Jermaine Johnson's stunning volley robbed Cardiff of a Coca-Cola Championship play-off place in cruel circumstances at Hillsborough.

Jamaica international Johnson thundered home a spectacular volley that floored the Welshmen midway through the second half and they never recovered.

Dave Jones' Bluebirds needed at least a draw to guarantee themselves a top-six finish, but once Johnson's rocket flew in they looked a crestfallen lot.

This gut-wrenching last-day defeat, coupled with Preston's 2-1 home win over QPR, sees the Lancashire side pip them to a play-off spot by the narrowest of margins.

Both sides finished on 74 points with identical goal difference, but Jones' boys missed out by virtue of having scored a goal less than Preston.

Cardiff have taken only one point from their last four matches, conceding 12 goals in the process, and will look back at their shocking 6-0 defeat to Preston last month as the day they threw their season away.

Two of the biggest cheers of the afternoon were when Birmingham's goals at Reading flashed up on the scoreboard.

Victory for Alex McLeish's side at the Madejski Stadium denied Sheffield United automatic promotion and how the Owls revelled in that.

Owls manager Brian Laws recalled Johnson and James O'Connor to his starting line-up, while Darren Purse, Stephen McPhail, Michael Chopra and Peter Whittingham all returned for Cardiff.

Both sides raced out of the blocks, but it was Wednesday who forced the first save in the third minute when City goalkeeper Tom Heaton parried Marcus Tudgay's header.

At the other end Chopra's first touch let him down when Kevin McNaughton's cross bounced through to the unmarked striker at the far post.

Chopra was strong enough to hold off Richard Wood and fire in on goal from the edge of the penalty area, but home goalkeeper Lee Grant saved comfortably.

Owls striker Tudgay was inches wide following Lewis Buxton's cross soon after and was then thwarted by the on-rushing Heaton when chasing a ball over the top.

Cardiff forward Chris Burke then ran at the home defence and when the ball broke free inside the area Whittingham was narrowly wide with his angled drive before Purse's volley ricocheted off Grant in time added on.

Tudgay rifled the ball just over the crossbar shortly after the restart and just when clear-cut chances had dried up, Johnson had the Wednesday faithful in a crowd of 30,658 on their feet.

Tommy Spurr curled over a fine cross and Purse's headed clearance was spectacularly volleyed home by the Jamaica international from the edge of the area to stun Cardiff's travelling army in the 70th minute.

The goal rocked Cardiff back on their heels and when news filtered through that Preston had taken a 2-1 lead against QPR, hearts sank in the Cardiff end.

In truth the visitors appeared to have little to offer in response and although there were five minutes of time added on, Owls goalkeeper Grant had no real scares as his side finished the season on a high with an 11th home win of the season.

Teams

Sheff Wed Grant, Buxton, Hinds (Beevers 46), Wood, Spurr,McAllister (Modest 83), Potter, O'Connor, Johnson, Tudgay,Jeffers (Boden 53).

Subs Not Used: O'Donnell, Simek.

Booked: Johnson.

Goals: Johnson 71.

Cardiff Heaton, McNaughton, Purse, Roger Johnson,Kennedy (Comminges 50), Burke (Owusu-Abeyie 74), Rae, McPhail,Whittingham, Bothroyd, Chopra (McCormack 67).

Subs Not Used: Eddie Johnson, Scimeca.

Booked: Chopra, McNaughton.

Att: 30,658

Ref: Phil Crossley (Kent).