LONDON (AFP) - Nwankwo Kanu's second-half goal saw Portsmouth into their first FA Cup final for 69 years as they beat one of his former clubs West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the first of this weekend's Wembley semi-finals here on Saturday.

Portsmouth, the last Premier League side left in this season's competition and who won the FA Cup for the only time in their history back in 1939, will now face another Championship side in either Barnsley or Cardiff, who play each other in Sunday's second semi-final, at Wembley on May 17.

The Cup final will see Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp, who had guided the south coast club to sixth in the Premier League table before Saturday's kick-off, going for his first major honour as a manager.

"It's a great day for the club. It's great for my family and the supporters, I'm delighted for everybody," Redknapp said.

"We didn't pass the ball well enough in the first half. They passed it better than us at the start but we got going after half-time. I knew they were dangerous opposition because Tony Mowbray has got them playing the right way."

Kanu added: "I just waited to see if the keeper parried it and I followed it in. For everyone at Portsmouth it's a great day.

"I've been to the FA Cup final before but to win it with Portsmouth would be fantastic. These supporters are always behind us."

West Brom, who started Saturday fourth in the second-tier Championship, will now have promotion to the Premier League as their sole priority.

Kevin Phillips, their former England striker, insisted Portsmouth had been fortunate to win and accused the officials of failing to spot Milan Baros's handball in the build-up to Kanu's goal.

"I don't think we deserved to lose. I think everyone has seen what a good quality team we are. On overall play did they deserve to win the game? I don't think so," he said.

"We know what officials are like in big games. They tend to bottle it a bit. We can hold our heads high. We put an excellent performance in and just couldn't find a goal. Portsmouth have been very lucky."

Goalless at half-time, the match sparked into life when Kanu put Pompey in front in the 54th minute.

Fellow forward Baros chested down a long through-ball and saw his shot on the turn saved one-handed by former Pompey goalkeeper Dean Kiely.

As the ball ran along the line Zoltan Gera tried to clear before Nigeria international Kanu stabbed home from just a few yards out.

West Brom manager Mowbray made a double substitution on the hour mark, bringing on Ishmael Miller for fellow forward Roman Bednar and, in another like-for-like replacement, Chris Brunt took James Morrison's place on the left side of midfield.

But it was Kiely who had to be alert minutes later, clearing from the edge of the area as Baros, who joined Portsmouth on loan from French club Lyon in January, chased a through-ball.

And he did even better in the 65th minute when, following a precise pass from Croatia midfielder Niko Kranjcar, he saved when one-on-one with Baros although the Czech international, yet to score for Portsmouth, gave Kiely a chance by delaying his shot.

West Brom almost had an equaliser in the 74th minute when Carl Hoefkens burst down the right and beat two players before squaring the ball to Slovenia midfielder Robert Koren, whose shot from the edge of the box hit the crossbar with England goalkeeper David James beaten.

Substitue David Nugent could have finished the game in the 83rd minute but shot straight at Kiely while seconds later, at the other end, Miller steered the ball wide.

Portsmouth, without in-form but Cup-tied forward Jermain Defoe, had had only one shot of note in a mediocre first-half when midfielder Sulley Muntari, their penalty hero in the 1-0 quarter-final win over Manchester United, saw his 30-yard free-kick saved comfortably by Kiely.

West Brom dominmated possession in the early stages and justified their tag as the 'best footballing side' in the Championship.

But several promising moves broke down on the edge of the Pompey box with Lassana Diarra sweeping up effectively for Portsmouth.

Gera tested James with an shot from just outside the area which, worryingly for Pompey fans, the keeper spilt. James had another nervous moment in the 37th minute when he fumbled a back-header from team-mate Glen Johnson and only just recovered in time as Baggies striker Phillips raced in.