Cardiff 0-1 Pompey

WE WON THE FA CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well yes, we arrived at London nice and early. A bit too early, if truth be known. My wife was in the recording studio in SE1 so she drove us up and we made our own way around. First we tubed over to Leicester Square where there were quite a few Pompey fans already…. And a few Cardiff scattered for good measure. We had a coffee at a café and sat and watched the world go by.

We then took a trip up to Oxford Street which was surprisingly quiet, almost reminiscent of a scene from 28 Days Later! After visiting some shops we popped back to Leicester Square where we ate, Mum had Chicken Noodles and I had Vegetable Noodles. Then we set sail for Wembley on the tube.

With a mix of Cardiff and Pompey fans the 30 minute tube ride was quite entertaining with Pompey fans giving the Cardiff fans friendly abuse, mainly about sheep! But all good natured – and few Zulu’s thrown in for good measure.

We arrived at Wembley at about 12.30 and sat and did a little more people watching, which was fun. I notice that there were a darn sight more tv cameras and press than there were for the semi-finals. Once the turnstiles opened we queued up and entered the stadium. We then travelled up three escalators to get to our level, the first time I have ever done that. Then it was time for the important thing – BEER!

After what seemed like a lifetime, we got our beer – the guy pouring was getting abuse from the queue because of the time it took him to serve us. Once the beer was drunk we got to our seats. Wembley had supplied us with flags to wave, not usually my sort of thing but on this day it had to be done.

The ceremony started with the band marching up and down the pitch, which for me is a tradition which has to be done at the start of an FA Cup Final. Then the podiums were bought out for the singers to sing the respective national anthems. The stunning Katherine Jenkins for Wales and the annoying and slightly withered Lesley Garrett for us. First they sang the great hymn Abide with Me, which always manages to bring a tear to my eye, then once they had sorted out Katherine’s microphone, they started on the National Anthems.

Now to the match…

The game started off quite frantically, I was always worried that Cardiff would score and win the game, but thankfully we were always too classy for them and although they put up a good fight, it just wasn’t enough to beat us. The referee was bloody annoying and giving most the decisions to Cardiff for free kicks and when he did give us a decision, a cheer came up from the Pompey faithful. Most of the game was a blur and when Kanu missed an open goal I thought “Oh No!” I hope we don’t regret that. But a few minutes later Kanu scored an easy goal which at the time nobody knew if it was offside or not, it took a few seconds for the crowd to realise that we had actually scored.

Cardiff did put the ball in the net but as I saw from my vantage point their player hand-balled before skilfully chipping the ball into the net. But the referee made a right decision, for a change, and deemed it disallowed.

At the end of the first half we watched the highlights on the big screens and awaited the second half to begin. The second half wasn’t as frantic as the first but Cardiff pushed us all the way to the end with corners and free-kicks. Somehow four minutes of extra time came from somewhere (who knows where?) and it was time to bite your fingernails. As with all extra time there is no run down on the scoreboard clock. But after the final attack from Cardiff the ball ended the centre circle and the referee raised his arms and blew up for full-time. And Pompey had won the FA Cup for the first time in nearly 70 years. The Cardiff fans stayed behind to cheer their team for the effort and graciously most of them stayed behind to watch our boys lift the FA Cup. In return we clapped the Cardiff fans and everyone had a really good day.

The ceremony went on for around an hour where Pompey posed on the podiums before parading around and the pitch. Everyone on the squad got hold of the cup even the Chairman and Kev “the kit man” at one point! And one final frantic waving of the Pompey flag it was time to go home happy and elated. Come on Europe!

Pompeygary’s MOTM Kanu Pure Skill

Pompeygary’s Worst No one both teams played well.

Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Utaka (Nugent 69), Pedro Mendes (Diop 78), Diarra, Muntari, Kranjcar, Kanu (Baros 87).
Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Pamarot.

Booked: Hreidarsson, Kranjcar, Diarra.

Goals: Kanu 37.

Cardiff: Enckelman, McNaughton, Johnson, Loovens, Capaldi, Ledley, Rae (Sinclair 86), McPhail, Whittingham (Ramsey 61), Parry, Hasselbaink (Thompson 70).
Subs Not Used: Oakes, Purse.

Att: 89,874

Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).

Thats it almost for this blog a review of the year will be put up soon to close this blog and give you the link to the new one for next season Play Up Pompey!