Old rivals serve up derby delight

ABSENCE is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but clearly not in the case of Swansea and Cardiff.

These south Wales rivals had not met in a league match since 1999 and the venom which habitually infected their clashes in the past inevitably bubbled to the surface yesterday, as both sides finished a frantic game with 10 men.

The red cards — for Cardiff’s Stephem McPhail and Swansea’s Leon Britton — overshadowed an entertaining contest which ebbed and flowed from the first whistle.