FA Cup: Bolton 1-0 Fulham
This was a decidedly bleak tie, as if virtually everyone has swallowed the east wind, although it was fitting that the winning goal was scored by Kevin Davies, the striker dropped by Gordon Strachan before Southampton's final against Arsenal two years ago. If passion was generally in thin supply on the pitch and off it, Davies carried his own private, smouldering stock throughout.
There was no shortage of technical excellence but too many players gave the impression that they had given up a life's work of manual labour and were now raising sweet peas and singing in the choir. Fulham had enough possession in the second half to have won at a canter yet Jussi Jaaskelainen needed to make only one save of any quality, from Tomasz Radzinski.
Chris Coleman's imposition of the 4-5-1 formation does not help. For all his obvious goal-scoring capabilities, Andy Cole is not, and never has been, a target man. He simply does not have the skill to hold the ball for any length of time or lay it off in a direction that can be calculated by a team-mate. Hence the majority of Fulham strikes were from long range.
Match of the Day allocated six minutes for the highlights, which was generous. Henrik Pedersen should have killed the match off in the second half after a terrible piece of defending by Zat Knight and his failure to do so encouraged Fulham to throw the whole team forward. This included Edwin van der Sar in a final frantic passage of play that bore little or no resemblance to what had gone on before.
So Bolton, thanks to an excellent 12th-minute right-foot finish by Davies after Nicky Hunt's intelligent pass into the box and Pedersen's clever lay-off, are a mere two games away from their first FA Cup final since 1958. Perhaps a little fantasy will seep under the Reebok Stadium door from now on.
It could hardly be said that Bolton's name is written on this year's competition, as there were times against Fulham when their midfield gave a passable imitation of men trying to stop the flow of the Niagara falls with a tennis racket. It was as well that their defence was altogether more resolute. Sam Allardyce, though, is of the opinion that for the first time since he became manager he has the resources, given a pinch of luck in today's draw, to succeed.
"Money has overshadowed everything else, so that fantasy hasn't come into it," said Allardyce. "Premiership survival has been the basis of the season but I've never before been so fortunate to have had such a talented squad. I can make four or five changes and the players who come in make the side better. I honestly don't know what is my strongest team so rotating the team is a very delicate matter."
Bolton are now undefeated in 10 this year, which makes their November-December lapse (nine without a win) all the more galling. Nevertheless, they still have two avenues open into Europe next season.
Coleman felt that this was the best Fulham had played for a long time: "We had a right blast and we'll be looking to play more like that in the future." But beneath the bravado he knew well enough it was an opportunity missed against a Bolton team who were frequently not so much rotating as spinning.