Goals from Paul Parry, Kevin McNaughton and Joe Ledley gave Cardiff the perfect preperation for their FA Cup final against Portsmouth.

The Bluebirds dominated throughout against Barnsley and were well worth the victory over their FA Cup semi-final victims which ended City's three-game winless run.

Parry, who missed the semi-final win over the Tykes, further enhanced his claims for a starting berth at Wembley with the opener before McNaughton and Ledley struck in the second half to secure City the points.

Barnsley, who staved off the threat of relegation with a 3-0 win over Charlton last weekend, looked comfortable on the ball but were well short of ideas in the final third, with strikers Istvan Ferenczi and Jon Macken showing a distinct lack of movement up front.

The scoreline could have been even more destructive to the Tykes had it not been for some last-ditch defending and the intervention of the woodwork which denied Peter Whittingham in the first half.

Cardiff boss Dave Jones made four changes to the side which drew 3-3 at Burnley with Darren Purse, Aaron Ramsey, Riccardo Scimeca and Steve Thompson being replaced by Roger Johnson, Whittingham, Ledley and Parry.

Tykes boss Simon Davey was forced into making two changes of his own.

Captain Brian Howard was deemed unfit to play after he suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury he picked up against the Bluebirds at Wembley while Kayode Odejayi missed out with his own ankle injury, so in came Ferenczi and Jacob Butterfield.

Despite enjoying most of the possession the Welsh outfit found it hard to break down the Tykes early on with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink going closest to an opener after a brilliant piece of individual skill.

The former Chelsea star rolled back the years as he picked up the ball just outside the area before rifling a trademark piledriver towards goal which just passed the post.

Jamal Campbell-Ryce was at the heart of Barnsley's best forays forward with the lively winger putting in a real shift down the left-hand side.

Whittingham thought he had put City into the lead but his stinging volley crashed back off the crossbar, but the Tykes' reprieve didn't last long as Parry latched onto the end of Ledley's pass to fire home a minute before the break.

It took just three minutes after the break for City to double their lead and it was a shot from McNaughton which forced Luke Steele into an awkward catch, the Reds stopper managing only to push the ball into his own net.

Ledley, whose brilliant goal at Wembley put the Bluebirds into the FA Cup final, came back to haunt Barnsley with a neat finish into the bottom corner to cap off a fine Cardiff performance.

Teams:

Cardiff Enckelman, McNaughton, Loovens (Purse 61), Johnson,Capaldi (Ramsey 57), Whittingham, Rae, McPhail, Ledley,Parry (Thompson 71), Hasselbaink.

Subs Not Used: Oakes, Sinclair.

Booked: Loovens.

Goals: Parry 44, McNaughton 49, Ledley 63.

Barnsley Steele, Van Homoet, Nyatanga, Souza,Kozluk (Mattis 70), Butterfield, Hassell (Togwell 51),Campbell-Ryce, Leon, Macken, Ferenczi (Adam 78).

Subs Not Used: Letheren, Nardiello.

Booked: Souza, Van Homoet, Kozluk, Togwell.

Att: 14,469

Ref: Clive Penton (Sussex).