• Home
• About
• Contributors
• Contact Us
• Advertising

• Premiership
• Championship
• League One
• League Two
• Non League
• FA Cup
• Internationals
• Forum

Subscribe

FA Cup Celebration Photo’s

The dust has settled from the FA Cup win yesterday, the Portsmouth players were out till the late hours this morning and this afternoon participated in the traditional open bus parade around the city. From the weekend there has been some great pictures taken and heres the pick of the bunch.

Portsmouth win the F.A. Cup

A single goal from Kanu was enough for Portsmouth to beat Cardiff in this afternoon’s F.A. Cup. The games wasn’t the greatest but Championship Cardiff did have a good go at the Premier League outfit.

Cardiff settled well in the game and had the first chance of the half Joe Ledley slid Paul Parry through, his low shot was saved by David James. Portsmouth nearly took the lead when Kanu turned his marker in the box, rounded Cardiff stopper Peter Enckelman and with an open goal hit the outside of the post.

Kanu didn’t let the miss get him down, John Utaka cross was only parried by Enckelman and Kanu was on hand to score from close range much like his semi final goal. In the second half Cardiff pressed on but didn’t really make any clear cut chances.

Sir Bobby Robson handed the trophy to Sol Campbell who lifted the trophy for Pompy for the first time since 1939.

Cardiff secure FA Cup final place thanks to homegrown Ledley

Joe Ledley’s first half volley secured a place in the FA Cup final for Cardiff overcomming fellow Championship outfit Barnsley. In the battle of the two Championship sides the team from Wales edged past Barnsely who had beat Liverpool and Chelsea in previous rounds.

The match unfortunatly wasn’t a classic and was decided early on when a long throw was only cleared to Cardiff born Joe Ledley who hook volleyed the ball into the the top corner. Other chances did fall to Cardiff’s Gavin Rae but it was Barnsley who missed the best chance of the game in the second half.

Kayode Odejay, the hero of the quater finals when he scored against Chelsea found himself on the end of a ball from Howard. One-on-one with Enkleman the forward shot into the side netting, the best change Barnsley had to equalise.

Cardiff now go onto face Portsmouth in the Final at Wembley on Saturday 17th May, meanwhile Barnsley have to secure thier place in the Championship

Pompy beat WBA to secure FA Cup Final place

Portsmouth secured their place in the FA cup final yesterday beating Championship side West Bromwich Albion to ensure a top flight team in the cup final. WBA did have much of the possession in the game but were unable to great any real clear cut chances.

It was only in the second half when Portsmouth turned up and scored thanks to a former Wesy Brom player Kanu. The build up to the goal was controversial when Milan Baros appeared to handle the ball in the area, his shot was saved by Dean Kiley but Kanu was on hand to tap in from a couple of yards.

West Brom went for a equalizer but the closest they came was a Robert Koran shot from outside the area which clipped the top of David James’s bar.

Overall it was closer than expected but West Brom were unable to show that cutting edge which has helped them in the championship. Portsmouth now reach the final for the first time since 1939 and await the winners of the other semi-final Cardiff V Barnsley.

Polls results - FA Cup Winners?

Our first poll on the site looked at the four semi finalists in the FA Cup. Unsurprisingly Portsmouth the only Premiership outfit came out on top with 42% of the votes. Second Cardiff, third WBA and in last place Barnsley who have beaten Liverpool and Arsenal on their way to the semi finals.

We’ll find out who does get to the final on the 5th and 6th of April when the sides meet with the Final in May.

Our next poll is on the weeks talking points, the behavior of players with the referee. After the Ashley Cole and then Javier Mascherano sending off yesterday the media any many fans are looking for a change in the rules so only the captains are allowed to speak to the referee, like in rugby.

So the new poll is - Should only captains speak to referees?

Delayed reaction

I know that some time has passed since cup-exploits but I personally needed the time to digest the proceedings. Being a Manchester United fan, the shock alone took me days to get over. You may consider the following views influenced by my perceived bias but I will try to back up my claims.

 

Let me start with the Manchester United vs. Portsmouth cup tie that I watched live on Sky. Having watched the game, I can give you my honest opinion. Anyone who didn’t and says that Pompey deserved to win is lying. Anyone who watched it and says that Pompey deserved to win is lying. I counted 1 shot on goal, never mind on target, from the away side and that was the penalty that won them the game. Any team that only has 1 shot on goal does not deserve to win any game.

Yes, Pompey had a fantastic DEFENSIVE display but this can only mean that they deserved to draw, at most. No attacking threat == No deserved win. Simple. I give I to their defence, they did extremely well, with a little luck thrown in. And by luck I mean Ronaldo’s penalty claim. Well it wasn’t so much a claim as the referee having Pompey to win in the pools. Everybody in the world saw it as a penalty except the man-in-the-middle. This changed the game since it allowed Pompey to keep defending, soaking up the pressure and taking us back to their place (or not as the case may be). If the pen is given, Ronaldo scores, and we have a much more open game.

Anyway enough on this topic, I’m getting hot under the collar.

My congratulations go out to the other teams who qualified for the FA Cup semi finals, although this will be the year of the un-watched final. A domestic, never mind global, consumer does not want to watch that final. Maybe I will be proved wrong but I don’t think so. Well done to Barnsley who did deserve to beat Chelsea and to Cardiff and West Brom who did deserve to win their respective games. Chelsea fans may consider me biased but the Yorkies put one over on you and coming from Lancashire it causes me a lot of pain to see any Yorkshire team do well.

