Southampton 2, Cardiff City 2 (Story by  www.icwales.com)   Cardiff City showed in Hampshire last night their promotion bid is the real deal. It's not the quality of City's performance at St Mary's which prompts me to say that because during the first half in particular they were desperately poor. At half-time City went in 2-0 down and facing the prospect of a hefty defeat. They had scarcely competed with a neat and competent home team who hadn't looked anything special themselves. Southampton supporters were ecstatic, but they choked on their chants of 'When the Saints go matching in'. For in the second half their beloved Saints were no longer marching in. They were hanging on. Desperately. Substitute Steve Thompson fired City's first goal and then, with four minutes left, Peter Whittingham smashed a low shot from 25 yards which beat goalkeeper Kelvin Davis just inside his post. City could have won. Joe Ledley's close range shot from a corner looked certain to go in, but Davis made an instinctive save, throwing up his hands to block just when it seemed he was helpless. It's that team spirit, a raging fire burning in the bellies of every City player, which picks Cardiff City out as a team who can go all the way. This Cardiff City is not the best squad in terms of sheer quality and talent. They are up against teams who have spent millions building their challenge. But I defy anybody to pick out a Championship team who have more defiance, more commitment. They stubbornly refuse to buckle when things don't go their way. They showed a pride and a passion in the shirt. At half-time Cardiff City fans who had made the three-hour trip to Southampton were furious with their team. By the end it was the Southampton fans who were angry because their players had been outfought and outworked over the second 45 minutes. It was the arrival of Thompson on the hour which changed the match at St Mary's. Manager Dave Jones made one change, Jason Byrne for Thompson, from the team who defeated Norwich City. Jones explained that Thompson had looked jaded against Norwich. He needed a rest. If the move was designed to give Thommo a little shock treatment it worked a treat. For Thompson scored his sixth goal of the season within two minutes of going on. Peter Whittingham, who struggled for so long to make an impact in this match, and Michael Chopra were involved in a neat build-up and Thompson applied the finishing touch from close range. Byrne, by now watching from the dug-out, had not even sniffed a chance in an hour and there was Thompson, in the clear, able to end his goal famine from a simple chance. 'Byrnie would have loved that chance, but the supply wasn't there in the first half,' said Jones. Thompson, though, added the missing link. He is a far different striker from goal poacher Byrne. Thommo works, battles and takes the physical punishment. He links play and creates space for others with his willingness to work and get stuck in. All that was missing from his locker were regular goals and hopefully there are more to come. And when Whittingham popped up with his late special it was time for City fans to celebrate. But it was all so different from the first 45 minutes when Southampton were on top. The battle between teenage Welsh international Gareth Bale and Paul Parry was a keen contest, edged by the Southampton defender on this occasion, while Cardiff were only able to create half chances and did not manage a shot on target. Southampton went ahead on 21 minutes when a well rehearsed free-kick caught them out. Manager George Burley claimed they had worked on the move only that morning. It certainly worked a treat. Bale and Andrew Surman were the players involved, but Cardiff failed to spot Chris Baird drifting into space around 20 yards from the ball. And when, instead of shooting, Southampton worked the ball right, Baird was given a clear shooting chance which he took with deadly effect. He smashed a shot into the net from 30 yards and goalkeeper Alexander did not seem to react until after it had gone past him. My feeling was that Alexander could have done better with that one and he was at fault with the second. Marek Saganowski nodded the ball goalwards and Alexander looked slow to deal with it. When he did get down he should have shoved the ball out of the danger area at least, but he parried it straight to the feet of Bradley Wright-Phillips. He scored easily and left Cardiff City players with a big question to answer. Do they have the heart and passion to see their promotion bid through? They came back with an emphatic and decisive answer. City lost Glenn Loovens with an ankle injury, but the back four still looked solid with man of the match Kevin McNaughton operating in the centre alongside Roger Johnson. Midfield players who had failed to deliver during the first half started showing their true worth. Suddenly there were chances and Chopra went close a couple of times. Thompson who put City back in the match when he fired home from close range and Whittingham who popped up with that equaliser. 'That feels like a win,' said Jones. 'I'm greedy and I wanted all three points, but how can I be unhappy with that.'