Jim Magilton said his team's disappointing first-half performance at Ninian Park cost Town the points.

Alan Lee hit the post inside 20 seconds but Cardiff took the points thanks to Paul Parry's quality strike just past the half hour mark.

"They showed more desire than we did, especially in the first-half and that really disappointed me," said the Town boss.

"It was sloppy defending for their goal although it was a good strike by the lad. But we got bossed in the middle of the park, bossed up front and there wasn't enough belief in the side that we could go on and get a result.

"We didn't have enough leaders on the park. We can't just rely on Jason (De Vos) for that and after they scored, at one stage I thought they might go right through us and that is what upset me more than anything else.

"If Alan scored then we would have got a foothold in the game but we were poor overall in the first-half and that is what cost us the game."

One positive for Town was the return to action of Gavin Williams, who played the full 90 minutes after recovering from ruptured ankle ligaments.

"It was good to see Gavin back out there and he will be better for the 90 minutes," added Jim.

"We kept him on because he can get on the ball and get us playing but in the end it was too little, too late."