Having defeated Goliath and then Goliath’s big brother, Barnsley contrived to be beaten one step from the final by a slingshot from another bunch of pipsqueaks not much bigger than themselves. There was always the fear that it would end this way, Liverpool and Chelsea somehow vanquished, Cardiff City inexplicably too strong. So it proved. A ninth-minute goal by Joe Ledley separated the teams and defeated the true heroes of this season’s FA Cup. So long, Barnsley, and thanks for the memories. We would like to say that you will not be forgotten, but of course you will.

Semi-finalists always are, even those who get to play at Wembley, which was a fitting place for Barnsley’s run to end, considering their contribution to the competition, even if it upset the purists. Past achievements suggested that they deserved to be back here in May to play Portsmouth and maybe even yesterday’s first-half performance did, too, but Cardiff were too resilient at the back.

Barnsley had chances and were twice foiled on the line, but when the moment of truth arrived in the shape of a one-on-one between Kayode Odejayi, the Barnsley striker, and Peter Enckelman, the Cardiff goalkeeper, in the 65th minute it became obvious why the next task for the Yorkshire team is the avoidance of relegation.

Put through by Brian Howard, Odebayi had time – a whole lot of precious time, in fact, as George Harrison once sang – to do it right. Sadly for him, in a moment of rashness that he will probably replay on the hour every hour for several years, he did not.

Given roughly 40 yards to run on goal, with every step he appeared to grow less likely to score until, with Enckelman wisely deciding not to make his opponent’s mind up by committing one way or the other, Odebayi chose to attempt to thread the ball into the net at the near post, through a gap measured in inches rather than feet. On the other side was a large and inviting target, but Odebayi is a striker who has scored one goal in all competitions since September 15 and now we have an explanation. Do not let the winner in the sixth round against Chelsea fool you. Odebayi may be awkward and present a physical challenge, but he really is not that good.

And Cardiff are, at centre half at least, where Roger Johnson and Glenn Loovens were their strongest links. On the occasions when Barnsley did find a way around, usually from wide, where Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Martin Devaney were a constant threat in the first half, there was always a man covering. When Enckelman charged from his line to collect a hopeful long ball to Odebayi in the eleventh minute and was outjumped, Loovens recovered brilliantly to protect Cardiff’s goal. After 25 minutes when a rare shot by Istvan Ferenczi ended a chaotic sequence of play from a corner, Trevor Sinclair had diligently stayed on his line to clear. Tidy, as they say in Cardiff.

Those who were talking up these unfashionable semi-final matches as the greatest in FA Cup history needed to be here. At Wembley, the occasion and the sheer pride generated by the two sets of supporters outweighed any dip in quality. Watching at home on television, however, must have been a particularly arduous task. The best Championship team to play at Wembley this weekend had been and gone in the form of West Bromwich Albion and there was a steep deterioration in class in this match. That is no reflection on Dave Jones, the Cardiff manager, though, who has done a fine job in exacting circumstances. It must be hard to operate when every day could be the last and Jones deserves credit for the way he has allowed his team to be unaffected by financial troubles.

As for the match, it was elevated, briefly, by Ledley, a Wales player, who won a goal of the season award in 2006-07 for an effort against Barnsley. It was hardly poetry in motion at first, a long throw from Tony Capaldi, the left back, not dealt with by a crowd of Barnsley players at the first attempt and then headed out by Robert Kozluk, only as far as Ledley, lurking and aware on the edge of the area. On the volley, however, he hooked a shot back with his left foot, which Luke Steele, the goalkeeper, saw late, leaving him with no chance.

And that was it. Cardiff had other chances to weave security into the scoreline, but they were spurned and, ultimately, were unnecessary. In the 21st minute, Steele spilt a shot from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – a class act in his heyday, but now playing on memory – and Sinclair pounced on it, leathering the ball against Steele, prone at his feet.

After half-time, as Barnsley went in search of an equaliser, chances were more frequent, starting with a cross from Ledley, met by Gavin Rae, which had Steele at full stretch again. In the 71st minute, Peter Whittingham had a shot from 20 yards that dipped and curled just over, while a mistake by Stephen Foster, the Barnsley defender, almost let in Rae again to end the contest. At least it was live until the final whistle, even if Odejayi’s miss appeared to convince Barnsley that it was not to be their day.

So, a first final for Cardiff since 1927, a year that is better remembered beyond the Principality for the opening of The Jazz Singer and the end for silent movies, Charles Lindbergh’s first transatlantic flight and the public demonstration of a new miracle invention called television.

Some bloke even came up with the idea of preceding the FA Cup Final with a hymn, Abide With Me. No doubt it sounded lovely with all those mellifluous Welsh voices. By all accounts the football was not up to much, though. Sounds like the same again, then.

How they rated

Barnsley (4-4-2): L Steele 5 M van Homoet 6 S Foster 6 D Souza 6 R Kozluk Y 5 M Devaney 7 B Hassell 6 B Howard 6 J Campbell-Ryce Y 6 K Odejayi 6 I Ferenczi 5 Substitutes: M Coulson 5 (for Ferenczi, 65min), D Leon 5 (for Devaney, 67), J Butterfield (for Kozluk, 85). Not used: S Togwell, K Letheren.

Cardiff City (4-4-2): P Enckelman 5 K McNaughton 6 R Johnson 8 G Loovens 8 A Capaldi 6 P Whittingham Y 7 G Rae 7 S McPhail Y 7 J Ledley 7 T Sinclair 6 J F Hasselbaink 5 Substitutes: A Ramsey 6 (for McNaughton, 47min), S Thompson 5 (for Sinclair, 61), R Scimeca 4 (for Hasselbaink, 67). Not used: M Oakes, D Purse.