Sullivan saves Tottenhams's run

And the Spurs go marching on. At least they do in the FA Cup, where the Pioneer Corps buckets and shovels of their Premiership season continues to be replaced by a bit of Coldstream spit and polish.

A victory for tactical nous, sound organisation and a combination of nerve and verve took Tottenham to the semi-finals after an enthralling sixth-round tie against West Ham United here yesterday. Now Arsenal, the club with which George Graham will always be most closely identified, stand between his present side and the first FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Spurs and their manager are now within sight of redemption for a disappointing season in the league. Yesterday their goalkeeper made the difference, two saves by Neil Sullivan in the closing minutes denying West Ham the replay their almost overwhelming pressure appeared certain to bring.

These, and the instinctive finishing of Sergei Rebrov, played a considerable part in Tottenham's victory. The little Ukrainian struck once in each half to throw West Ham onto the back foot just when they appeared to be taking control.

When Gary Doherty gave Spurs a 3-1 lead half an hour from the end, this absorbing contest appeared to have taken a decisive turn. But after Svetoslav Todorov, West Ham's Bulgarian substitute, had scored with 18 minutes remaining the excitement reached an even higher pitch.

Having beaten Manchester United and Sunderland in away ties to reach the quarter-finals, West Ham were a popular choice to go on to the final. That they did not was due in no small measure to Graham's enduring habit of employing the right tactics for the big occasion, a quality which brought Arsenal two championships and much more besides during his nine years at Highbury.

Tottenham set out to deny Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard time on the ball and space to use it as effectively as they had done at Old Trafford and the Stadium of Light. So well was the job done that for half an hour West Ham were reduced to humping the ball long towards Frederic Kanoute, easy stuff for Sol Campbell to deal with.

By no means are the present Tottenham team a pretty sight, but yesterday's performance was undeniably impressive, with Steffen Freund dogging the footsteps of Cole and Stephen Clemence and Ledley King rarely giving Lampard or Carrick a chance to establish regular lines of communication.

On the flanks, Steffen Iversen and Luke Young frequently exploited West Ham's lack of natural width, while in the middle Les Ferdinand gave an ample demonstration of classic centre-forward play, winning much in the air and working tirelessly to bring those around him into attacking movements.

Poor defending by West Ham contributed to each of Tottenham's goals, but Harry Redknapp's side should have been alerted to the likely consequences of slackness at the back in the 11th minute when Rebrov seized on an error by Igor Stimac before driving the ball over the bar. As it was, the lesson went unheeded.

After 29 minutes a centre from Freund on the right reached Young, whose header beat Hislop but hit the outside of the far post. Another minute and a prodigious throw from Freund, from the left this time, found Rebrov unmarked and his sweetly struck volley put Tottenham ahead.

A rocket of a low drive from Stuart Pearce, superbly struck after a tapped free-kick from Paolo di Canio had been stunned by Lampard, sent West Ham in at half-time with a new spring in their step. Had Kanoute not wastefully shot wide on the resumption, Pearce might still be looking forward to another final at the age of 39.

As it was, Spurs scored twice more in five minutes around the hour. First Ferdinand rose imperiously above Stimac and Pearce to nod Rebrov in for a shot through the goalkeeper's legs. Cole should have been picking the Ukrainian up, and the youngster was again at fault when he failed to react at the far post as Doherty headed in from Rebrov's corner.

Todorov, pouncing after Cole's pass had taken a ricochet off Young, restored West Ham's hopes, but Sullivan preserved Spurs' lead, saving one-handed from Kanoute and pushing wide Todorov's header as Upton Park finally ran out of bubbles.

"You can't give away three goals like that in matches like this," Redknapp complained, while Graham thought that "we approached the game in the right way from the off".

Neither manager was wrong.