Joe Ledley scored a superb volley as Cardiff beat Barnsley 1-0 in their FA Cup semi-final to book a return to Wembley for next month's final.Portsmouth clinched their place in the final with a 1-0 win over West Brom on Saturday and Cardiff - winners of the tournament in 1927 - will now go head to head with the Premier League side on Saturday, May 17.
Both sides showed a willingness to attack early on and the Bluebirds put themselves in firm control after just nine minutes when Ledley hooked home a fine volley from inside the area.
Barnsley defender Rob Kozluk's headed clearance reached only as far as Ledley and he swivelled to dispatch his volley into the top corner from 15 yards.
The Tykes responded immediately and almost equalised when Brian Howard's corner was headed inches wide by central defender Dennis Souza.
Simon Davey's side were guilty of conceding possession too easily but they again went close when Kayode Odejayi met Martin Devaney's low cross inside the area - Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman comfortably gathering.
Action begin to swing from end to end but the Tykes were wasteful in front of goal with Istvan Ferenczi heading wide, Odejayi losing control of the ball on the edge of the area, and Brian Howard nodding well over the bar nine minutes before the break.
Cardiff, meanwhile, looked more composed going forward but Luke Steele was not further tested before the break as the half passed without further incident.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with Barnsley shading possession but Cardiff looking the more likely to score.
And they should have done in the 52nd minute when Ledley perfectly set up Gavin Rae with a pinpoint cross to the penalty spot only to see his team-mate head straight at Steele.
Barnsley knew it was a major let-off and Odejayi will long rue the chance he missed to make Cardiff pay 14 minutes later. The big striker latched on to a chipped ball over a static defence and moved confidently into the penalty area only to fire wide of the right-hand post from 12 yards to the dismay of the Tykes fans behind the goal.
That miss seemed to knock the stuffing out of Barnsley and they twice came close to falling 2-0 behind soon after.
Steele was grateful to see Peter Whittingham's swerving 20-yard effort land on the roof of his net on 72 and just a minute later the Tykes stopper had to be alert to keep out Rae's effort after the midfielder had moved into a one-on-one position.
Rae sent another effort over the bar in the final 10 minutes but Ledley's early strike proved to be enough as Cardiff became the first side from outside the top flight to reach the FA Cup final since Millwall, who lost to Manchester United in 2004.
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