Erol Bulut has a new matchwinner and Cardiff City have a new hero after their dramatic derby day win over Swansea City at the weekend.

Bluebirds’ manager Bulut has used Ollie Tanner sparingly since the Turkish boss arrived in the capital this summer.

He even revealed after Cardiff’s 2-0 victory on Saturday night that he and the 21-year-old winger have a running joke that the player is better as a substitute than when he starts.

Tanner scored his first professional goal and made Cardiff’s second as they ended a run of four South Wales derby defeats.

 

A dour game was lit up by the introduction of a player who was earning his corn in non-League for York last season and took only 41 seconds to blast the Bluebirds ahead from a tight angle.

His sensational cameo continued against a toothless Swansea when racing past Kristian Pedersen late on. The Denmark defender hauled him down on the edge of the area, and after referee Samuel Barrott judged the contact continued into the box, Aaron Ramsey stepped up to seal victory from 12 yards.

 

Swansea had only lost four of their previous 12 derbies but after coming up short in Cardiff remain one of only three teams in the Championship yet to have tasted victory this season and are in the relegation zone.

Their hosts rise to 15th, five points above the drop.

“Ollie Tanner is a good player,” said Bulut. “He will make mistakes, but I count on him. If he comes from the bench, he gives a better performance than if he starts in the first XI, we have a joke about it.

“I had already seen what he showed today [to keep him around]. One-v-one he is good, coming inside he has a good shot, he can dribble inside, but he’s also good on his right foot and we train with him on it every week.”

 

Bulut also paid tribute to Cardiff’s supporters who sang through the driving rain at a stadium where the roofs of the stands offer little protection in a swirling wind.

“The fans were great. From the first minute to the end of the game, they were supporting the team perfectly. I said to the team, ‘we have to be ready, the fans are ready’. Today [Saturday] we were ready.

“We showed our fighting spirit, before this game, we created more chances and couldn’t score – [on Saturday] we created less and scored twice and kept a clean sheet.”

 

Bulut’s Swansea counterpart Michael Duff is still searching for his first win since joining the club this summer.

What has been a disappointing start and initially could be put down to teething problems following Duff’s arrival as head coach in the summer, is now in danger of becoming a full-blown crisis.

Duff has branded the type of football he inherited from previous head coach Russell Martin as “extreme” and sought a more pragmatic style.

“The first goal was always going to be important for two teams struggling for confidence,” said the former Barnsley manager.

“There’s a lack of quality really, which is not unlike us. Every time we passed the ball forwards in the second half, we gave it away. We turned it over far too many times and couldn’t build any momentum. Their subs changed the game, ours haven’t.

“We never really looked like scoring in the second half. It’s a concern, we’ve not won a game, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist.

“One thing we should have – the players who are here are good footballers. The surprising thing is that it’s the lack of quality with the ball that let us down.”

 

Swansea travel to Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night, with Duff clearly now under real pressure to deliver a first league victory of the season sooner rather than later.

“There’s no question,” he added. “We need to win a game. I’m not going to sit up here and try to pull the wool over people’s eyes and say we’re not under pressure and all that sort of stuff.

“Of course you’re under pressure because it’s a winning business. We’re not going to make excuses. The facts are we need to win a game. We look low on confidence, and it looked like at 2-0 we started passing the ball again because there was no pressure.

“So it’s about having that belief and sticking to task.”

 

Wrexham moved up to fourth place in League Two with a comfortable 3-0 victory at home to Grimsby Town.

Wrexham assistant manager Steve Parkin said: “We’ve not quite had it in long periods, but today I thought we were really good.”

 

Newport County are back in 12^th after being held to a 1-1 draw at Rodney Parade, where County defender Ryan Delaney was sent off for a second yellow card.

 

Elsewhere, former Wales striker Natasha Harding announced her retirement at the age of 34, while the women’s Genero Adran Premier kicked off with an entertaining 3-3 draw between Wrexham and Swansea City.