Snapshot: We're going to Wembley! Again! What's all of that about?!
Joe Ledley's stunning 9th minute volley gave Cardiff victory over Barnsley and booked our place in the showpiece final against Portsmouth on May 17th. The Ledley strike really was all that separated the two teams in a tense, ferocious battle in which Cardiff withstood near constant aerial bombardment and saw Kayode Odejayi squander an unbelievable chance to equalise in the second-half.
Despite this the Bluebirds held strong, missed a few opportunities to kill the match and held on for a very famous win that sets up the opportunity for another - and a chance for the current squad to etch their names even further into football history.
Team News: News of Paul Parry's possible omission had been gathering pace throughout the week - something confirmed on the teamsheet ahead of kick-off. In his place up front came evergreen Trevor Sinclair to partner Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Cardiff: Enckelman, McNaughton, Capaldi, Rae, Loovens, Whittingham, McPhail, Johnson, Ledley, Sinclair, Hasselbaink. Subs: Oakes, Purse, Scimeca, Thompson, Ramsey.
Barnsley: Steele, Hassell, Kozluk, Odejayi, Howard, Ferenczi, Foster, Souza, Campbell-Rice, Van Homoet, Dvaney. Subs: Togwell, Butterfield, Coulson, Leon, Letheren.
Chronological Report:The match opened on the spectacular stage of Wembley, with an unforgettable sight of the blue army en-masse and in fine voice. As expected, the opening five minutes were used for both teams to find their feet on the famous turf - only a mid air collision between Loovens and Odejayi coming to cause palpitations.
Thoughts of a tame first half as per the day before were dispelled however as efforts came close for Howard with a cannon shot against the City defence, followed by Whittingham whipping in a free-kick from the left which Johnson came desperately close to connecting with a foot as he snuck in at the back stick.
Then, only eight minutes in, when a long throw from Capaldi, deep in Tykes territory met with a pinball session saw the ball directed to Joe Ledley at the back of the box. Forgive the gushing, but what followed was pure poetry, as Joe wrapped a boot around the ball on the volley to fire the ball over the bodies in the area along with the diving keeper. Looping to the right corner, thank you very much.
GOAL: BARNSLEY 0 - 1 CARDIFF. 8 mins. Ledley
Wembley of course on the blue side went absolutely bonkers in the blue half, with all three tiers celebrating wildly while the red half watched on.
To their credit, Barnsley responded well to going behind, forcing themselves forward and creating chances with the hope of restoring parity quickly. Chances came mainly through creativity on the right, crossing dangerous balls into the area for Souza after twelve minutes - a goal denied possibly by his collision with another red shirt in the air.
The pressure continued as Cardiff seemed to lose their shape, inviting Barnsley forward at regular intervals. Odejayi again came close with a weak shot after Devaney's impressive low cross. Cardiff responded with a solid run through Hasselbaink, with the Dutchman cut down with a lunging tackle from Kozluk to earn the Barnsley man a yellow card.
Further chances in the fist half were limited for the Bluebirds. The best came after twenty one minutes as Whittingham and Rae combined on the right to set up Jimmy, the weak shot initially spilled by Steele and then smothered as Trevor Sinclair looked to dash in and poke the ball home.
The remainder of the first half unfortunately was pretty much all Barnsley, with attacking play coming mainly through the right hand side. Ferenczi came close with a header, and then a minute later had to watch Sinclair clear a shot off the line as Enckelman was all at sea. Odejayi then beat Loovens with a powerful run through the middle, but found too hard a final touch as the ball ran out.
The half closed with some soft free-kicks awarded to the Reds, which were thankfully well dealt with by Gavin Rae to keep the City a goal to the good at the break.
Cardiff would certainly have to regain their composure to remain a goal to the good in the second half, while better service was also needed to look and kill the match off. Who needs fingernails?
HALF TIME: BARNSLEY 0 - 1 CARDIFF
No changes were made directly after the break in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Only two minutes in however, McNaughton limped off to be replaced by Aaron Ramsey.
Five minutes came and went without too much occurring, as Barnsley again took the majority of early possession. Joe Ledley then created a massive chance for a City second, breaking deep on the left, beating two red shirts before firing the ball perfectly for Gavin Rae. Despite breaking into the area and meeting the ball, Gavin fired the ball straight at the on loan West Brom keeper.
Cardiff took the next spell of the match to hold more possession in the Reds half, while Barnsley were dangerous on the break. Cardiff then made their first change after sixty one minutes, introducing Steve Thompson for Trevor Sinclair.
Barnsley then had a massive chance to draw level minutes later - and we mean massive. Odejayi far too easily beat the offside trap to find himself running towards Enckelman unchallenged. Somehow, amazingly the huge forward managed to side foot the ball to the right of goal and into the side-netting to the huge relief of the blue contingent inside Wembley.
The Bluebirds took the massive slice of fortune to then go forward and almost put the game beyond doubt. Whittingham at first played through Jimmy, who saw s shot blocked to force a corner. Minutes later Whittingham struck a fantastic shot from mid range which looked to smash into the roof of the net. It didn't. It just missed.
Next up it was Gavin Rae's chance to seal the match as Foster lost control near his own area gifting possession to Rae only for the Scotsman's first touch to be equally as poor, taking the ball away from him slightly and allowing Steele to close in and make a block with his chest.
Dennis Souza earned a firm ticking off from the referee for, shall we say, a coming together with Roger Johnson. Minutes later McPhail was booked for flying into a challenge out wide on the right. Everything seemed to indicate he had taken the ball except for Howard's reaction to the tackle, not that I'm insinuating anything for the sake of impartiality.
Campbell-Rice launched himself into Capaldi, Cardiff get a free-kick but nothing else as the winger slumped away unpunished - thank you Mr. Wiley. Deep in the corner Ledley turned Campbell-Rice inside and out before winning a corner off him. Campbell-Rice was not happy and demonstrated his frustration by slamming the ball down in disgust, which earned him a yellow card. Not longer after that came a tackle that should also have earned one; thank you very much Mr. Wiley.
The remainder of the game was played out with McPhail throwing himself in-front of a Diego Leon shot while Roger Johnson seemed to be throwing himself in front of everything.
Riccy Scimeca took the field to replace Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on 87 minutes before the fourth official raise his board to indicate four minutes of injury time. They were quite possibly the longest, most arduous four minutes imaginable, but the Cardiff fans saw it fitting to begin the celebrations early and thankfully they were fully justified with the sound of the final whistle. Frankly from then on everything else is a blur of noise and tears?and to think we've got to do it all over again on May 17th!
FULL TIME: BARNSLEY 0 - 1 CARDIFF
WEMBLEY AGAIN BABY!!!
