Bluebirds win FA Cup final place

Midfielder Joe Ledley celebrates scoring the winner against Barnsley

Cardiff City fans are celebrating after their team clinched a place in the FA Cup final next month.

More than 30,000 cheered on the Bluebirds in the semi-final at Wembley as they took an early lead against Barnsley and held it.

They return to Wembley on 17 May to meet Portsmouth in their first FA Cup final since 1927 and hope to take it out of England for the second time.

Cardiff's midfielder Joe Ledley scored the only goal of the game.

He hooked in a volley from the edge of the box after picking up a clearance from Barnsley defender Rob Kozluk.

Much has been made about the Bluebirds' hopes of getting into the final after an 81-year absence from the last stages of the competition.

Before the match, First Minister Rhodri Morgan wished the squad luck and 97-year-old David Morgan, who watched his team lift the cup eight decades before, returned to Wembley in the hope of seeing the club have the opportunity to do it again.

Bluebirds fans began celebrating early after taking the lead in the 9th minute

Around 80 coaches of fans left Cardiff on Sunday morning just as snowy conditions along parts of the M4 led to warnings of possible delays ahead of the 1600 BST kick-off.

A number of Bluebirds fans clubbed together to commission a £1,000 banner the length of a bus to display on Wembley Way.

One result that has yet to be known is which of the four sets of fans over the two semi-final games was the loudest.

Sound monitoring equipment at the ground aimed to establish whether Cardiff City, Barnsley, Portsmouth or West Bromwich Albion fans beat the 130.7 decibels record set by Liverpool supporters in 2005.