Cardiff City 0 Bolton Wanderers 3: Match verdict

Many fruitless miles have been travelled by the die-hards trekking up and down the motorways – and it took a special sort of person to turn up here at the Cardiff City Stadium to see a dead rubber on Easter Monday.

But those who did will have witnessed the best away performance from a Bolton side since the crushing 5-1 win against Leeds United just over a year ago.

It has certainly never been any better under Lennon, who for all his improvement of Wanderers this last six months, has yet to crack why the club’s performances have been so dramatically different away from the Macron.

“You’ve seen a glimpse of what I want to do here,” enthused the manager. “We haven’t seen it anything like as much as I would have liked – even though there have been a lot of good performances at home, away, we have been trying to play just like that.

“We weren’t fantastic in the first half but in the second it was absolutely outstanding.”

Solid if unspectacular in the first half, they exploded in the second – Eidur Gudjohnsen and Craig Davies scoring twice in five minutes to leave the Welshmen wondering what had just happened.

Davies helped himself to a second, and should have had a hat-trick as some of the Whites’ build-up made a mockery of their league position.

The last away win was mid-January at Sheffield Wednesday and it’s no coincidence that Hillsborough was the last occasion that Neil Lennon could name both Davies and the outstanding Emile Heskey.

Add to that attack Gudjohnsen, rolling back the years with some touches of consummate class, and you just wish the trio did not share a combined 101 years between them, nor a hat-trick of expiring contracts.

Lennon left Saturday’s game in a better frame of mind thanks to Gudjohnsen’s late strike but was clearly less than impressed with the performance of a handful of his players.

That was reflected in six changes in South Wales and a return to a back three where Paddy McCarthy was replaced by Dorian Dervite.

Saidy Janko came in for his first start since the derby defeat at Blackburn Rovers, allowing Josh Vela to be switched back into midfield, while all three substitute strikers used at the weekend were added to a front three sharing 101 years.

Bogdan was the interesting inclusion, however, returning for his first game since those heroics against Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup.

Cardiff shaded the first half in terms of possession and chances but Neil Lennon will have wondered why his side didn’t take a lead into the break when Gudjohnsen slipped Craig Davies through on the stroke of half time, only for him to steer wastefully wide.

He would redeem himself after the break but Lennon will be pleased how his side steadied themselves after a few early wobbles, primarily by getting hold of the dangerous Craig Noone, who had taken full advantage of the space offered behind Tom Walker early on.

Unlike, for example, Rotherham, Lennon managed to fix the problem before it became a catastrophe.

Cardiff still had their opportunities, however, with Barry Bannan making a double goal-line clearance from Sean Morrison and Eoin Doyle and Peter Whittingham curling one free kick inches wide.

At the other end Dorian Dervite saw his header blocked on the line by Alex Revell – but otherwise the game ambled along at the kind of pace you might expect from two sides with little else to play for this season.

That is until the break when Gudjohnsen went on a mazy run and slipped Davies through on goal, the skill of the pass not replicated with a poor finish.

After the break it was an entirely different story.

Gudjohnsen opened the scoring with a rasping half volley laid on a plate by the chest of Heskey.

Within five minutes the former England striker showed he was just as adept with his feet, turning to slide a pass through for Davies to drive inside David Marshall’s far post.

Wanderers had to re-jig when Walker seemed to limp off, replaced by Dean Moxey. We also saw the return of Joe Mason for Cardiff, the young striker making his return from a serious hamstring injury sustained before Christmas in a loan spell at Wanderers.

But they continued to pour forward on the break and Davies took his tally for the season to seven, putting him out ahead as leading goalscorer, as he collected a beautiful cross-field pass from Bannan before sending a dipping shot past Marshall.

Back on Welsh turf, the fit-again striker should have helped himself to a hat-trick after going through on goal again moments later, this time finding the Cardiff keeper equal to his low shot.

Wanderers’ fans were dancing in the corner of the ground, in full party mode.

You couldn’t possibly begrudge them, having sat through some truly depressing 90 minutes this season.

They must hope it is a sign of things to come. If this is what happens when Lennon gets what he wants, let’s hope the club take notice in the transfer market this summer.