PROMISING IRISH youngster Bosun Lawal made his Stoke City debut as a 78th-minute substitute while club teammate and fellow Irishman Andy Moran scored in the Championship today.

21-year-old Lawal joined the Potters from Celtic in the summer after a successful loan spell in League One with Fleetwood last season.

However, after a suffering a stress fracture in his back, the St Kevin’s Boys graduate had to bide his team before finally making his first appearance of the season today.

Captain Ben Gibson atoned for his own goal with a last-gasp equaliser in their 2-2 draw against fellow strugglers Cardiff.

Gibson had put into his own net as the Bluebirds came from behind at the bet365 Stadium to come within seconds of recording their first away win since April.

But they were made to settle for a point that at least lifted them out of the relegation zone as both teams’ winless runs extended to seven games.

Eric Bocat’s ball over the top gave Stoke’s top scorer Tom Cannon a second-minute sight of goal, but he could not finish from a tight angle after going around Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick.

Then came a big opportunity for Cardiff after 13 minutes when Callum O’Dowda’s low ball ran through to Andy Rinomhota whose shot was comfortably saved by Viktor Johansson.

The Bluebirds were made to rue that missed chance when Stoke took the lead in the 17th minute as Moran finished into the roof of the net after Alnwick could only push Million Manhoef’s shot from outside the area into his path.

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Cardiff drew level in the 32nd minute when Tatsuki Seko headed Chris Willock’s cross out as far as Joe Ralls and his volley was deflected through for the unattended Anwar El Ghazi to tap in at the back post.

Willock then bent an effort from 25 yards over after he had been allowed to advance a long way before Lewis Koumas shot wide after robbing Rinomhota of possession in the Bluebirds’ area.

The teams went into half-time all square, but Manhoef had a chance to restore Stoke’s lead seven minutes into the second half when his effort was saved by Alnwick after his initial shot had been blocked.

Cardiff then came within a whisker of completing the turnaround in the 55th minute when Calum Chambers’ cross was cleared straight to Yakou Meite whose volley into the ground came back off the bar.

The Bluebirds did go ahead in the 72nd minute when Willock’s shot was beaten away by Johansson only for the rebound to bounce off the luckless Gibson and into his own net.

The visitors came close to sealing the points when Manolis Siopis fizzed a low drive wide with two minutes left.

It looked like a vital victory for Omer Riza’s side was safe when Alnwick did brilliantly to save from Emre Tezgel after Ben Wilmot had headed Seko’s ball into the box back across.

But Alnwick quickly went from hero to zero with Gibson moving in the opposite direction as the Stoke captain headed into an empty net after the Cardiff stopper came and missed Lynden Gooch’s free-kick.

Elsewhere, in League One, Irishmen James McClean and Cian Hayes were both on target.

McClean scored a 27th-minute equaliser as third-place Wrexham drew 2-2 with relegation-threatened Cambridge.

In addition, Hayes registered a brace in Peterborough’s thrilling 4-3 win over Crawley Town.

In Scotland, Roland Idowu scored a last-gasp penalty winner in St Mirren’s topsy-turvy 3-2 William Hill Premiership victory over St Johnstone as they moved back into the top six.

Josh Rae saved Mark O’Hara’s spot-kick but VAR alerted referee Euan Anderson that he had come off his line early and — during a retake — Idowu, on loan from Shrewsbury, sent Rae the wrong way to secure maximum points.

The Paisley team had won just once and scored two goals in 10 visits to McDiarmid Park since promotion in 2018.

This game looked like being another poor result in Perth as Makenzie Kirk and Benji Kimpioka netted comeback goals for the hosts.

Killian Phillips had given St Mirren the lead in 10 minutes but they lost momentum in the second period.

However, 17-year-old Evan Mooney came off the bench to score in only his second substitute appearance to tee up the dramatic ending.

Elsewhere in the Women’s Super League, Chelsea saw their 100% start to the season ended by lowly Leicester City.

It finished 1-1, the champions forced to come from behind at the King Power Stadium. Wieke Kaptein bagged their equaliser in the 77th minute, Missy Goodwin having put the Foxes ahead in the first half.

In today’s only other WSL clash, Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham also drew 1-1.

Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy and Emma Duffy