Brian Barry-Murphy said he has never been prouder of his Cardiff City players after his injury-ravaged squad drew 3-3 with West Ham United in a dramatic match at the Cardiff City Stadium. The Bluebirds led 3-0 at half-time through a Jack Moylan hat-trick but were pegged back after the break.
Three-goal lead surrendered
Barry-Murphy admitted there was disappointment at giving up the lead, but insisted his players had given everything against opponents with far greater resources. The gap in squad depth was clear from the two substitutes' benches on Wednesday evening.
West Ham could call on £18million summer signing Edvin Austbø, Czech international Tomáš Souček and former Swansea City striker Joël Piroe. Cardiff's bench was filled with academy youngsters, including 16-year-old Paul Moreno and 17-year-olds Rob Tankiewicz and Charlie Holt, with injuries leaving the side short of experienced options.
West Ham fightback
After half-time, West Ham introduced three fresh players and took control. Divine Mukasa and Arne Engels scored within seven minutes of each other before Max Kilman's 82nd-minute equaliser completed the comeback. Nathan Trott made crucial saves in stoppage time as the visitors pushed for a winner.
"I'm asking the players to put everything on the line because we have such a small squad," Barry-Murphy said. "The players who came off were injured and certain players still on the pitch were carrying knocks. I'm as proud as I've ever been since my time at Cardiff, because of the effort and the way we played the game."
Belief in young squad
Barry-Murphy said his side could not regain control once West Ham's fightback began, as the visitors used their strong bench. "We expected pressure after half-time and we were confident we could deal with it. But when we weren't able to, it gave them momentum that we couldn't stem," he explained.
Despite the result, the manager believes the display showed the potential in his youthful squad. "I think the future for the club is incredibly bright," he added. "We have a whole host of young talent. The benefit of what we're doing is that there is so much young talent, predominantly Welsh, getting a chance to grow in such a testing arena."
Barry-Murphy insisted Cardiff would not abandon their attacking approach. "As long as we have the mentality to always take the opponents on, irrespective of who they are or how much money they've spent, then that's the mentality we always have to show when we play for this club."
