A Saturday afternoon by the river, a couple inseparable on one of the most memorable days of their life. Where one goes, the other follows and their desire is all too apparent. But this desire is not for one another, these two are far from in love...

Tough-tackling, powerful and strong in the air Martin Keown against tough-tackling, powerful and strong in the air James Beattie, and the winner of this battle would claim an FA Cup winners medal.

The Gunners are full of flair, style and that je ne sais quoi, while the Saints' less than subtle approach is more obvious and that attitude is epitomised by their leading scorer James Beattie. Sure he's quick and has tricks and flicks of his own, but his real asset is his aggression, when he can attack a defence with only one thing on his mind.

Likewise Keown, the old-stager, in his fourth FA Cup Final, cares very little for the sublime gifts his team-mates sometimes dish out. He has his own surprises to bring to the party, but he never seems to want to give anything away.

Arsenal were without Vieira and Campbell, the solid heart of a team that made its way to Cardiff brushing aside both Manchester United and Chelsea. The burden was going to fall to someone, and Keown was there to take the responsibility with both hands.

With French winger Fabrice Fernandes left on the bench, Southampton opted for set-pieces and high balls into Beattie as their main route to goal. Beattie would act as a pivot feeding the pace of Brett Ormerod, who had his own 'ghost' in the shape of Oleg Luzhny, but it wasn't going to be as easy as that for the England striker.

Beattie did have the better of the early exchanges as Keown and his Ukrainian partner failed to gel. However, as the game wore on, the Arsenal man grew in stature and Beattie couldn't find the space he needed. If he was unmarked when the ball was working towards him, he'd soon catch the sight of Keown arriving to keep him company.

It was inevitable, that at some stage in a battle between two committed players such as these, that yellow cards would follow, but when Keown went into Graham Barber's book on the half hour, it wasn't for his work on Beattie, but a lunge on his buddy Ormerod. Even then though, there was no separating the pair, as, within sixty seconds Beattie joined him picking up the game's second booking for a high foot on Keown's comrade, Luzhny.

As the sun began to sneak romantically through the corner windows of a closed Millennium roof, the pair decided on a lie down on the grass together - but only after a bruising challenge that sent both in opposite directions. Neither was going to give in, but Beattie's glance towards Keown seconds later raised the stakes. However, Keown is not one to worry about making enemies, just mistakes, and today he was handing nothing out on a plate. 

Pires' 38th minute strike for Arsenal made the Saints' job even harder as the Gunners' were happy to sit back and attack on the break. Only a change of tactics looked like it would help, but into the second period the Saints continued with their aerial onslaught.

Keown and Luzhny, by now seasoned to this threat, were able to read most of what Southampton threw at them. Only when a different approach was taken, it was Ormerod who found space on the edge of the six-yard box from a neat through-ball but Seaman's fine save was there to back-up Keown most effectively.

Substitute Tessem then found space in a similar position but his drive was also dealt with, this time by a defensive block, and Southampton's two best chances were gone.

Though Beattie kept beavering away at Keown, the longer the game wore on with Arsenal leading, the more they took the sting out of it. And for a five minute spell Arsenal played the ball around the Saints with great skill running down the clock even more.

When four added minutes were signalled at the end of the ninety, the Saints had one last rally. This time, from a left hand corner, Beattie was able, on one of the very few occasions, to get the better of Keown. He met the cross with a powerful header that, had it gone in, would have given Southampton another half an hour in which to look for a winner. In the event, however, Beattie's only chance of the match was blocked on the line by Ashley Cole and cleared from danger. 

Keown won today's battle and Arsenal lifted The Cup.

From Jamie Bradbury in Cardiff

For more from Cardiff and a full report on Arsenal's second successive FA Cup Final victory click here...    
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