Cardiff eased into the third round of the FA Cup at the expense of a battling Margate side thanks to two goals in the space of seven first-half minutes and a late goal from substitute Leo Fortune-West.
Peter Thorne's 27th minute header and Willie Boland's 34th minute free-kick were enough to give the Second Division team a comfortable victory against their Conference opponents at Dover Athletic's Crabble ground.
The home side had started well and should have gone ahead early on when Phil Collins could only strike the crossbar from eight yards out, but that was as close as they came all afternoon.
Cardiff opened the scoring when Rhys Weston freed Jason Bowen on the right. The Welsh international had plenty of time to find Thorne unmarked at the back post and the striker made no mistake with a firm header which gave Margate goalkeeper Charlie Mitten no chance.
Seven minutes later, Lennie Lawrence's side doubled their lead when Rob Earnshaw was tripped on the edge of the penalty area by home skipper Graham Porter following a neat exchange of passes with Des Hamilton.
Boland stepped up to take the resulting free-kick and drilled a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner of Mitten's goal, opening his account for the season in the process.
And the victory was completed with three minutes of the match remaining when Fortune-West tapped in from two yards out after Mitten could only parry substitute Andy Campbell's low drive.
Earnshaw also fired over the crossbar from 10 yards out in first-half injury time and Mitten was spared embarrassment shortly after when he swung and missed a routine clearance only for the ball to trickle narrowly wide of the post.
Margate had started the brighter of the sides and in the 16th minute Greg Oates crossed from the right into the path of John Keister, but the Sierra Leone international miskicked his effort. The loose ball fell kindly for Collins, but he could only thud his close-range shot against the woodwork.
The home side also enjoyed some early chances in the second period, Sam Sodje blazed over after being fed by Terry McFlynn in the 49th minute and Collins then saw his fine header from Oates' centre turned over the crossbar by Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Alexander.
In between those two chances, the visitors almost extended their lead when Spencer Prior saw his header hooked off the line by Oates and Bowen also went close with a low drive which was stopped by Mitten midway through the half.
But despite a determined and spirited performance from the non-league outfit, City were rarely troubled and never had to come out of first gear to book their place in round three.
