Colwill’s stoppage-time stunner rescues point for Cardiff against Wrexham

Rubin Colwill struck a dramatic stoppage-time free-kick to salvage a 1-1 draw for Cardiff City against Wrexham, capping an extraordinary Championship opener at Cardiff City Stadium. The substitute’s strike, arriving eight minutes into added time, cancelled out an early Kieffer Moore goal for the visitors and prompted wild celebrations among the home support.

Wrexham made the perfect start inside the opening three minutes when Danny Imray’s ball over the top found Moore, who was played onside by Gabriel Osho and finished coolly from a tight angle to silence the home crowd. The visitors continued to threaten throughout, with Callum Doyle hitting the post and forcing a smart save from Nathan Trott, while Moore also went close to a second when he headed against the crossbar.

Cardiff grew into the game as it progressed, with summer signing Jack Moylan impressing on his league debut, though he fired over from a promising position before half-time. Brian Barry-Murphy turned to his bench in search of an equaliser, introducing Colwill alongside Joel Colwill, Isaak Davies, Callum Robinson and Ronan Kpakio.

Late drama at the death

With six minutes of stoppage time announced, Wrexham appeared to have held on, seeing further Cardiff chances go begging through Sam Smith and Davies. But Dom Hyam’s header from a Kpakio delivery crashed against the crossbar, and moments later Joel Colwill was fouled just outside the box.

Amid confusion in the home end over whether a penalty had been awarded, Rubin Colwill instead stepped up to the free-kick and curled home a stunning equaliser to spark scenes of jubilation around Cardiff City Stadium.

Colwill had only returned to training in the past two days after struggling with an ankle injury, and Barry-Murphy admitted afterwards that he had perhaps rushed the Wales international’s introduction given the stakes of the occasion.

“I thought he had a big impact on a big game,” Barry-Murphy said. “He’s only trained for two days really, so I probably shouldn’t have put him on as early as I did. But the way the game was going, I felt as if we needed a bit of something different and he can do that from deep, so we just take it day by day with him and see how he is.”

Barry-Murphy’s booking

The Cardiff head coach praised Colwill’s importance to the club beyond the pitch, describing him as “an impeccable professional” who “loves the game, loves the club” and remains “a huge figure” for the Bluebirds, while stressing the need for caution over his fitness so as not to risk a setback.

Barry-Murphy’s own celebrations got the better of him in the chaos that followed the equaliser, with the Cardiff boss cautioned by the referee for leaving his technical area. Asked whether the booking had been worth it, he replied with a smile: “No, no, no. I don’t want to be paying any fines. I was a bit embarrassed.”

The point ensures Cardiff begin life back in the Championship unbeaten, a result that felt every bit as significant as a victory given how the contest had unfolded. Wrexham, meanwhile, will rue missed chances that could have seen them return to England with all three points from their first Welsh derby back in the second tier.

Sources

• BBC Sport
• WalesOnline

This is an independent report written from the facts across the sources named above.