Stoke 0-3 Cardiff

Jerome almost completed his hat-trick after the break

Cardiff extended their unbeaten run to eight games thanks to three first-half goals at the Britannia Stadium.

Cameron Jerome struck on nine minutes after being fed by Joe Ledley and captain Darren Purse headed in a Jason Koumas cross two minutes later.

Jerome then fired home from 18 yards just before the break to stun Stoke.

Paul Gallagher hit the post for Stoke after the break, but Cardiff continued to look the most dangerous with Jerome and Paul Parry going close.

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Stoke manager Johan Boskamp:
"We made it too easy for them and gave away poor goals.

"We kept getting caught the wrong side of the ball and made bad mistakes. I think here we have contributed to our own downfall.

"We are very disappointed, but we are professional people and we will pick ourselves up and do our best to get things right at Plymouth on Saturday."

Cardiff boss Dave Jones:
"We are building brick by brick - the foundations are coming along nicely but that is all we can say at the moment.

"This is a very tough division and there are many more tough tests to come.

"But this was a terrific team performance with everyone doing their jobs. I will just keep pushing the players on to do even better because that is the only way forward."

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Stoke: Simonsen, Buxton, Hoefkens, Duberry, Broomes, Chadwick (Kolar 84), Mbuyi, Russell, Harper, Gallagher, Sidibe.
Subs Not Used: de Goey, Dyer, Halls, Henry.

Booked: Russell.

Cardiff: Alexander, Weston, Purse, Loovens, Barker, Koumas, Ledley, Whitley, Cooper (Parry 79), Jerome, Ricketts (Lee 72).
Subs Not Used: Margetson, Cox, Ardley.

Booked: Ledley, Jerome.

Goals: Jerome 10, Purse 12, Jerome 43.

Att: 12,240

Ref: R Beeby (Northamptonshire).