Anyone who watches Championship football knows there's no such thing as a banker home win in this league.
We might not have been helped by a host of injuries and some tired legs but that wasn’t the reason we lost.
The truth is that this defeat was down to a lack of application and basic defending.
For the past half dozen games (Newcastle excluded) City have battled hard. Displays against Peterborough, Doncaster, Chelsea and WBA showed we are prepared to graft even when things aren’t going our way, or simply when teams are too good for us.
That's all we ask and that's why it infuriates supporters when we are occasionally served up with tripe like Saturday.
Take nothing away from Malta's Daniel Bogdanovic. His two finishes were top drawer but the opportunities were handed to him on a plate by defending normally seen on Pontcanna Fields.
Gyepes and Gerrard twice in four minutes aimlessly watched on as the ball was lobbed over their heads for the Barnsley striker to bag his brace.
The second was perhaps the worst with Gyepes trying to clear the ball and completely miscuing allowing Bogdanovic through on goal to hammer past the despairing Peter Enkelman.
The game could have been oh so different if Chopra would’ve converted a golden chance from two yards out instead of ballooning over.
But just as City looked like they might be able to force the opener we got done. Twice.
I'd like to say City looked as if they were going to get back into the game but the truth is with the defence playing like it was I was never confident – and I don’t think the other 19,000 City fans were either.
Barnsley are not a good side. They counter-attacked effectively but they don’t have nearly as much quality in their side compared to Cardiff. That’s why it’s such a bitter pill to swallow.
To make matters worse the injury crisis is deepening. David Marshall was omitted from the starting eleven with rumours of ligament damage. This didn’t stop him warming the bench though.
Young Aaron Wildig headed for the tunnel after 35 minutes with his ongoing back problems refusing to go away and Gerrard failed to resurface for the second half after taking an elbow to the head. (not from Dave Jones although I wouldn’t have blamed him!)
As for the rest of the team. Chopra had a stinker and Gavin Rae looked terrified every time he got the ball. His confidence is obviously low and he’s constantly barraged by abuse from City fans.
McCormack came on for Wildig and did absolutely nothing. He looks out of shape, disinterested and ready to leave the club. I don’t want to see him go because on his day he is a class act but it looks to me that he will be one of the first to leave in the summer fire-sale.
The few plus points were Chris Burke who tried his best and Kevin McNaughton who was his usual dependable self. Adam Matthews looked good in the second half when coming forward although he still gets caught out of position way too often.
We hit the post and the bar but apart form a five minute spell in the second half we were just going through the motions.
Dave Jones was rightfully critical after the game. “I'm just frustrated with some of the things we do,” he said.
"We get done with the same ball most times and people have got to learn their lessons and today was another example of that.”
Right on. Learn your lessons and let’s draw a line under this game. I don’t want to see another performance like that this season. Unfortunately I think I might.
Cardiff
Enckelman, McNaughton, Gyepes, Gerrard (Matthews 46), Kennedy, Rae, Whittingham, Burke, Wildig (McCormack 35), Chopra, Bothroyd
Substitutes
Marshall, Quinn, Taiwo, Blake, Matthews, Feeney, McCormack
Barnsley
Steele, Hassell, Foster, Potter, Dickinson, Colace, Filipe Teixeira, Hammill, Doyle, Bogdanovic (Gray 76), Macken (Rodriguez 76)
Substitutes
Preece, Butterfield, De Silva, Heslop, Rodriguez, Noble-Lazarus, Gray
Ref: Stroud
Att: 19,753
