West Ham 1 Middlesbro 0: It is West Ham who go to an FA Cup final with Liverpool but Middlesbrough will always believe they were beaten up by the clock.

Each jab of the minute hand hurt a side containing eight players who had also started last Thursday's Uefa Cup semi-final with Steaua Bucharest. They had already looked tired before making the return flight. That, all the same, is no criticism of victors who dispensed their energy judiciously.

Outplayed before the interval, they raised the pace thereafter and dominated until Marlon Harewood decided the game in the 78th minute. Sheer pride must have fuelled the reaction that Boro somehow mustered but in stoppage time a ricochet fell to Chris Riggott and his finish was as inadequate as might have been expected from a centre-back.

No matter how Boro feel, it is heartening to see a West Ham side return to the top flight and demonstrate enough quality to deliver an FA Cup final appearance to the club for the first time in 26 years. The winner itself had a forcefulness that will leave a deep impression in West Ham folklore. After Hayden Mullins had won possession off George Boateng, Anton Ferdinand flighted a long ball forward that was knocked down by Dean Ashton to Marlon Harewood. The striker had the strength to evade Gareth Southgate and crunch a shot past the substitute goalkeeper Brad Jones at his near post.

Harewood cost only £500,000 from Nottingham Forest a couple of years ago and people continued to put little value on him. In his early days at the club the forward recollects being taken off in the first half against Reading. Those who could hardly bear to look at him not so long ago cannot take their eyes off him now. He and the team have improved in tandem.

However, before the interval, Boro gave West Ham constant reminders of their inferiority. While Steve McClaren has had difficulty persuading the public that he would fit the bill as England manager his handiwork had to be respected here. West Ham were out-thought and outnumbered as Boro's five midfielders established a fluency that seemed to be ending the tie as a contest. The teenager Andrew Taylor flourished in an influential partnership with Stewart Downing. Despite that, chances were uncommon because of a lack of response in attack, where Yakubu Aiyegbeni was ineffective.

In a semi-final of many defects the most noteworthy episode in the first half was the 42nd-minute challenge by Ashton on Mark Schwarzer. The Australia goalkeeper has suffered a suspected broken cheekbone that could keep him out of the World Cup. Ashton would eventually be shown a yellow card for a foul on Schwarzer's replacement.

It was another West Ham player who looked as if he could do a more tasteful sort of damage. While the Boro playmaker Fabio Rochemback gradually reached the conclusion that it was not his sort of game, Yossi Benayoun adopted a completely different approach. He found a way of bringing his gifts to bear on the semi-final. Though Pardew increased the strain on Boro by urging his full-backs to push further forward in the second half, the most significant factor in the win was the resolve of the Israeli to get on the ball. In a rushed match his skilful contribution was as good a means of honouring the memory of the late West Ham manager John Lyall as the minute's silence.

Boro must regroup to try and overhaul a 1-0 deficit to Steaua at the Riverside on Thursday. Fatigue is as much of a problem as the Romanians. The veteran Southgate epitomised that, having given a commanding display until the moment when he could not contain Harewood. Despite that, there was also desperation in the ranks of their opponents who had the benefit of younger limbs.

James Collins's challenge on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, after 83 minutes, was well-judged purely because the foul took place just outside the penalty area. The free-kick came to nothing. Boro did not demand enough of Hislop in the West Ham goal even when they were at their perkiest. They were never to find their range and it was West Ham who hit the target of a Cup final place.

Guardian Service