Crystal Palace’s Carling Cup adventure ended in the cruellest of fashions last night but manager Dougie Freedman could not have been prouder of his squad.

The Eagles narrowly missed out on their first major cup final since 1990 as they went out 3-1 on penalties after Cardiff City won the second leg 1-0 thanks to Anthony Gardner’s own goal.

But Palace produced a fantastic rearguard action after having captain Paddy McCarthy sent off in the second half to survive extra time but luck, which saw Cardiff hit the woodwork three times, deserted them when it came to the spot kicks.

Jermaine Easter and Sean Scannell’s efforts were saved and although Mile Jedinak scored, Jonathan Parr’s miss meant it will be Cardiff facing Manchester City or Liverpool in this year’s final.

Although the cup run had come to an end, Freedman insisted his team and the fans should be proud of how it ended.

“We have come a long way in a short time and I am proud of the lads,” he said.

“We didn’t just toss in the towel, we didn’t look for excuses.

“In the end we got beat on penalties by a very good team I think will be very close to getting promoted.

“We came very close and we have won a lot of hearts, in terms of the Cardiff fans as well.

“Toward the end they knew the physical output both teams had to put in and it was a tremendous cup tie with the support we were both getting.

“It was a fantastic physical effort by my players - we dug in and showed fantastic mental strength.

“You cannot ask for more as a manager, the pride they have shown, the desire and commitment to work for each other I am really proud of.

“I think our fans will be very proud of the courage we showed and the way we went out.

“It is not bad for a team that is so-called relegation fodder and apparently not going anywhere in life.”

Regular penalty takers Darren Ambrose were both off the pitch having been substituted earlier in the game for Scannell and Easter and Freedman revealed it was him that chose the takers and their order.

“There is a list of penalty takers that weren’t on the field so you are asking players to do something that doesn’t come naturally to them,” he said.

“I did pick them and tell them what order they were going to go in.

“They took them and they missed them but that is the way it goes.

“My only thinking with the penalties is that the physical output we had to put into the game in that last 10 minutes makes it very difficult to get up again to compose yourself for penalties.

“It is disappointing in the short term but we can take a lot from this in the long term.

“The good thing for us is we play Brighton next week at home – there is no need to get them up for that game.”