Sam Hammam
When Cardiff's owner Sam Hammam set off on the walk which took him to his place behind Nigel Martyn's goal towards the end of the second half, he had two options.
One was to take a longer route, passing only his adoring Cardiff public. The other was to march past the Leeds supporters. Hammam chose the latter and was met with a hail of missiles.
In many eyes he unnecessarily raised the temperature at that moment but Hammam defended his actions. "I've been in the game for a long, long time," he said. "Thirty years or more and in every home game I always stand behind the opposition goal. I've done it 99% of my life.
"I like to watch the end of the game from behind the goal. I'm entitled to do that, I have a pass that allows me to do that which has been approved by security and proper safety authorities. I'm a lucky mascot for the team and why should I change that just because we're playing Leeds? I did not incite their fans at all."
Hammam might have guessed he would not get a warm reception, having been greeted with abuse from Leeds supporters when he walked over to them before kick-off. His behaviour from the moment the draw was made was hardly low-key.
Hammam had stoked things up by claiming Cardiff were "substantially bigger" than their Premiership opponents and whipped up a nationalist fervour which turned the tie into Wales v England as much as Cardiff v Leeds. A Welsh flag and a club flag greeted the home team when they ran on at the start.
If Hammam cannot be blamed for the post-match pitch invasion which followed, he did nothing to deter it by marching on to the field straight after the final whistle clutching a Welsh flag. Within seconds he was swamped by supporters. Soon after things turned nasty.
The supporters
While the Leeds fans did not distinguish themselves, the home crowd must shoulder more blame for Sunday's scenes.
Within five minutes objects were being hurled towards Leeds players and missiles continued to rain down throughout, hitting Ian Harte and Danny Mills. In the second half the referee Andy D'Urso was struck by a coin and needed treatment, and a punch was thrown at Leeds's Lee Bowyer by one Cardiff fan after the finish.
The Leeds supporters were also targeted. "Some fans were hit two or three times by coins and there were bottles of urine thrown, which is unspeakable," said Ray Fell, chairman of the Leeds United supporters' club. "I think it was a sad day for football and for Cardiff City Football Club."
A good-natured pitch invasion at the end would have been one thing, but hundreds of Cardiff fans made straight for the away contingent and taunted them. It needed riot police to force them back.
The players
Alan Smith was sent off shortly before half-time for use of the elbow on Andy Legg and there were plenty of full-blooded tackles. But if the tie was fiercely contested, it was no worse than many matches in Britain and the players can hardly be held responsible for the trouble.
The authorities
Hammam had asked for the game to be switched to the 70,000-seat Millennium stadium, in part to accommodate more fans and also for safety reasons. "It would have helped the fans, police and other authorities," he said yesterday.
The Football Association insisted there was no compelling reason to switch the game and some observers in Cardiff believe the Millennium stadium might have proved more difficult to police, with its lack of segregation fencing and its proximity to the city centre.
Chief Superintendent Jeff Cooksley of South Wales Police said he had "no strong objection" to the game being played at either stadium but admitted that Ninian Park can be problematic. "It's a very old ground, 70 years old, and is very poorly designed compared with modern standards," he said.
Kick-off time
The pubs around Ninian Park were open as normal on a Sunday from midday, allowing plenty of drinking time for fans ahead of the 4pm kick-off.
Sky, which broadcast the tie live, requested its regular 4pm slot and got the go-ahead from the authorities. "The time is always agreed after discussion with the relevant parties," said a spokesman.
Cooksley insisted the 4pm start was not considered a "major problem".
He said: "If there had been an 11am kick-off you might have found Leeds fans would have travelled on the Saturday and we could have had major public disorder on the Saturday."
So would a 1pm start not have been the best compromise? "Quite possibly," Cooksley said, "but then again with hindsight it's easy, isn't it? I must repeat that 22,000 attended and the vast majority didn't cause any problem.
"There was no problem before and after. The problem was inside the ground and Cardiff fans invading the pitch."
Police and stewards
"Obviously the stewarding didn't prove to be effective," reflected Cooksley. The pitch invasion and the number of objects hurled on to the field suggested as much.
Hammam said yesterday that claims that stewards opened gates after the final whistle to allow Cardiff fans on to the pitch were "totally untrue".
Supporters were searched by stewards before entering the ground but it appears that objects - particularly bottles - were smuggled in undetected. Police said the club agreed only to sell drinks dispensed into plastic containers.
Preventing the throwing of coins is difficult. No attempt seemed to be made during the game to eject fans of either side who were hurling missiles but police are viewing video evidence and said they would make arrests in the near future.
Hammam promised firm action against the perpetrators. "Anyone who does these sort if things should be banned for life," he said, "and if any Cardiff fan is found guilty of doing that then we will ban them from Ninian Park."
Cooksley described the police operation as "very successful" and stressed that it was the responsibility of the stewards and the club to prevent a pitch invasion. "We are in the control room to act when requested," he said. "And when we were requested to act we did."
Police used batons and dogs to force back hundreds of Cardiff fans who gathered next to the away section after the final whistle, with missiles flying in both directions.
Cooksley said there were "no problems" outside the ground before kick-off and few after. "There was an attempt made by Cardiff fans to get at some Leeds fans, which was quickly stopped by police," he said. "The Leeds fans then got on their buses and left."
Four arrests were made.