Jack Moylan Shines in Cardiff's First Championship Victory

Jack Moylan announced himself to the Cardiff faithful in some style, striking twice and making the other in a 3-1 win over Charlton that finally delivered a first Championship victory of the season.

Cardiff had waited seven league games for this since climbing out of League One. The tension around the place has been obvious. Moylan cut through it in eight minutes.

The Republic of Ireland forward, a summer signing from Lincoln with earlier stops at Shelbourne and Bohemians, needed only one early sight. He took it, sweeping Cardiff into the lead and jolting a restless home crowd to life.

Charlton looked rattled. Cardiff smelled weakness.

On 24 minutes, Moylan turned provider. Finding space again, he slipped in Yousef Salech, who finished to double the advantage and give Brian Barry-Murphy’s side the sort of cushion they have been craving all campaign.

Charlton did not fold. Tyreece Campbell dragged them back into it after the break, trimming the deficit and asking the familiar question of Cardiff: could they hold their nerve?

Barry-Murphy got his answer almost immediately.

Cardiff’s response to conceding has too often been anxiety and retreat. This time, they pushed on. The pressure told, and just after the hour Moylan stepped up again, drifting to the edge of the area and unleashing a superb strike that flew in to make it 3-1 and kill the contest.

From there, Cardiff controlled it. They kept creating chances, kept Charlton at arm’s length and, as Barry-Murphy put it, “ran out deserving winners.”

For the manager, the performance backed up what he has been preaching during a winless start that has tested patience but not, he insists, belief.

“It was a very important game for us,” Barry-Murphy said. “We felt as if we’d been playing reasonably well and we have to do it again. We knew today’s game was going to be tough, but we played a great game, created really good chances and we took enough of them to win.

“We obviously had a real awareness of what Charlton do and how effective they can be, but we got into the spaces we needed to and created good chances. I was particularly pleased with the response to conceding the goal because that was obviously a test for us.

“We bounced back pretty much straight away and kept creating good chances. In the second half, I felt as if we ran out deserving winners.

“You don’t always get what you feel you deserve. We were clear with the players that there were certain games where we weren’t at our best, but we had full belief that if we kept playing the way we were playing and managed to score the goals we felt we would, we could win the game.”

The night, though, belonged to Moylan.

Cardiff backed their judgement on him in the summer, convinced he offered something different. On this evidence, they were right.

“We felt as if we were bringing a player who would improve the squad when we bought Jack Moylan. He has qualities we probably didn’t have before,” Barry-Murphy said.

“He’s a very dangerous player in the situations you saw him in today. The big appeal for us was because of where he’s come from, he has a lot of improvement in him. The way he’s working means he will improve a lot and become a great player for the club.”

One win does not transform a season. But a restless crowd finally has a hero to cling to and a performance to trust. If Moylan keeps rising at this rate, Cardiff’s return to the Championship might start to look a lot less like a struggle and a lot more like a platform.