More than 1,200 Bluebirds watched their team battle back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 Championship draw at Reading.
Cardiff City were not at their best, but they fought with hunger, desire and an intensity which kept Reading at full stretch.
Joe Bennett and substitute Lee Tomlin, with their first goals of the season, scored for City on an evening when they refused to surrender.
Those goals came in the last seven minutes and Reading were left devastated by the result after they had looked likely winners.
The Bluebirds were losing 2-0 by half-time even though Reading had managed just one shot on goal to Cardiff’s three.
Both goals for the Royals went in off Cardiff players with Callum Paterson heading into his own net from a corner for the first, while former Swansea player Mo Barrow’s strike flicked off two visiting players on the way in.
Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge was completely deceived with the ball slightly changing direction twice.
Cardiff started brightly and took the game to Reading, but manager Neil Warnock’s team looked strangely out of sorts at the back.
Bruno Manga operated at right-back, looking ponderous at time against Reading’s fast and direct wide men, while Sean Morrison appeared to be struggling from the early stages.
Sol Bamba was his usual decisive and efficient self, but something was wrong and that was underlined when captain Morrison limped off with a groin strain after 34 minutes.
Manga moved inside to join Bamba with Lee Peltier taking over at full-back.
City were struggling to make an impact in central midfield with the influential Craig Bryson and Aron Gunnarsson ruled out by injury. Strikers Danny Ward and Kenneth Zohore were also missing and Omar Bogle led the attack.
Calum Paterson was asked to play wide on the right with Loic Damour, Joe Ralls, Junior Hoilett and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing joining him in the battle across midfield. up the battle through midfield.
Cardiff went into this clash having won their previous four Championship matches, while they had the best defensive record in the second tier of English football having conceded 14 in 20 matches.
But Warnock’s team never quite settled against a Reading team prepared to play the ball out from defence at every opportunity.
Manager Jaap Stam loves his team to knock the ball around and Reading gave home fans some scary moments with Cardiff pressing. Goalkeeper Vito Mannone opted to knock a pass square at every opportunity rather than clear and found himself in trouble at times.
The first real chance fell to Cardiff when Mendez-Laing sped away from a defender and smashed in a shot from an angle. Mannone threw himself and the ball flew off his chest and away to safety.
Reading went ahead after 15 minutes when a complete lack of communication at the back left Cardiff wide open. Etheridge left his line to clear, Omar Bogle, taking up position at the near post, could have dealt with the inswinger.
Bogle, though, wasn’t close to heading away and Paterson could only flick a header into the far corner. Etheridge and Paterson had words, but the guilt was shared.
One of the three had to take command and all of them left things to a team-mate.
Cardiff suffered again when they could only half clear from a corner and when Barrow fired at goal from 20 yards the ball flicked off a visiting players trying to block and went in off Joe Bennett.
There was no lack of fight or passion from the Bluebirds and Bogle almost scored when he met a Mendez-Laing cross with a powerful downward header. Manning was completely beaten, but the ball bounced off the turf and over Reading’s bar.
Warnock was ordered into the stand for dissent, having been warned earlier by refereeSteve Martin, but there was no let-up in the intensity of Cardiff’s fightback.
Lee Tomlin replaced Paterson with Hoilett moving out to the wing from the more central role he started in, while Liam Feeney took over from Bogle.
Cardiff were pushing hard, Reading were reeling under the pressure and the home team cracked after 83 minutes.
Reading could only half clear a City attack and full-back Bennett had the technique to smash his shot from from 20 yards.
Royals were rocking and they cracked again less than a minute into five minutes injury time. Bambi’s header from a free-kick hit the bar and substitute Tomlin lashed his shot at goal as the ball dropped.
It hit the underside of the bar and bounced down, clearly over the line with referee Martin quickly signalling it was a goal.
In the last seconds, with the final touch of the match, McShane headed against a post. But at that stage there was little doubt Cardiff deserved a point.
Reading had looked clear winners when they were 2-0 ahead, but this Warnock team will never surrender.
Reading: Mannone, Bacuna, McShane, Moore, Gunter (capt), van den Berg, Edwards, Aluko (Popa 88), Kelly (Bodvarsson 83), Barrow, Kermorgant
Subs: Beerens, Ilori, Clement, Blackett, Jaakkola
Cardiff City: Etheridge, Manga, Morrison, capt (Peltier 34), Bamba, Paterson (Tomlin 79), Damour, Ralls, Bennett, Hoilett, Mendez-Laing, Bogle (Feeney 81).
Subs: Pilkington, Halford, Connolly, Murphy
Referee: Steve Martin.