Kanu's tap-in goal and a clinical defensive performance in the second half swept Portsmouth into their first FA Cup final since 1939 as they beat West Brom 1-0 to wreck hopes of a first all-Championship showdown.

Kanu, twice an FA Cup winner with Arsenal, continued his love affair with the competition with a simple finish in the 55th minute after former Pompey goalkeeper Dean Kiely could only push out Milan Baros' shot.

Baros had other chances to wrap it up but with Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin rock solid in defence, David James was barely troubled despite a late West Brom rally in which Robert Koren hit the top of the crossbar.

The Baggies were left to rue Baros' apparent use of his arm in controlling the ball in the build-up to Kanu's goal, with Kevin Phillips accusing the officials of "bottling it".

He told BBC1: "You know what these officials are like, they tend to bottle it a little bit in these big games.

"We can hold our heads up high, Portsmouth have been very lucky. If we found that goal when we dominated in the first half...''

He added: "I'm gutted, I don't think we deserved to lose."

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp said: "It's fantastic to be going to a cup final.

"Full credit to West Brom, they made a game of it but it's a great day for the club. It's great for the support, I'm delighted for everybody."

Pompey goalkeeper David James added: "I thought we dominated the game, they had a minimal amount of chances."

West Brom boss Tony Mowbray said: "No complaints - they are defensively a very well set up team and the experience they have at the back is invaluable to them. They are an exceptional team.

"We found it hard to break through today - the frustration is that we didn't threaten their goal enough today.

"It wasn't happening for us today. Our priority now is the league - we have six very important league fixtures to play and we will try to ply our trade in the Premier League next year."

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