Cardiff caretaker-manager Steve Morison staked his claim to replace Mick McCarthy on a permanent basis as Kieffer Moore’s late double earned his side a vital 2-1 victory at home to Huddersfield.
Wales international Moore headed home 16 minutes from time to cancel out Danel Sinani’s first-half opener for the visitors and then crashed in a stoppage-time winner to end the Bluebirds’ 10-game winless streak.
Moore’s goals kept struggling Cardiff out of the bottom three in what could be Morison’s final match in charge and he admitted that he was in the dark over his future.
Asked if he would continue in the job, Morison said: “Your guess is as good as mine. We’ll just have to watch this space.
“Ultimately, you’re only as good as your last game. I’ve loved it. It’s been a great experience. It’s a job I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing over the past few weeks.”
Sinani raced on to an under-hit backpass from Mark McGuinness and outmuscled Curtis Nelson before slipping the ball under Alex Smithies and in off the post to put Huddersfield 1-0 up on 12 minutes.
The Norwich loanee almost added a second before the break but his side-footed effort across goal was a foot wide of Smithies’ far post.
Substitute Josh Koroma also saw a golden chance smothered at close range by Smithies in first-half stoppage-time.
Smithies came to Cardiff’s rescue once again on 64 minutes when he diverted a Levi Colwill header onto the post from point-blank range.
And the visitors hit the woodwork again three minutes later when Ward took advantage of a mistake by Aden Flint, flicking the ball over Smithies but against the upright.
Huddersfield were made to regret those spurned opportunities as Moore headed in his first from a Ralls cross to level the match on 74 minutes and then repeated the trick from substitute Isaak Davies’s centre in the third minute of time added on.
“It’s fantastic,” said Morison. “Everyone needed it. The whole place needed it, the boys in that dressing room more than anyone. It will get the fans right back behind us again.
“The players were excellent. Take that goal out of it, which was a horrendous goal to give away, and I thought we dominated.”
There were contrasting emotions for Huddersfield boss Carlos Corberan, whose side drop to eighth in the table.
“We dropped too deep at the end,” he admitted. “To lose with the last action of the game is difficult to accept.
“In football you have to kill the result. We had the opportunities but we couldn’t score the second goal.
“It’s a painful moment for us. We are frustrated but we have the character to react and get the results that we want.”
