Nick Barmby holds off Paul McCarthy in the FA Cup sem-final at Villa Park (StuForster/Allsport)

Liverpool deserve their place against Arsenal in Cardiff, their second domestic final of the season, but they will know that the journeymen professionals from Buckinghamshire, who ply their trade in the twilight zone for a relative pittance, had bravely submitted their all.

Wycombe have not won any of their six Second Division matches since they knocked out Leicester in the quarter-final but, weary and tearful at the end, they were hailed by their fans.

The game plan meant this was never going to be a match to have us reaching for the valium, with Wycombe giving Liverpool a dose of what they had forced down the throat of Barcelona last week. Manager Lawrie Sanchez, who had been a spectator in the Camp Nou on Thursday, knew that if Wycombe were to fulfil the impossible dream they needed to frustrate their illustrious opponents.

With five defenders at the back and a tight group of three in front of these, all prepared to dig in on the treacherous surface, that's exactly what they did in a first half full of scuffle and scrapping.

This was Wycombe's final, of course. There were 14,000 of their fans in the crowd with their banners, balloons and colourful headgear - and Sanchez gesticulating for a higher decibel count whenever the volume dipped.

Yet you suspected they sensed in their heart of hearts that this was as far as it was going to go.

The accountant in Sanchez had worked out that Michael Owen's annual salary was roughly the equivalent of Wycombe's annual turnover.

Yet if these two clubs are financially worlds apart, what price do you put on effort and self belief?

It took two exceptional goals, a bullet header from substitute Emile Heskey and a wonderfully struck free-kick from Robbie Fowler, to put Wycombe on the canvas.

Sanchez knew then it was all up for his team, despite Keith Ryan's 88th-minute consolation effort. This was their 10th tie going back to last November and for the club that had never previously got beyond the third round, it had been a remarkable achievement.