REPORT | CARDIFF CITY 2 ARGYLE 2

Cardiff City 2
Butcher o.g 31
Grant 47

Argyle 2
Whittaker 18, 66

In the Championship Days of Yore, Argyle trips to Cardiff City were a regular feature in the Boxing Day schedule, and the 2023 version was another intoxicating encounter.

Argyle led 1-0, trailed 2-1, and ultimately settled for a solid point on the road.

Morgan Whittaker opened the scoring for the Greens, Cardiff drawing level with a Matt Butcher own goal and grabbing the lead when Karlan Grant notched early in the second period. Whittaker replied with a deserved equaliser midway through the second half.

Argyle made six changes from the enthralling 3-3 draw with Birmingham City, Macaulay Gillesphey, Butcher, Callum Wright, Mickel Miller, Adam Randell and Kaine Kesler-Hayden-Hayden all coming into a refreshed side.

In a quiet start to proceedings in South Wales, Grant had a shot deflected wide for the hosts before solid positioning from Kesler-Hayden thwarted another mild Cardiff attack.

Conor Hazard comfortably held another deflected effort from Joe Ralls and the game came alive for Argyle on 18 minutes, Whittaker prodding home from close range after excellent approach play by Miller and Ben Waine's pinpoint cross.

The Pilgrims threatened another when a long ball from Gillesphey picked out the run of Kesler-Hayden, who lobbed the ball over Jak Alnwick, falling just wide of the post.

Hazard made a couple more blocks from long-range strikes before the Bluebirds restored parity in bizarre circumstances on the half-hour, when a misunderstanding between Hazard and Butcher gifted the home side a leveller.

Argyle quickly dismissed the setback, Callum Wright forcing a decent low save from Alnwick after good work by Miller, and the Greens continued to look threatening all the way to the interval.

After a pleasing 45 minutes, with one unfortunate and costly moment, Argyle suffered a nightmare start to the second period, Grant fizzing a powerful drive into the roof of the net after a short corner from Ruben Colwill.

The Greens took a short while to recover from the setback, escaping a deeper problem when Mark McGuiness nodded wide and Yakou Meite also found his shooting radar a margin out of sync.

A triple Pilgrim substitution saw Callum Wright, Randell and Miller all withdrawn for Bali Mumba, Finn Azaz and Luke Cundle. The three changes yielded an immediate result, as Whittaker notched his second of the afternoon, firing home the rebound after his initial shot had been saved.

Brendan Galloway replaced Gillesphey for the final 20 minutes, as the Pilgrims cranked up the pressure yet another notch. Mumba thundered against the crossbar after substitute Azaz had created room on the right before Kesler-Hayden slipped after being played in by Waine and Whittaker.

Freddie Issaka replaced Waine for the final ten minutes but the action returned to the other end, Callum Robinson heading over from a good position to hand Argyle a big reprieve. Ryan Wintle also nodded too high, as Cardiff built some late attacking momentum.

Stoppage time arrived with Argyle shifting the emphasis. Luke Cundle fired a shot straight down the throat of Alnwick, while an ambitious strike from Brendan Galloway whistled past the post after taking a deflection off Adam Randell.

A superb clearance from Lewis Gibson in the dying embers ensured another hard-earned draw for Argyle in the festive period.  

Cardiff: 21 Jak Alnwick; 4 Dimitrios Goutas, 5 Mark McGuinness, 6 Ryan Wintle, 8 Joe Ralls (capt), 9 Kiowa Etete, 16 Karlan Grant, 17 Jamila Collins, 22 Yakou Meite (47 Callum Robinson 76), 27 Ruben Colwill, 38 Perry Ng. Substitutes (not used): 13 Alex Runarsson (gk), 2 Mahlon Romeo, 14 Josh Bowler, 18 Ebou Adams, 19 Romaine Sawyers, 23 Manolis Siopis, 24 Jonathan Panzo, 32 Ollie Tanner.

Booked:

Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard; 3 Macaulay Gillesphey (22 Brendan Galloway 71), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 7 Matt Butcher, 10 Morgan Whittaker, 11 Callum Wright (2 Bali Mumba 64), 14 Mickel Miller (18 Finn Azaz 64), 17 Lewis Gibson (capt), 20 Adam Randell (28 Luke Cundle, 64), 23 Ben Waine (35 Freddie Issaka 81), 29 Kaine Kesler-Hayden. Substitutes (not used): 25 Callum Burton (gk), 8 Joe Edwards, 19 Tyreik Wright, 34 Caleb Roberts.

Booked: Gibson 44

Referee: Andy Davies

Attendance: 23,583