What an absolutely fantastic final! It?s hard to think of exactly what to say about it but you know me, I?ll figure it out as I go along. Anyone who may have thought that the FA Cup had lost some of her sparkle in recent years, should take a look at this final as proof that the old girl still has a little magic left in her. This was the greatest FA Cup final of all time. I?ve no doubt some old git will say that it wasn?t as good as some final in 1643 when Richard the Lionheart scored a hat-trick in extra time but that?s just bullshit. When it comes to FA Cup finals this one will be remembered as the dogs doo-dahs.
When it transpired that it would be Liverpool and West Ham in the final, you knew that you had two teams with great histories with a proud tradition of playing football in the manner that it was meant to be played and you hoped that just maybe they would give us something special. However, nobody could have anticipated just how fantastically special things would turn out to be.
As far as Liverpool were concerned it didn?t look too special for the first 25 minutes as their performance was as flat as a witches tit. There was more sloppy misplaced passes from Liverpool players in that period, then you would normally see in any half dozen of their games and it was one of these that lead to West Ham?s opener. Alonso of all people, hit a sloppy pass which ended up with Ashton who played a brilliant ball onto the overlapping full back who hit a so-so cross that appeared to be covered by Reina but maybe he didn?t give Carra a shout because he attempted to put the ball out for a corner and was unlucky to see his attempted clearance end up in his own net.
The Hammers went further in front minutes later due to more sloppiness from Liverpool. There didn?t seem to be any trouble when Etherington initially got the ball on the edge of the box but then he got pass Hyppia far too easily and hit a fairly weak shot straight at Reina, but somehow the Spaniard fumbled the ball and Ashton showed superb reactions to get the ball into the back of the net before the keeper could recover.
Playing so poorly and 2-0 down, it began to look as if our FA Cup dream was rapidly turning into a nightmare but we should have got one back a little later when a cross from a free-kick found Crouch who stuck the chance away but his effort was incorrectly ruled out for offside and it seemed that the Gods just weren?t smiling on us. However, minutes later a superb ball from Gerrard found Cisse who did extremely well to control his volley and rifle his shot into the net.
It was somewhat of a relief when the half-time whistle came because we had played so poorly that despite being 2-1 down, if almost felt like we had gotten out of jail and things would surely improve in the second half. As it happens they almost got worse. An early attack from West Ham once again saw the Liverpool defence uncharacteristically sloppy and it took a fine double save from Reina with his legs to keep us in it. Gradually though The Reds started to get on top and play most of their football in the opposition half and eventually a typical Liverpool goal brought them level. A cross to the far post, a header down, StevieG in space, end of story 2-2.
Now normally what?s supposed to happen here is that the team who were 2 goals in front and find themselves pegged back to 2-2, are supposed to let their heads drop and Liverpool with their tails up, go on to win 4-2. But West Ham are made of sterner stuff and it?s a great testament to their spirit that they just refused to lay down and die, they kept coming back at us and remarkably re-took the lead. Once again there was touch of fortune about the goal as had been the case with their first 2. Konchesky played a cross from the left wing, he knew it was a cross and Pepe Reia was expecting a cross but the ball had other ideas and somehow looped over the keeper and into the net to put them back in front at 3-2.
Try as we might after that, we just couldn?t find an equaliser and with the game into injury time and some of our players going down with cramp it seemed to be all over. However, special players do special things on special occasions and there is no footballer on earth more special then our own StevieG. When yet another of our attacks broke down and the ball fell to him, 40 yards from the West Ham goal, there seemed to be no danger but Gerrard unleashed a stupendous thunderbolt that rocketed into the bottom corner of the net for an totally amazing last gasp equaliser that sent the game into extra time. This brilliant goal must surely be high on the list of all time best strikes, it was an absolute beauty!
Extra time was like a cheap Agatha Christie novel with players dropping like flies from cramp and not a lot of note happened until the dying seconds. This game followed a remarkably similar pattern to the miracle in Istanbul 12 month?s earlier when Liverpool also conceded 3 goals in the final but came back to 3-3. Just as in the dying moments of that game when Dudek pulled off a miraculous save from Shevchenko, Reina also managed to make a miraculous save in this one. A West Ham free kick came into the box and hit one of their players on the back and seemed to be heading into the net but Reina brilliantly stretched across and got the faintest of touches from his fingertips onto the ball which guided it onto the inside of the post. The rebound came out to Harewood who was so exhausted he could barely lift his leg to it and his effort went tamely wide and the game went to penalties.
Just as Dudek was our hero in the penalty shoot-out in Istanbul, Reina was our hero in Cardiff as he saved 3 of the West Ham penalties to win Liverpool the cup in what must surely be considered the greatest FA Cup final of all time.
So the Rafalution continues and we have added yet another trophy to our ever-growing collection. If this keeps up, then just as Fort Knox guards the majority of the worlds gold supplies, the Anfield trophy room will guard the majority of the worlds Silver supplies. We now know as the cup holders we will yet again face chelski in the Charity Shield match at the start of next season. I think it would be a fitting tribute to the Great West Ham supporters at today?s game if we adopted their anthem and gave it a bit of a rewrite just for the day of that game and piss Jose off with a couple of verse?s of, ?I?m forever blowing Doubles?, I think that would really make him throw his rattle out of the pram.
I think its fitting that my final word must go to our opponents. I?ve already called this game the greatest FA Cup final of all time but to make a great final you need to have two great teams. I?ve no doubt after watching their magnificent effort today, that West Ham are a great side with a great manager and a great set of supporters. I?m sure their fans are devastated at the moment, just as I would be, but they will be very proud of their team and rightly so. To be honest, over the fullness of the game they were the better side and were damned unlucky to lose. So I salute The Mighty Hammers and wish them all the very best for next season, RESPECT.
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