Amidst all the excitement, I needed to sort my transport out and managed to discover the Virgin One Day Travelcard deal thanks to the Rail UK Forums. You have to travel down to London on an advance ticket basis but can return back on any service you like and it also covers London Zones 1-6 all for £32.40. The only available ticket was departing Stockport at 7.23 so it meant getting myself out of bed at 5.30 but it meant I had the bulk of the morning to enjoy London and having it devoured Saturday's Independent, I arrived to a nice sunny morning at Euston.
I had not made any firm plans for the morning, but given recent events I fancied heading down to Westminster and then enjoyed a nice stroll in the sunshine down the river to Vauxhall, before getting the tube to Kensington to check out the V&A Museum. After the museum, I was feeling peckish and drink sounded tempting too and as I was enjoying the tree lined streets I decided to take a random wander until I found myself on Fulham Road where a decent boozer was located with Aspall on tap and excellent gourmet burger to follow.
Setting off suitably refreshed, it was getting on for one o'clock so it was time to head off towards the stadium. The nearest tube was Fulham Broadway so, ironically my route took me right past Stamford Bridge where I picked my programme whilst Chelsea fans were also starting to make their way there including this nostalgic effort.
A few tubes changes later and boarding the fast train from Marylebone, I was back at Wembley for 2pm. There was time enough for a quick pint before taking my seat, pre-match entertainment was under way in the form of both clubs cup goals being broadcast on the big screen and a cameo appearance from Stomp. Once more the armed forces brought out the clubs' banners, a nice touch was to have Portsmouth being represented by the Royal Navy.
The Pompey fans were in good voice as the stadium filled, Chelsea had brought their flag with them but seemed strangely quiet. Perhaps after their Championship-clinching 8-0 win six days ago, they felt the second leg of their double bid may be a stroll on the Wembley park. After what was, for me, an emotional singing of Abide with me the teams took to the pitch and we were ready for kick-off. If Portsmouth could draw on the inspiration of their win over Tottenham, I would be witnessing an upset on a par with Wimbledon's victory over Liverpool in 1988.
The game got under way and Chelsea were first out of the blocks. Frank Lampard fired narrowly wide and then clipped the wood work with a couple of efforts and David James had to react well to a close range effort from Drogba that he turned behind for a corner. Portsmouth then showed themselves capable of threatening when a good cross was volleyed across goal by Prince-Boateng and Piqiuonne was unlucky that he could only deflect the ball towards the jumping reach of Cech.
After this scare, Chelsea really turned the screw and it seemed like a matter of time before they would score and managed to hit the woodwork repeatedly. Kalou managed to hit the bar from six yards with an open goal, John Terry headed a wide free-kick onto the bar with James stranded before he pulled off one of the best saves of my FA Cup tipping a Drogba free-kick onto the bar. From where I was sat there never seemed any question that it may have been a goal but it took a few replays for the TV commentators to make their minds up. Drogba hit the post again from a close effort before the half-time whistle brought reprieve for Pompey who were still very much in this final.
Avram Grant must have got the message through at halftime as Portsmouth came out looking a lot more positive and gave notice of their intentions when Prince-Boateng found himself on the end of a cross unmarked but blazed wide. Shortly afterwards he broke into the box after good work on the right flank and drew the foul from the vastly experienced Belletti and Portsmouth had themselves a penalty at Wembley once more. Sadly for Pompey, Boateng's spot-kick was a poor one and Petr Cech became only the third keeper to save a penalty in a Wembley FA Cup final. Curiously enough, the first man to do it, Dave Beasant had provided the half-time entertainment saving spot kicks in the very same goal.
As often happens in football, the failure to take such a gilt-edged chance is soon punished and within five minutes Didier Drogba won a free-kick before picking himself up and hitting the ball beyond the reach of David James off the inside of the post to give Chelsea the lead. Portsmouth to their credit did not capitulate, but the game looked to be over when Frank Lampard got the foul he was looking for to win Chelsea a penalty of their own. However, Lampard managed to put the ball just wide and became the first player in history to completely miss an FA Cup final penalty at Wembley.
Portsmouth had one last chance to take the game into extra time when a late cross was flashed across the goal but deflected beyond the reach of Kanu by John Terry. The final whistle blew and Chelsea had completed their first double. The Pompey fans kept up their loud support and the players came across to show their appreciation to the fans, for most of them for the very last time.
The final detail let was for the presentation of the cup, but not before the Portsmouth recieved their runners-up medals. The loudest cheer was reserved for Avram Grant who's inspirational management of the last few month's is hotly tipped to be rewarded with the vacant West Ham United job. Chelsea then followed and the much-maligned John Terry and Frank Lampard lifted the cup for Chelsea and marking the end of my journey after witnessing over 24.5 hours of FA Cup football that started back in Pontefract 9 months ago.
I hope everyone who has read this has enjoyed my season in football as much as I have enjoyed doing it. This years FA Cup has restored my love of going to the match and I will certainly be doing something next season with a new blog, so watch this space.
