To say the task that Stoke City faced today was mountainous would be no under-statement, Stoke, having dislodged Arsenal and Man City's FA Cup hopes were rewarded with the daunting task of seeing off holders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and this was a bridge that Stoke simply couldn't over-come.
Stoke started the game positively, early signs suggested dead-ball situations and throw-ins could cause Chelsea and erratic goalkeeper Hilario problems, but over the course of 90 minutes, you would have to say Chelsea coped with the throw-in well, they did what all sides defending the throw-in should do, and attacked it.
Chelsea began to get a grip of the game as it progressed, and the deadline was broke on 35 minutes, as Frank Lampard found himself with space to latch onto a John Terry pass and unleash a strike that deflected of Stoke defender Abdoulaye Faye and found it's way into the net.
Stoke were forced into a change of 43 minutes, as irishman Glen Whelan was carrying a knock and was replaced by Danny Pugh. As half-time came about, I actually found myself remaining rather upbeat, with the belief that chances would come in the second-half, and it would boil down to whether we could take them.
Sadly, Stoke never really got a grip of the game in the second-half, Chelsea controlled posession as Stoke could only muster up 2 shots on target over 90 minutes. A John Terry header pulled the curtain down on Stoke's hopes, but let's be honest, it's refreshing to see the vile bastard scoring at home for a change, after his recent run of form when playing away.
Stoke's front two of Fuller and Sidibe were feeding off scraps over the course of the game and never really had much service, Tuncay was disappointing and in-affective on the left hand side, and it really showed how much we miss Etherington and the dimension his pace and ability to beat a man can bring to our game. The full-backs found themselves out of position too much at times, Wilkinson in particular, but to their credit, and to Stoke's credit, they were allowed to push on today and support the wingers as best they could, it should good intent by Stoke, and it showed the mentality we've took into every round in this tournament.
As a Stoke supporter, the word gutted wouldn't really put my emotions fully into perspective, I had a taste of Wembley just like every other hopeful potter, clinging onto the hope we could produce another scalp today and find ourselves walking down Wembley way in a tournament we've never made the final in, but despondency coincides with sheer pride at the way we've conducted ourselves in this tournament, we've answered alot of critics with the football we've produced and the way we've mixed our play up. We've took the game to every team home and away, we've worked our bollocks off for the cause and sadly not been rewarded, but that's football, today's disappointment should take nothing away from the work-rate and desire we've shown, and to reach the last 8 of this tournament for the first time since the 70's can only be a positive for this club, and a further example of the direction we're heading in.
Well-done lads, well-done Pulis, and well-done to the vocal 3000 stokies who backed the team all the way today, sometimes in football you have to admit the best team won, today was one of those days.
Big game on Wednesday at Turf Moor as we looked to edge ourselves closer to the landmark 40 points and inevitable safety, let's dust ourselves down and keep positive.
We are Stoke.
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