Early in the second half, QPR midfielder Richard Langley equalised before being sent off with ten minutes remaining after a second bookable offence following a confrontation with Eyres.

"[16] The teams were instead allowed to play their club songs 30 minutes prior to kick-off, Cardiff selecting Men of Harlech and QPR Pig Bag.

The perpetrator was later arrested and named as Neil McNamara, a Cardiff City fan who had previously worked for the club as a minder for chairman Sam Hammam.

[21] McNamara pled guilty to the charges and was given a five-year banning order after judges ruled the act was committed deliberately to disrupt the QPR squad.

[21] Hammam stated before the game that he would provide a £30 million transfer budget if the club achieved promotion and a planned new stadium at Leckwith received approval.

[23] Although playing in their home city, Cardiff players stayed at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel and Country Club the night prior to the match.

[24] Defender Andy Legg commented that the team was "a bag of nerves" beforehand but believed that the match being played in the city of Cardiff made the occasion "extra special".

[26] Cardiff started the better of the two sides as Robert Earnshaw, Graham Kavanagh and Peter Thorne all had chances at goal in the opening ten minutes of the match.

Kevin Gallen forced a save from Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Alexander from a free-kick soon after and a slip by Danny Gabbidon in the 26th minute allowed Paul Furlong space to shoot but he was unable to hit the target.

[25] Cardiff had the majority of possession during the first-half but strikers Earnshaw and Thorne struggled to beat QPR's central defenders Danny Shittu and Clarke Carlisle who received significant praise for their control of the game.

[27][28] In the second half, QPR began to seize control and Gallen wasted an early chance by shooting straight at Alexander after being played through by Furlong.

The substitution was seen as a significant gamble by Lawrence,[25][28] Earnshaw's 35 goals in all competitions during the season had broken a club record that had stood since 1927 and Campbell had not scored since January 2003.

[29] However, Cardiff's approach to the game had limited Earnshaw and Thorne's support to high passes that favoured QPR's physically larger defenders.

[37] After achieving an 11th-placed finish in their first season, Ian Holloway left the club during the following year having been placed on gardening leave due to continued speculation linking him with a job at Leicester City.