Hull City lead Cardiff City 1-0 at half time, thanks to a header from defender Curtis Davies.
The home side created the game's first chance but Danny Graham missed a sitter as he found space only to side-foot over from a mere 10 yards out.
Cardiff began to work their way into the game as Peter Whittingham found Gary Medel, who couldn't get the ball under enough control to test Allan McGregor in the Hull goal.
Hull finally broke the deadlock in the 40th minute when Davies rose to meet Tom Huddlestone's ball and put his side 1-0 ahead.
