Jack Moylan Shines in Cardiff's First Championship Win

Jack Moylan announced himself to the Cardiff faithful in style, striking twice and creating another as Brian Barry-Murphy’s side finally claimed their first Championship win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Charlton.

The Republic of Ireland forward, a summer arrival from Lincoln after earlier stints with Shelbourne and Bohemians, needed just eight minutes to light up the afternoon. Drifting into space, he broke the deadlock early, settling nerves in a stadium that had waited seven league games for a win since promotion from League One.

Cardiff didn’t stop there. Moylan turned provider in the 24th minute, slipping in Yousef Salech, who finished to double the lead and send a restless home crowd into full voice. For a team that had been searching for a cutting edge at this level, the new signing suddenly looked like the missing piece.

Charlton, though, refused to fold. Tyreece Campbell struck to haul them back into the contest, trimming the deficit and asking serious questions of a Cardiff side that had too often let games slip away this season.

That was the test. The response was emphatic.

Barely after the visitors had sniffed a comeback, Moylan stepped up again. Just after the hour mark, he picked up the ball on the edge of the area and unleashed a stunning strike that flew beyond the keeper and restored daylight between the sides. It was the kind of goal that not only kills a game, but announces a player to a new division.

From there, Cardiff controlled the contest. They kept creating chances, kept Charlton at arm’s length and, this time, saw the job through.

Barry-Murphy, who has insisted performances were better than results suggested, made no attempt to hide both his relief and his admiration for his new forward.

“It was a very important game for us,” he 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.”

On Moylan, his praise was pointed and deliberate. This was no one-off gamble paying out; this was a signing made with a clear plan.

“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.”

Cardiff have their first win. More importantly, they may already have found the man to drag them deeper into this division and keep them there.