visit to the Premiership. Building on the foundations of a rock-solid midfield led gallantly by Tommy Doherty, Bristol City are unbeaten in the League for 11 games, a run that has taken them to within three points of the leaders, Wigan.

While eager to applaud his side for a job well done in the hostile confines of Ninian Park, Wilson was doubly keen to keep his relatively small squad in the role of promotion underdogs. "It is a very good result for us to beat everyone's favourites to go up," Wilson said. "I hope we get the recognition we deserve for this victory but I still think that Cardiff City are the team to be above at the end of the season if we want promotion."

The defeat means that Cardiff have not beaten their rivals from across the Severn for 31 years. Robert Earnshaw, the home-grown striker who has made such a reputation with his 19 goals this season, as well as a few startling cameo roles for his country, had the best chances in the first half to get the Bluebirds off to a flying start. However, his skied effort in the sixth minute was compounded by hesitating to make the most of an errant back pass 25 minutes later.

A hotly-contested penalty, when Peter Thorne unintentionally caught Matthew Hill as he tried to hook the ball clear, allowed Tinnion to give the visitors an unexpected lead before Roberts seized on a miskick by Neil Alexander, the Cardiff goalkeeper, to make the points safe.

It was a bittersweet moment for Roberts, who rose through the Cardiff ranks before his hometown club released him two years ago. To his credit, Roberts did not milk the moment. "It is probably the only goal that I have not enjoyed scoring," he said. "I had some great times here and I still love the club. But I had to do it." As they say in Cardiff, 'once a fan, always a fan' – even when you are beating them.

Goals: Tinnion (49 pen) 0-1; Roberts (76) 0-2.

Cardiff City (4-4-2): Alexander; Croft, Prior, Fan Zhiyi, Barker; Boland, Kavanagh, Hamilton (Maxwell, 14; Bowen, 65), Legg; Thorne (Campbell, 76), Earnshaw. Substitutes not used: Collins, Margetson (gk).

Bristol City (4-4-2): Phillips; Bell, Butler, Hill, Coles; Burnell, Tinnion, Doherty, Murray; Roberts (Rosenior, 87), Peacock. Substitutes not used: Beadle, Carey, Brown, Foster (gk).

Referee: A Wiley (Burntwood).

Bookings: Cardiff: Kavanagh, Boland, Legg, Bowen.

Man of the match: Doherty.

Attendance: 15,239.