"CRY God for Harry, England and St George," bellowed Henry V at the battle of Agincourt.

For the Magpies, however, it is more 'Cry God for Shearer, Newcastle and St James' Park'.

The team that progressed in yesterday's FA Cup semi-final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was the team which won the battles and subsequently the war.

Unfortunately for Newcastle fans it was the red United, and it is they who will return to King Harry's former principality next month to meet Arsenal in the final.

The Magpies' most dashing leader, Alan Shearer, may have won his battle with Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand but found his troops didn't have the stomach for the rest of the fight. Shearer spilled blood for the cause, but the rest of his side just did not have the character of conviction to believe they could actually do it.

It could be said a Newcastle victory largely rested on the shoulders of Laurent Robert, but there were several other battles, which had to be won too.

The former Paris Saint Germain winger was dropped for the midweek UEFA Cup mauling at the hands of Sporting Lisbon following his media faux pas, but he was restored to Graeme Souness's line up on Sunday.

There is no doubting Robert's ability to carve an opening out of nothing and he is without question one the best dead ball kickers in the world. It was his assist that set up Patrick Kluivert in the fifth round to knock out big guns Chelsea.

But the Reunion Islander had little chance to shine on Sunday as his team-mates failed to press the opposition and sat too deep. Subsequently, it did not allow the Frenchman to get on the ball in the last third enough to hurt the opposition.

Without the, literally, battling qualities of Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer in midfield it was left to Amdy Faye and the out-of-sorts Nicky Butt - against his former club - to slug it out against the imposing presence of Roy Keane and the goal menace of Paul Scholes. It was men against boys at times and Scholes revealed his undoubted world class talent when he ghosted across Jean Alain Boumsong a minute before half-time with a trademark header.

With more than £60m worth of striking talent at their disposal there was little doubt either Wayne Rooney or Ruud van Nistlerooy were going to have a say in the proceedings.

Newcastle's £8m signing Boumsong and the inexperienced Steven Taylor were handed the difficult task of harnessing the prolific front two. Unfortunately, the Holland international decided to have one of his better days and was superb all afternoon.

The Dutch striker tried to roll his French opponent on the edge of the box after five minutes but Boumsong managed to do enough to prevent a clean strike at goal. In the early stages Boumsong had the upper hand over van Nistelrooy and read his every move.

But form is temporary and class is permanent as the clich goes, and the Holland international revealed just that as he peeled off Taylor as Boumsong slipped to clip the opening goal past a despairing Shay Given. He added another 15 minutes after the break to basically end the tie as a contest.

Rooney took up a position on the left of a 4-5-1 formation, which quickly became 4-3-3 when Man Utd attacked. The classy forward threatened from deep all afternoon and nearly got his name on the Red Devils' scoresheet in the first-half, but his shot from 20 yards somehow managed to squirm out of Given's grasp and away for a corner.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his presence felt as early as the fifth minute when he took a theatrical tumble over Taylor's foot - he was booked for his sins. The Portuguese step-over king, however, caused problems down the flanks all afternoon and, as well as scoring, he set up Scholes for his goal.

Newcastle rallied after going three down, and when Shola Ameobi netted from Shearer's pass he gave the travelling fans some hope - but in truth they just weren't good enough.

Souness introduced Charles N'Zogbia at half-time. The tricky midfielder from Harfleur revealed some nice touches, put his foot in where it hurt and upped the tempo in place of Faye. It wasn't to be for the French teenager on Sunday but his time will come.

"Once more into the breach dear friends, once more or close up the wall with our English dead," said Henry V at the siege of N'Zogbia's birthplace more than 500 years ago. If Newcastle are to win their first domestic trophy in 51 years, then into the breach they must go next season.

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