League First Division side Aston Villa in January 1927. After a goalless first half, Cardiff scored twice via a header by Len Davies and a shot by Ernie Curtis. Aston Villa managed to reply just once, when Cardiff goalkeeper Tom Farquharson scored an own goal after turning in a shot by Villa forward Arthur Dorrell. In the fourth round, Cardiff were drawn against Football League Second Division side Darlington. Newspaper reports indicated that Cardiff were the better team, and had it not been for the success of Darlington's defence they would have won by a greater margin. The goals were scored by George McLachlan and Hughie Ferguson. In the fifth round, Cardiff were drawn away against Bolton Wanderers, the reigning FA Cup champions. In front of a crowd of 49,465 at Bolton's ground Burnden Park, Cardiff won by two goals to nil, the scorers being Ferguson and Davies. Following this round, Cardiff and Arsenal were the only remaining teams from the Football League First Division. After an initial goalless draw in the following round against Second Division Chelsea on 5 March, the two sides met again at Ninian Park in a replay five days later. Sam Irving put the Welsh team ahead after nine minutes, before Davies added a second after 21 minutes. Chelsea were awarded a penalty, but the shot by Andrew Wilson was saved by Farquharson. The goalkeeper had developed a reputation for saving penalty kicks by charging from his goalline as the shot was taken; this save from Wilson ultimately led to a rule change, prohibiting goalkeepers from rushing forward during a penalty. Chelsea scored twice in quick succession, Albert Thain with the first a minute before half-time but Bob Turnbull equalised, four minutes into the second half. Cardiff won through a penalty of their own; Harry Wilding handled the ball and Ferguson converted the penalty. In the semi-finals Cardiff were drawn against Reading, who had reached the semi-final for the first time. As FA Cup semi-finals are held at neutral venues, the match was played at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton. Additional trains were put on to bring Cardiff fans to Wolverhampton for the match, and there was an expectation that the game would set a new attendance record for the ground. Heavy rain had fallen before the match, resulting in a soft pitch. Reading appeared stronger at the start, but in the 25th minute Bert Eggo