Fulham brushed aside the challenge of underdogs Bristol Rovers with a 7-2 win, while Charlton had a tough battle to see off five-times winners Arsenal 1-0.

Rovers attracted a crowd of 2,442 to the Memorial Ground and were hoping to pull off a memorable victory over last season's winners, despite playing in the Southern Division - a league below the women's top flight. But, despite a fairytale start with Br bagging a third-minute penalty to put the home side ahead, there was no way Fulham were going to give up the chance to display their silky skills in front of live BBC1 cameras at the Final.

Long-term injury victim Marieanne Spacey enjoyed the game more than most after sealing her comeback by scoring Fulham's seventh goal - just a minute after she had entered the pitch as a late substitute.

"It's good to be back," she told TheFA.com "It was a great moment when the ball went in. It wasn't the best goal I've ever scored, but it felt good. Hopefully I'll be back playing 90 minutes by the Final."

In the earlier semi-final at The Valley, Charlton played some great entertaining football to get the home crowd of 3,031 cheering throughout the game. Every player turned in a good performance, but they found it hard to make the breakthrough despite Arsenal admittedly not playing their best.

It was late in the game when Amanda Barr, on a surge forward into the Arsenal penalty area, was adjudged to have been pushed by Yvonne Tracey and referee Wendy Toms awarded a penalty. Justine Lorton stepped up and hit a fine spot-kick into the bottom left corner, with Arsenal 'keeper Emma Byrne diving the wrong way.

Arsenal went on the attack, looking to bring themselves back into the game and Charlton had England goalkeeper Pauline Cope to thank for ensuring their path to the final. Cope made a tremendous one-handed save with just minutes left on the clock to deny lively striker Angie Banks from point-blank range.

Charlton celebrated at full-time as though they had already won the competition, spraying the team with champagne to the delight of the cheering fans.

Addicks manager Keith Boanas said: "The players on both sides know each other well and we're evenly matched, so we knew it was going to come down to luck.

"I think the standard of top women's football is levelling out and we've shown in this game that we should be regarded as one of the top sides in the country. I used to work in a bookies and I would say the odds on us winning The FA Cup Final are even."