Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City have headed into half time level at 1-1 in the opening fixture of the new Championship season at Ewood Park this evening.

The home side appealed for a penalty just a couple of minutes into the tie when Cardiff captain Mark Hudson caught the ball with his arm on the edge of the box, but the referee ruled that he was just outside the area.

Paul Robinson was called into action as Nicky Maynard looked to open the scoring for the Welsh side, but the keeper tipped the ball over the bar.

However, the visitors did manage to take the lead five minutes later when a Peter Whittingham free kick was flicked on by Hudson for Kenwyne Jones to head in.

Cardiff had a couple of chances to double their lead, but Blackburn started to see more of the ball as half time approached, and were back on level terms five minutes before the break when Tom Cairney collected the ball from Jordan Rhodes before firing in from 25 yards out.