Luck of draw deserts Shearer

IF Alan Shearer's last act as a Newcastle player is to be played out at the Millennium Stadium on May 21, then yesterday the luck of the draw deserted him.

Manchester United, the holders and the team who longed after Shearer a decade ago, and the team he surely wanted to avoid above all others, block Newcastle's route to the FA Cup final.

England's former captain has twice been a losing FA Cup finalist with his hometown club, firstly against Arsenal in 1998 and then a year later when the Red Devils captured the second trophy of their treble-winning season.

But even if Newcastle's current momentum carries them past 11-times winners United, then in all likelihood Arsenal will wait in the final.

"It's not the draw we wanted, but it won't have been the draw Manchester United wanted either," said Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd.

If Shearer, the greatest English centre-forward of his generation, has a point to prove before he quits in the summer, then what about Arsenal, and United too?

With European borders now closed to both, United and Arsenal will be desperate to reach the final of a competition which was in danger of being derided by the leading clubs until Chelsea began creaming off the game's other top prizes.

Both were tantalisingly kept apart in yesterday's draw, as Trevor Brooking did Arsene Wenger a favour by pairing Arsenal with Blackburn.

On the back of seven straight wins, and a sense that Newcastle are desperate to win a trophy in Shearer's last year, the mood on Tyneside is bullish ahead of the semi-finals, which are to be played on the weekend of April 16-17, with the FA to determine which game should fall on which day.

The positivity is reflected in the attitude of chairman Shepherd.

"But there's no reason why we cannot beat them. We won't be frightened of them," he said.

It all comes back to 34-year-old Shearer though, with just one championship medal from his Blackburn days to show for 18 years and hundreds of goals in club football.

"I hope Cardiff is more friendly to us than Wembley has been over the years," he said.

Newcastle, who won the last of their six FA Cups in 1955, could yet be involved in two cup finals in a week. The UEFA Cup final is scheduled for May 18, and they appear bound for the last eight already, with the domestic showpiece just three days later.

But Alex Ferguson's Red Devils will take some beating.

They were the most convincing winners in the quarter-finals, trouncing Southampton 4-0 at St Mary's and it took a team as mighty as AC Milan to expose any deficiencies in Ferguson's well-oiled machine.

Arsenal, Newcastle and Blackburn each won by 1-0 margins against Bolton, Tottenham and Leicester respectively. If Blackburn have a joker in their pack, then it could be former Gunners striker Paul Dickov.

Rovers assistant boss Mark Bowen joked: "We've never felt so wanted as we have in the last 24 hours. Everybody wanted us, but we're going to show everybody that if Arsenal take us lightly then we're well prepared and they'll come a cropper."