Tanner Brace Fires Five-Star Cardiff Past Northampton in League One Rout

Cardiff City produced a dominant attacking display to sweep aside Northampton Town 5–1 in League One action on matchday 45, with Ollie Tanner scoring twice in a clinical home performance.

The hosts raced into an early lead on nine minutes when Tanner opened the scoring, finishing a move created by Chris Willock. Cardiff quickly tightened their grip on the contest, doubling the advantage in the 19th minute as Joel Colwill found the net after being set up by his brother Rubin Colwill.

League One FINISHED

2026-04-25 14:00

Cardiff City FC

5 - 1

Northampton Town FC

Matchday 45 REGULAR_SEASON

Callum Robinson extended the lead to 3–0 before the break with a 37th-minute strike, leaving Northampton with a mountain to climb. The visitors’ frustration was evident when Sam Hoskins picked up a yellow card three minutes before half-time.

Any hopes of a Northampton comeback were further dented shortly after the restart. Tanner struck again in the 54th minute to make it 4–0, completing his brace and prompting a double substitution from Cardiff a minute later as Yousef Salech and Alex Robertson replaced Rubin and Joel Colwill.

Northampton did find a response in the 68th minute. Substitute Jake Evans pulled one back, finishing a move created by Nesta Guinness-Walker to reduce the deficit to 4–1. Cardiff’s Alex Robertson later went into the book on 74 minutes.

The home side, however, finished strongly. In the 85th minute, Salech capped the scoring with Cardiff’s fifth, converting after good work from Robinson to seal a resounding 5–1 victory.

Both managers turned to their benches throughout the second half, with multiple substitutions for either side, including late introductions for Terry Taylor, Michael Jacobs and Rob Tankiewicz. Beyond goals, bookings and substitutions, detailed match statistics and further event data were not available at the time of writing.

For more on League One, visit the League One page on Ballaxy. Full match details are available on the Cardiff vs Northampton match centre.

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League One Standings

Season: 2025/26

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	Lincoln City FC	46	31	10	5	89	41	48	103	W W W D W
2	Cardiff City FC	46	27	10	9	90	50	40	91	L W W W D
3	Stockport County FC	46	22	11	13	71	58	13	77	W L W L D
4	Bradford City AFC	46	22	11	13	58	51	7	77	W D D D L
5	Bolton Wanderers FC	46	19	18	9	70	52	18	75	L D D W L
6	Stevenage FC	46	21	12	13	49	46	3	75	W D W D L
7	Luton Town FC	46	21	11	14	68	56	12	74	W W W D W
8	Plymouth Argyle FC	46	22	7	17	75	63	12	73	W W D W D
9	Huddersfield Town AFC	46	18	13	15	74	64	10	67	W L D D D
10	Mansfield Town FC	46	16	17	13	62	50	12	65	W D W W D
11	Wycombe Wanderers FC	46	17	12	17	69	58	11	63	W L L D L
12	Reading FC	46	16	15	15	64	60	4	63	L D L L L
13	Blackpool FC	46	17	9	20	54	65	-11	60	W W W W L
14	Doncaster Rovers FC	46	17	9	20	50	69	-19	60	W D L W W
15	Barnsley FC	46	15	14	17	68	73	-5	59	L W L L D
16	Wigan Athletic FC	46	14	14	18	49	58	-9	56	L L D W W
17	Burton Albion FC	46	13	15	18	50	60	-10	54	D D D W D
18	Peterborough United FC	46	15	8	23	64	68	-4	53	L D L D L
19	AFC Wimbledon	46	15	8	23	51	72	-21	53	L W L L L
20	Leyton Orient FC	46	14	10	22	59	71	-12	52	D L L D L
21	Exeter City FC	46	12	13	21	52	61	-9	49	L D D D W
22	Port Vale FC	46	10	12	24	36	61	-25	42	L W L L D
23	Rotherham United FC	46	10	11	25	41	71	-30	41	L D L W L
24	Northampton Town FC	46	9	8	29	39	74	-35	35	L L L L L