Source: Telegraph
Portsmouth 2 Birmingham City 0: FA Cup match report
For once that weary old FA Cup refrain, 'que sera, sera', acquired an affecting resonance. [LNB]Whatever will be in Portsmouth's miserably salutary tale of bankruptcy, or in a season sure to culminate in relegation from the Premier League, their long-suffering players and supporters are, exultantly if scarcely credibly, going to Wemb-e-ley. [LNB]Portsmouth to table improved offer for Newcastle?s Joey BartonHoward Webb to referee Readings final day showdown with Birmingham CityTheir administrators, meanwhile, are going to the High Court in nine days' time. This most poignant quarter-final victory formed a juxtaposition of fortunes so stark that even Avram Grant, Portsmouth's lugubrious manager, could not help but drink in the moment, whooping and waving his club scarf at the crowd. [LNB]Fratton Park, dilapidated old hovel though it may be, could enjoy its day in the sun of spring. [LNB]"In the circumstances this was more than big," acknowledged Grant, not suppressing his satisfaction at the two Frederic Piquionne goals that had vanquished Birmingham City. [LNB]He was only too conscious of the ruin that had befallen Portsmouth in the aftermath - and partly as a consequence - of their Cup final glory in 2008, and harboured hope that this return to the Wembley stage could be the start of a happier narrative. [LNB]There are few such games, few such occasions, which move the home supporters to invoke Dickens: "It was the best of times..." In these worst of times for Portsmouth, a line from 'A Tale of Two Cities' seemed to suit so bipolar a club. [LNB]"With the financial situation, this was about more than football," Grant said. "All the people are so happy. As a coach or a player, this is what you work for. You can break many things but you can't break our spirit." [LNB]This type of post-match peroration was as close as Grant would ever come to his Braveheart moment. It is rare to see or hear him so expressive but, when he has so little with which to work, the Israeli is finally being accorded a respect for his abilities that was not so forthcoming at handsomely-resourced Chelsea. [LNB]"It means a lot to me," he admitted. "I came into football because of the passion and emotion of the fans. There are some moments in your life that you always remember. This is one of them." [LNB]Quite a statement from a man who took Chelsea to a Champions League final. [LNB]The Football Association's decision to hold both Cup semi-finals at Wembley has its detractors, who argue that it undermines the value of the final showpiece. But try telling that to Piquionne or his Portsmouth team-mates, who, having endured three months of not knowing if they would even be paid, earned a memorable date in the diary. [LNB]They chased this win with a palpable hunger, aware that it would eclipse even their progress at the same stage two years ago, when they defeated Manchester United in the pivotal result of their Cup-winning run. [LNB]The club stand to earn £1.3 million from their semi-final appearance - money that will have to be invested a little more wisely than has been their habit - but pragmatic thoughts could wait amid the euphoria that followed the final whistle. [LNB]So parlous has Portsmouth's financial situation become, Birmingham could have been forgiven for treating this south-coast excursion less as a sixth-round Cup day than a third-round one, visiting a club with a decaying ground and chaotic accounting system. [LNB]But they reckoned without the resilience of their hosts, who tore at them with a powerful sense of purpose. [LNB]Granted, the first half was far from pretty to watch, as Portsmouth toiled to find a clinical edge to their attacks, although Piquionne betrayed glimpses of his threat with his lively presence in the six-yard box, which forced goalkeeper Joe Hart to make two instinctive saves. [LNB]Piquionne has become a forgotten man in his native France, having been offloaded by Lyon on last season. He has struggled to contradict the French champions' action ever since, firing only intermittently, yet his finishing in the second half transformed this game. [LNB]First he pounced into the centre of a goalmouth scramble, with Danny Webber imposing pressure on Hart, and the loose ball perfectly for him to stroke into the empty net. [LNB]His second goal, however, required far more assurance. Jamie O'Hara, the source of many a clever pass as the playmaker in Portsmouth's midfield, slid through a fine cross upon which Piquionne could seize, turning Roger Johnson, Birmingham's normally dependable centre-back, inside out before angling the ball beneath Hart to trigger crazed celebrations. [LNB]Birmingham should have set up an intriguing last few minutes when Liam Ridgwell's header edged fractionally across the line, but McLeish was generous, saying: "The goal could have given us a lifeline and I would have backed us to come back. But Portsmouth deserved this." [LNB]Piquionne, who performed a lap of honour at the end, said: "I want to shout out to everybody in France that I'm not finished." [LNB]Neither, it appears, are Portsmouth.[LNB]
