Rubin Colwill's Free-Kick Secures Draw for Cardiff City
Rubin Colwill reminded Cardiff City exactly what he can do. Now Brian Barry-Murphy is asking everyone to wait.
The 23-year-old came off the bench to curl in a superb late free-kick and snatch a 1-1 draw against Welsh rivals Wrexham on Monday, a moment of quality that lit up a tense derby and salvaged a point that had looked in real danger of slipping away.
It was the kind of intervention that turns a game, and maybe a season. But it was also ahead of schedule.
‘I probably shouldn’t have put him on that early’
Barry-Murphy admitted he pushed the button on Colwill sooner than he had planned, given the midfielder has barely trained.
“Rubin has only trained for two days, so I probably shouldn't have put him on as early as I did, but the way the game was going I felt we needed a bit of something different,” the Cardiff boss said.
He got exactly that. Colwill’s introduction instantly changed the tone of the contest, his touch and vision giving Cardiff a new edge before his stunning set-piece finally broke Wrexham’s resistance late on.
The equaliser ensured Cardiff avoided defeat in a fiercely watched all-Welsh clash, but the manager was in no mood to get carried away with his match-winner’s return.
“We’ll just take it day by day with him, and see how he is,” Barry-Murphy added. “We all want to see him play, but we have to be patient with him.”
Colwill will now be assessed ahead of Cardiff’s next game against Derby, with his workload under close scrutiny after such a limited build-up.
Stretched squad, clear message
The late drama did not disguise a wider issue. Barry-Murphy again underlined that Cardiff need reinforcements before the transfer window closes.
“I think it's obvious we're looking to add to the squad,” he said. “We are quite stretched at the moment in terms of that position. We're so stretched because the players are all from the same area of the team — Dylan (Lawlor), Will Fish, Callum Chambers.”
Those absences have left the squad looking thin in key areas, even if the manager insists the club will not rip up its plans because of it.
“That doesn't change our recruitment strategy, but it means that we probably look more stretched than we probably are,” he said.
So Colwill’s free-kick bought Cardiff a point and a little breathing space. What it didn’t buy is time in the market. That race is still on.
