Cardiff City manager Lennie Lawrence was upset that his side's lingering play-off dreams had been put to bed with such a poor display.
"It was a great pity that we have ended all possibility of the play-offs with a performance like a damp squib," said Lawrence.
"I need to get one or two players back from injury very quickly to make sure we recover from this performance, starting at Wigan on Tuesday." After a fairly even first half it was the visitors who made the breakthrough in the 55th minute.
One time City loan player Julian Gray raced down the left wing and his low cross was turned in by Andrew Johnson for his 26th goal of the season.
Gray's performance all afternoon was excellent and he was roundly cheered throughout the game by both sets of supporters.
"I will look to sign Gray when he is out of contact at the end of the season," said Lawrence.
"But he is close to being a premier standard player and he may well hold out to see if any offers come from the Premiership." Tony Vidmar was sent off in the 84th minute after getting a second yellow card and the Eagles made the home side pay by using the space provided to set up another speedy break.
Johnson combined with Wayne Routledge, leaving the nippy winger the simple chance of drilling his shot into the corner of the net.
An elated Iain Dowie was full of praise for his players.
"We defended brilliantly and everyone worked really hard," he said.
"It was a pleasing display and we never looked to be in any trouble. There was a real hunger in the camp and I was very pleased with the outcome."