And we’re going to Wembley! In a week where cup fever was a welcome distraction from a poor run of form in the league, the Potters emerged victorious, downing West Ham as they confirmed their place in the FA Cup Semi Final at Wembley. It’s been an up and down season taking in some frustrating performances and even worse team selections but it seems the stars were aligned on Sunday as everything seemed to come together to take us to our first FA Cup Semi Final since 1972. The team was the right one, the players all turned up hungry and the crowd in magnificent voice, it was back to the passionate, backs to the wall performances last seen in our maiden premier league season, and it worked.

Wembley Bound... © Laurence Griffiths/GettyImages

The 12th Man Returns... © Laurence Griffiths/GettyImages

We started at a great pace with the intensity and effort we’ve so sorely missed, certainly since the home game against Liverpool, as we were finally able to field both wingers and give it a proper go against opposition that we knew we could beat and we deserved our victory. Following their loss, Avram Grant and many of the West Ham faithful have argued they were cheated by the referee and should have had a penalty when in reality the worst decision by the referee on the day was a blatant handball that led to their goal. Let us not take away a deserved victory from the Manager and his players and indeed the fans, most of whom weren’t alive the last time we made such a trip to the Twin Towers for an FA Cup Semi Final, myself included.

The talking points from the game are as follows;

Marc Wilson – Marc had a good game at right back and again thrived on the time he was afforded by West Ham’s 4-3-3, maintaining his composure and assurance and using the ball intelligently. I’m not sure if Marc is anything other than a stop gap until the end of the season in that position but he is doing himself no harm with his performances there and his ability on the ball is a welcome facet to our often predictable play.

Robert Huth – I’ve run out of superlatives to describe the big German and his impact on this team from his favoured position in the middle and this day was no different as he bossed the game in both boxes. Robbie scored his 8th goal of the season to make him our top scorer this season and also had a hand, literally, in our second as he spun Upson away in the wall to open up the gap for Higgy to score. As we sung on Sunday, ‘Huth there it is’, which for Upson is more preferable than the previous ‘Huth’s upside your head’ which left him requiring stitches.

Danny Higginbotham – Regular readers will know I’ve championed Danny for left back throughout this season, citing his ability to come into the side and bring a much needed voice to the back line. Once again his performance was solid and assured and I was delighted when he scored his goal, I believe it is his first ever FA Cup goal, so no wonder he was so elated!

The Real Reason Rory Towels His Hands... ©PA Photos

Pennant/Etherington – How I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that we would finally be seeing our two wingers start the game together, it seems an eternity since both were something approaching fitness and able to put in such an energetic and meaningful shift. Both have great ability on the ball and complement each other brilliantly, the pace and trickery of Matty coupled with the intelligence and delivery of Jermaine had West Ham on the back foot all afternoon. These two will be vital to how the remainder of the season pans out, and provided both maintain the level of fitness and performance we saw Sunday, it’s down to the manager to ensure they are the first names on the team sheet.

Balance... © Laurence Griffiths/GettyImages

Rory Delap – I’ve been watching Delap closely these last few games having raised concerns earlier in the season about his fitness and impact on the game and it was a bit of a mixed bag again for him. No-one can deny how effective his throws still seem to be, if not directly, then from the panicked clearances that ensue, but it was the rest of his performance which had me concerned. On more than a few occasions, Rory would attempt what appeared to be a simple ball and either put it into touch or pass it to the opposition, he did the latter twice in the first half and each led to a dangerous counter attack. To me Rory looks tired, he has played more games than most since we came up and it’s really starting to show now and I don’t think it’s fair that his continued inclusion week after week is starting to tarnish our opinion of his contributions to the club. I’d love Rory to be kept at the club for the rest of his career in some capacity but we need to make sure we start to give the guy a rest and start to phase him out of the side as we plan for life after the touchline missile, it may well be that this is the plan and we just need to be safe first, I guess we’ll see in the Summer.

Glen Whelan – Man of the Match – I’ve been critical of Glen’s (lack of) impact this season so it’s only fair to recognise that he was our best player this game, much as he had been against Arsenal only weeks earlier. The problem with Glen is his consistency, but with Pulis’ latest insistence of having more ball players in the side, he seems to have benefitted and the time on the pitch seems to have helped his confidence and in turn his performances. The challenge now for him is to keep that level of performance up for the remainder of the campaign, with the form he is in, he is exactly what we have been missing for much of the season.

Kenwyne Jones – A much, much better showing from Kenwyne, I really have no complaints about him this week. He was hungry, chased down lost causes, ran and jumped for the ball and generally showed us the oh so rare glimpse of the player who exploded onto the scene at the start of the season. Much like Glen, Kenwyne needs to take that performance and build on it, make sure that if he gets picked against Newcastle, he’ll do everything he can to stay in the side, that’s the player we want and we know a consistent version is in there somewhere.

Jon Walters – A quick mention to Jon who in the last two games has been brilliant. We know he isn’t the fastest or trickiest player but he does have some skills and vision and his work rate is phenomenal, he also seems to get up the noses of the opposition which is a bonus as he knocked Parker right off his game. I’m not sure if he’ll be benched if KJ is up for the Newcastle game and Carew comes back from injury, but what I do know is if he does start from the bench he won’t moan for a second and will give 110% as soon as he is asked to come on and characters like that are few and far between.

Vis Unita Fortior

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