LONDON: Hull City staged a stirring second half fightback to book their first FA Cup final appearance with a thrilling 5-3 win over Sheffield United at Wembley yesterday.
Steve Bruce’s side survived a stern test from the League One underdogs in a sensational semi-final and will face Arsenal on May 17 in the first major Cup final in Hull’s 110-year history.
United led through Jose Baxter and although Yannick Sagbo equalised Stefan Scougall restored their advantage before half-time.
The Premier League team finally made their extra quality tell after the interval and goals from Matty Fryatt, Tom Huddlestone, Stephen Quinn and David Meyler secured victory in Hull’s first FA Cup semi-final for 84 years despite Jamie Murphy’s late reply for United.
“We are absolutely delighted. We needed one hell of a turn-around but the one thing you can’t do with this team is write them off,” Bruce said.
“There are always going to be nerves and it is how you handle it. We certainly found it difficult in the first half, but we won OK in the end.” United boss Nigel Clough added: “We are proud of the players’ efforts, but we are a bit disappointed because we were so close.”
Clough’s men, the first third tier team to reach this stage of the competition since 2001, had already defeated Premier League opposition in Aston Villa and Fulham en route to the last four and they snapped tigerishly into their tackles in the opening moments.
Hull were unable to establish any momentum and it was no more than the Blades deserved when they took the lead in the 19th minute.
John Brayford crossed from wide on the right and Baxter timed his run perfectly to poke home at the near-post.
United’s dominance in the first half was so pronounced that their supporters broke into chants of ‘Ole’ as their team played keep-ball for a long spell.
AFP