Congrats are also in order for Liverpool who beat Inter Milan in the San Siro (Champion’s League) making sure that the only Italian team in the draw for the quarter-finals are the lacklustre Roma and that all four English teams are represented. Lets hope they can be kept separate and we can have an all-English semi draw. Now that would be nice. Well done to Arsenal as well, nice to see Theo do something good after all his bad press and a historic win for the Gooners in the San Siro last week. Can’t remember the last time AC Milan didn’t make a Champion’s League Quarter. It also takes away the threat of Kaka for the rest of us left in and that’s a good thing. Chelsea squeezed through as usual so kudos for that and of course Man United did the same.

That’s all for now, adios

FA Cup Semi Finalists face Euro exclusion

FA Cup Semi Finalists Cardiff City face exclusion from European Competitions should they lift the trophy in May.

The Bluebirds have been handed the “easiest” draw on paper, facing Barnsley at Wembley during the first weekend in April. Yet after knocking both Liverpool and Chelsea out of this season’s competition, boss Dave Jones will not be taking any chances and underestimating their League One rivals.

Yet should the Welshmen lift the coveted trophy for the first time since 1927, the success will be tinged with slight disappointment following the news that they will be excluded from the following season’s UEFA Cup competition.

UEFA competition regulations stipulate that Welsh sides cannot participate in European competitions as England’s representatives irrespective of their performance in the FA Cup.

From UEFA’s point of view, the situation is simple – non-English sides cannot represent England in their competitions – end of story. They will point to the fact that if sides such as Cardiff, Wrexham and Swansea wish to enter European competitions then the door is open to them through the Welsh League and Cups. Yet trips to TNS and Merthyr Tydfil are not as glamorous as going to Old Trafford or semi finals at Wembley and therefore the Welsh teams focus their attentions on the English equivalents.

I can see both sides to this argument as the Welsh teams are invited by the FA to compete in the FA Cup and thus are representing them in this regard anyway. Cardiff would be representing the English FA and not England – therefore I see no fundamental problem with them should they lift the FA Cup in May.

However, I can also see the point of view which suggests that the English FA should be represented by English teams and to include Welsh teams in this would be incoherent with the English FA’s sense of identity. If this is the case then the issue could then be extended to whether Welsh teams should be allowed to compete in the FA Cup at all – especially given the fact that the full benefit of winning the competition are not open to them.

Should Cardiff reign victorious in May there is sure to be some sleepless nights for UEFA officials as there no doubt will be some form of appeal – possibly along the lines of Liverpool’s successful crusade in 2005. If this appeal is unsuccessful the the UEFA Cup spot would be awarded to the runners up - Millwall were the last team to benefit from this following defeat by Manchester United in 2003. Their run didnt last long like but at leat they got into Europe!

It is sure to be an interesting few weeks for the Bluebirds but don’t be surprised to see Sepp Blatter in a Barnsley shirt come the first week of April.

FA Cup Semi Final Draw

After one of the most exciting Quarter Finals in history the draw for the Semi Finals took place this dinner time, Barnsley face Cardiff and West Brom face Portsmouth. We knew that we were going to see a non-Premiership team in the final but the draw means that one of the smaller teams will be in the final considering WBA are miles better than Barnsley or Cardiff.

The games will take place at Wembley on 5 and 6 April.

Barnsley v Cardiff
West Brom v Portsmouth

Giant-killers await Cup fate

What a weekend it has been in the FA Cup with three of the four quarter finals resulting in upsets.

The unbelievable trend started on Saturday lunch time when Portsmouth ended Manchester United’s hopes of a repeat of their 1999 treble winning season, Muntari’s penalty twelve minute from time proving to be crucial.

Next to exit the competition were holders Chelsea who become Barnsley’s latest victims. Kayode Odejayi’s second half header was the difference between the sides and has elicited some calls for Avram Grant to resign his post at Stamford Bridge.

Then, this afternoon, Middlesborough were comprehensively beaten by Championship side Cardiff City at the Riverside. Peter Whittingham and Roger Johnson bagged the goals which the Ninian Park outfit thoroughly deserved to leave Boro boss Gareth Southgate livid with his side.

Finally West Brom became the only “favourite” to progress to the semi-finals with a comfortable five one win against League One Bristol Rovers. Ishmael Miller grabbed a hat trick whilst James Morrison and Kevin Phillips grabbed a goal a piece to put the Baggies into tomorrow’s draw.

There is sure to be a team from outside the Premier League in the F A Cup final this year and who knows there is a good chance the elite league will not even be represented.

The semi-final draw will be conducted at 13:25 tomorrow lunch time with the numbers being as follows

1 Cardiff City
2 Portsmouth
3 West Brom
4 Barnsley

Soccer Saturday - Liverpool 1 - 2 Barnsley - Phil Thompson reaction

Last Saturday we witnessed a great cup shock when Barnsley of the Championship beat the stuttering Liverpool. Brian Howard smashed in a 90th minute from 20 yards. As the goal went in at Anfield the lads at the Soccer Saturday studio went wild as Phil Thompson couldn’t believe what was happening.

Next Page »

Copyright © 2007 Winning Is Everything - XML Sitemap