Cardiff City 0 Reading 3: Reading set for Wembley date with former boss

The sought-after striker’s brace denied the chance of a South Wales showdown on May 30 and instead means Swans boss Brendan Rodgers will come up against the club he represented as a player, youth-team coach and then manager for a short-lived six-month spell in 2009, when he was replaced by the ever impressive Brian McDermott.

After a tight goalless semi-final first leg last Friday, a touch of class or a defensive gaffe was always likely to separate the two sides – and unfortunately for Cardiff it was the latter on both occasions in the first half.

A disastrous sequence of events presented the first to Long who converted his lobbed finish with aplomb, before Bluebirds centre-back Dekel Keinan – also partly at fault in the opener – foolishly tugged back Royals skipper Matt Mills to present the Irishman with his second from the penalty spot.

Cardiff wasted chances to get back in the game immediately after the restart while Noel Hunt hit a post for the visitors, and it was left for Jobi McAnuff to wrap matters up late on.

Reading are now 90 minutes away from the Premier League and an estimated £90m windfall but the 49-year wait continues for Cardiff, who lost to Blackpool in last year’s final, and will see this season as a huge missed opportunity with the riches on offer, leaving manager Dave Jones’s future in doubt.

Long played down his role in Reading’s success in Cardiff, claiming Reading would need to improve in order to overcome Swansea in the play-off final.

“It’s amazing,” said the Republic of Ireland striker.

“It means so much to the fans and everyone at the club. It’s been a long time coming.

“It wasn’t easy but we did enough on the night.

“Any goals I can score at Wembley will be more important. It wasn’t one of my best games but I scored two and that’s how it goes.”

Manager Brian McDermott said: “I thought it was a fantastic occasion – we’re delighted.”

Reading were languishing in mid-table with little more than two months of the season left, but embarked on an eight-game winning run to power into the top six.

“We kept winning, we won eight on the trot and I always had faith,” added McDermott. “We live in the now and today is a fantastic occasion. I’m so pleased and the final will be a great occasion.”