Despite trailing at half-time, Brian Barry-Murphy’s men managed to turn the tide once more and secure victory in a high-pressure match against Reading.

Saturday afternoon was supposed to be a fairly quiet affair against a Reading side sitting 21st in the table before kick-off. But football is not an exact science. Returning from the international break, some of the squad’s key players struggled to find their feet, as evidenced by Joel Colwill’s mediocre performance. The coach asked his team to play a lot of long balls forward at the start of the match. This was a surprising tactical choice, given that the Bluebirds had been more accustomed to keeping possession since the start of the season. This clearly unsettled the defence, who were unable to recover the ball, allowing Lewis Wing to score unmarked in the 38th minute. A beautiful low shot from distance gave Reading a one-goal lead at half-time.

A completely different second half

At half-time, Brian Barry-Murphy made his first change, bringing on Will Fish for Gabriel Osho. The Bluebirds regained their usual possession and managed to equalise just four minutes after returning from the dressing room. Omari Kellyman cut inside on his left foot and unleashed a fine strike from outside the box, which took a deflection and ended up in the back of the net. Cardiff pushed forward with the support of their fans and put pressure on the opposition’s defence, which eventually cracked. In the 65th minute, Isaak Davies, who had come on a minute earlier, combined with Ronan Kpakio on the right wing. Kpakio sent in a superb cross to Yousef Salech, who struck the ball first time to send the Cardiff City Stadium into raptures. The Welsh side had done the hard work, or so we thought… Reading were not going to give up and put enormous pressure on the Cardiff City defence. But the tall Nathan Trott seemed determined to secure the victory, making no fewer than eight saves during the match. He is our MVP for this game. Not to mention the ball intercepted on the line by Will Fish at the end of the match.

Brian Barry-Murphy’s tactical changes paid off, and the Bluebirds picked up three valuable points in the title race. They are provisionally top of the league, one point ahead of Stevenage, who suffered their first defeat since 23 August. However, Stevenage have a game in hand over the Bluebirds. Their next match is away to Bolton on Saturday 25 October.

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