Cardiff game against Lincoln marred by allegation of racial abuse

Lincoln manager Michael Skubala said skipper Tendayi Darikwa was the subject of a racial allegation during their 2-0 win at Cardiff which took them top of League One.

Second-half goals from Rob Street and substitute Dom Jefferies helped the Imps move two points clear after extending their unbeaten league run to 18 games while inflicting a first home third-tier defeat on the Bluebirds in 13.

But the game was marred by allegations of a racist slur against Darikwa as his side were celebrating taking the lead in the 55th minute.

Skubala said: “There were allegations of a supporter making racist comments to Tendayi Darikwa. We have to follow the due processes and the referee did everything right.

“The referee was very professional, did the right job, and hopefully we can sort this out because there is no place at all for it in the game – from fans, players or anyone.”

Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy confirmed the referee had spoken to both him and Skubala about comments made to Darikwa and a club spokesperson said they would await the referee’s report and any comments from the Football Association.

Skubla was delighted with the win which had the 3,000 travelling fans chanting ‘we are top of the league’ for the final 20 minutes.

He said: “Before you talk about tactics, or points, you have to talk about a group of men who are willing to go to the well and work hard. If I was a fan sitting up there in the stands I’d be so proud of this team.

“This is a really tough place to come because we knew they would dominate the ball and they are a very good team. But I thought our game plan and the way the players executed it was brilliant and it got the three points.

“It was a really even first half, although we could have had a penalty, and we knew we were going to have some moments in the second half and with our pace and power we could hurt them, and we did that.”

Barry-Murphy admitted to being disappointed at the outcome – his side’s second defeat in the last three games.

He said: “It’s a very disappointing result. In a stadium with so many of our supporters present, we wanted to give them the perfect day but that wasn’t possible and was not meant to be.

“I thought it was an even game, while the score was 0-0 I thought we were always more likely to score. Their keeper made a couple of great saves in the first half.

“I thought if we scored we’d have been in a great situation but we couldn’t find it. Lincoln did a good job of protecting their goal and then scoring on the breakaway like they did.

“Once Lincoln scored they had even more numbers back in the box so it was difficult to find an opening. I thought we could have shot more for sure.”