Wembley laps up a Blue carnival as Everton FC keep supporters smiling

Just as they had in Yorkshire back then, Everton officially did not have more tickets than the opposition and on this time they did not have three sides of the ground but yet again the fans' spirit, desire and passion will remain the overriding memory of a very special day.

Even before you stepped foot on Lime Street's platforms yesterday morning you could feel the anticipation in the air.

Street vendors selling flags and souvenir magazines to read on the journey to the capital were doing a roaring trade and the queues of supporters waiting to board their football specials snaked around the station as far as the eye could see.

Those who travelled by car reported that the motorways were also a sea of blue and as the trains approached the more leafier suburbs of 'The Smoke' it seemed that every Home Counties ale house had been transformed into The Winslow.

The bias seemed even more prevalent in the streets around Wembley and it was only once the United fans had taken their seats a few minutes before the kick-off that you noticed that 50% of the stadium was actually red - albeit an infinitely quieter half.

Breaking off from munching on their prawn sandwiches, Red Devil cynics would argue that their all-conquering side have been there and done this all before so many times and this was the success-starved Evertonians' 'cup final' but you would never have heard them over the deafening racket that emanated from the blue side of the stadium.

While the Evertonians made themselves at home with a rousing rendition of 'Z-Cars' played over the stadium's public address system, United's customised version of 'Take me home, country roads' failed to inspire their own followers.

It doesn't matter whether it's Goodison Park, Rotterdam, Elland Road, the old Wembley, the new Wembley or even Kirkby for these supporters - they'd even create an atmosphere on the moon if their beloved boys in blue played a fixture there.

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They'd have done just the same if this game had more sensibly for the health of the planet at least, been played at Eastlands - good enough for the Commonwealth Games and last season's UEFA Cup Final - or even Anfield instead of making the bulk of both clubs' supporters travel down from the north west on a Sunday.

The only saving grace of a Wembley semi is that more genuine supporters do get a chance to see the game - 88,141, an all-time record for a last four game in the competition watched this - but as magnificent as the spectacle is, a rather hollow feeling still persists if you triumph and still don't have a trophy to run around with at the end for your efforts - hopefully that unfulfilled hunger can be used to put things right in a month's time when we do it all again.

Although the Evertonians who wanted their 'Ma' to know they didn't want tea yesterday were Merseyside's first fans to see their side play at the new Wembley - just as their forefathers were at the former stadium where Dixie Dean and company beat Manchester City 3-0 in the 1933 FA Cup final a decade after the Twin Towers were erected, trips from the 'Grand Old Lady' to this corner of Brent had been increasingly infrequent in recent years.

After enjoying their heyday walking down Wembley way in the 1980s when Everton visits averaged more than one a year, the Goodison Park outfit returned just three times in the 1990s and in the final year of the 'noughties' decade this was their debut visit.

But while this was always a one-sided contest in the stands, FA Cup semi-finals are ultimately won and lost on the pitch no matter how powerful the 12th man of the fans is off it.

As expected, Everton attempted to take the game to United in the opening exchanges but while Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini attempted to test their opponents' mettle with some aerial combat, the central defensive pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, two elements of the team's spine Sir Alex Ferguson was unwilling to sacrifice, remained resolute.

This was far from a case of David Moyes's men trying to 'rough up' more cultured opponents though and in a game where chances were at a premium they controlled possession for long periods.

One consequence of Ferguson shuffling his pack was that there was little chance of any complacency from his own players, with many of those selected hungry to make a name for themselves and show that they were worthy of a prominent role in the most dominant team in the land.

Fergie's latest batch of fledglings are certainly fleet-footed and their pace on the break - along with Mike Riley's consistently bemusing officiating - remained the biggest danger to Everton.

As the contest wore on, more prominent Old Trafford stars such as Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes - who played in the 1995 FA Cup final clash between these sides - and trump card Dimitar Berbatov were all introduced but in extra-time Everton looked the more likely to break the deadlock.

Cahill seemed desperately unlucky to have a chance of a one-on-one towards goal denied from him when his was pulled back after breaking clear from Vidic while Foster had to rush out of his area and bring down Leighton Baines.

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Ultimately when the game came down to penalties - so often Everton's downfall in the past and of course the tie-breaker that enabled Manchester United to be crowned European champions less than a year ago, it was fitting that Tim Howard and Phil Jagielka were the heroes.

Howard, deemed not good enough at Old Trafford, saved two spot-kicks against his former team-mates while boyhood United fan Jagielka, who failed to make the grade at Goodison Park as a youngster only to return in 2007, were the heroes.

Jagielka, who missed a crucial kick against Fiorentina in the UEFA Cup last season has hardly put a foot wrong this campaign and he held his nerve to send Everton into a Wembley return with Chelsea at the end of next month.

It's safe to say Evertonians won't shed many tears for one boyhood blue who has long since defected down the M62 and has yet to win the FA Cup himself.

He wasn't even in the travelling party on this occasion but knows for all the silver he might win with his new employers, just one cup with his former loves would have been worth so much more.