WALES ended a magical year with a hard-fought draw against bogey side Serbia as Aleksander Mitrovic denied them a vital win five minutes from the end.

Gareth Bale’s goal after 30 minutes looked to have settled a tight and tense affair at the Cardiff City Stadium.

But the Serbs, who had beaten Wales 6-1 and 3-0 in the last World Cup campaign, got the point their display merited to leave Chris Coleman’s men in a little trouble in Group D.

Coleman welcomed back midfield stars Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen from injury but the absence of Ben Davies prompted a switch to four at the back.

It was a positive move with Sam Vokes and Hal Robson-Kanu starting together up front and Ramsey and Gareth Bale supporting them from slightly deeper roles.

And it was an indication that Wales needed the win, particularly after the Republic of Ireland’s impressive victory in Austria took them top of the group.

The hosts started on the front foot and forced two early corners before Bale beat Nikola Maksimovic on the edge of the area and blasted a shot over Vladimir Stojkovic’s bar in the 10th minute.

But some sloppy defending at the other end almost led to Serbia breaking the deadlock seven minutes later.

James Chester just got back in time to rob Filip Kostic just as the Hamburg man was about to pull the trigger inside the penalty area.

And from the corner Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic saw his header blocked on the line by Neil Taylor’s stomach.

Ivanovic’s Stamford Bridge teammate Nemanja Matic the caught Allen dawdling in possession and set Kostic in on goal but the winger skewed his shot wide from 20 yards.

Suddenly all the pressure was on the Welsh defence as the Serbians grew in confidence and Kostic let fly with another long distance effort that would have earned three points down the road at the Principality Stadium earlier in the day.

Bale and Ramsey were seeing little of the ball and Vokes and Robson-Kanu even less as Wales were forced to defend for their lives.

And then, out of nothing and very much against the run of play, they took the lead.

It was all down to Robson-Kanu hassling Matija Nastasic and forcing an error wide on the right.

The forward then squared for Bale to fire low and hard, through Ivanovic’s legs and under Stojkovic’s dive into the centre of the net from the edge of the 18-yard-box.

That moved the Real Madrid star just two goals short of Ian Rush’s national record.

And, with Serbia still reeling, it was almost two a few minutes later as Bale broke down the left and returned the favour for Robson-Kanu but the West Bromwich Albion man headed just wide at the far post.

After an injury delay when Southampton’s Dusan Tadic took a boot to the nose from Taylor there was one more scare for Wales as Matic cut in from the right past Ramsey and unleashed a powerful effort but Wayne Hennessey beat it away and maintained his side’s lead.

Bale had another chance to double Wales’ advantage soon after the break but his well struck free-kick was too central and comfortably kept out by Stojkovic.

Joe Ledley followed Allen and Bale into the referee’s notebook as Wales matched their opponents in the physical battle.

And Robson-Kanu was forced off after one too many knocks to be replaced by Tom Lawrence with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Allen appeared to handle the ball on the very edge of the area but the officials didn’t spot the offence.

And Ramsey took a powerful shot in the midriff as Wales put their bodies on the line to protect their lead.

Bale so nearly made the game safe after good work from Ramsey put him through on goal but he guided a shot onto the post with Stojkovic beaten.

And that miss proved very costly as Serbia levelled with just five minutes left on the clock.

Mitrovic had been an anonymous figure for most of the match but he climbed above James Chester, with the help of a tug on the defender’s shirt, to head against the post and Hennessey could only parry it in.

In truth it earned the visitors a point they deserved but it leaves Wales in a vulnerable position in the group and needing to win in Dublin in March to keep alive their hopes of making it to Russia in 2018.

Wales: Hennessey, Gunter, Chester, A. Williams, Taylor, Ledley (Edwards, 84), Allen, Ramsey, Bale, Robson-Kanu (Lawrence, 68) Vokes

Booked: Bale, Allen, Ledley, Williams

Referee: Alberto Mallenco (Spain)

Attendance: 33,000

Argus star man: Gareth Bale