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Cardiff City claimed a first home win since January as two second-half goals saw off a poor Birmingham side.

After a dire goalless first half, Cardiff went ahead early in the second as Eoin Doyle scored his first goal for the club with a smart low finish.

Peter Whittingham then sealed victory with a penalty after Doyle was brought down by Jonathan Spector.

Birmingham boss Gary Rowett was sent off after the break as the Blues lost for the first time in five matches.

Rowett's dismissal - for disputing a Cardiff throw-in by hurling the ball to the ground - capped a miserable afternoon for Birmingham.

Victory for the Bluebirds, however, crowned a fine week for Russell Slade's side after a win and a draw against promotion-chasers Brentford and Bournemouth.

Cardiff were forced into a late change shortly before kick-off as striker Federico Macheda, back from suspension, pulled up in the warm-up and was replaced by Kenwyne Jones.

That left Cardiff with a physically imposing front two of Jones and Alex Revell, whose height invited a number of crosses and long balls.

The hosts' only chances in the first half were headers, with Sean Morrison nodding over from Whittingham's corner and Aron Gunnarson flicking Joe Ralls' cross wide.

After a tepid first 45 minutes, Slade sought to increase the tempo with the introduction of winger Matthew Kennedy at the break.

The decision paid off almost immediately, as the January signing darted into the box and found fellow substitute Doyle, whose neat first-time shot swept into the bottom corner.

Jones wasted a couple of good opportunities to double Cardiff's advantage, while Doyle was denied a second goal as his delicate shot rolled on to the post.

The Irish striker did, however, play a major role in Cardiff's second as he was brought down by Spector for a penalty which Whittingham struck down the middle to clinch a comfortable victory.

Cardiff assistant boss Scott Young: "Since the New Year we've been in good positions in a few home games but not quite got over the line so it's very pleasing to get the win.

"I thought Eoin and Matthew Kennedy changed the game for us when they came on. Eoin has been very unlucky not to get on the scoresheet since coming to the club in January but we have always known he has plenty of quality.

"As a side we are showing a lot more resilience and to get another clean sheet is very good. The whole team is working hard and we want to finish as high up the league as possible."

Birmingham assistant manager Kevin Summerfield on Gary Rowett's dismissal: "Gary did not swear but he made the point to the referee that the assistant referee and linesman were far away but he threw the ball down and that was enough to see him get sent to the stands.

"We are not going to blame the referee for the defeat, they have only got a few seconds to make a decision but we didn't think it was a penalty and that killed the game off.

"The result will be a kick up the backside for us, the players will really have to roll their sleeves up now for the rest of the season because it will have a big impact on what happens next year. That performance was not up to the standards that we have set ourselves this season."