UK Sport

Portsmouth shaded the FA Cup Final in front of magnificent support from both sets of fans at Wembley.

Cardiff City, who haven’t won the old trophy since 1927, played their part in a compelling, if not classic, game with Paul Parry in particular making chances the championship side didn’t quite have the quality or composure to finish.

Last time Portsmouth won the Cup, Europe went up in flames, leading to their unusual record of holding the trophy for seven years while footballers fought more important battles. Let’s hope that’s not an omen and a UEFA cup campaign is the only European action to ensure from Pompey’s win.

You can see highlights of the action here.

We shall have to see if the absence of the Big Four has affected viewing figures, both in Britain and world-wide, but it was surely a better game than last year’s disgrace between Chelsea and Manchester United.

Had either of those teams - shall we call them the Giant Two? - had made it, the shadow of Wednesday night’s Champions League final in Moscow would have stifled the game even further then the usual over-familiarity does.

Congratulations then to Harry Redknapp and Portsmouth and to Cardiff City too for, in that old fashioned phrase, playing their part.

Does this mark a rebirth for the FA Cup though? Nostalgia and sentimentality were heavy in the Wembley air yesterday, but is it a measure of cup magic in a year of shocking underdogs, or simply reflect that the Double that really matters will be decided on Wednesday night? 

What do you think?   

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