HELLS BELLS!

Former loose cannon Bellamy is now the calm at the eye of the storm

- BY NEIL Moxley X@neil_moxley

CALMNESS and patience were not words associated with Craig Bellamy the player.

Terms such as 'firecracker', 'jack-in-the-box, and 'pest' were used to describe a highly-strung striker with top clubs peppering his CV.

Let's face it, you don't pull on the shirts of Liverpool, Newcastle United and Celtic if you can't play, do you?

But the pot always simmered.

It exploded several times - most notably when he threatened to break Reds' teammate Jon Arne Riise's legs with a golf club.

So to hear there were no cups being lashed around the City of Cardiff dressing-room at half-time after a highly-debatable penalty pegged the Red Dragons back was an eye-opener.

Skipper Ben Davies described Bellamy afterwards as "Mr Calm", Sorba Thomas said the message was to "stay patient".

Wales delivered, with the help of a calamitous show of goal-keeping that allowed them to regain the lead two minutes after the interval, and, it must be said, the wise addition of Jordan James off the bench to win the midfield battle.