By Paul Brown

And we all thought Villa v Tranmere in 1994 had everything?

The build-up to this semi-final deciding clash featured clips and interviews concerning that epic last four encounter 16 years ago.

Ron Atkinson - manager of that incredible side - said the game would "take some whacking".

Well this one - unbelievably - possibly eclipsed it.

Villa were serenaded on to the pitch at the start with a sea of claret and blue flags but they nearly waved goodbye to their final dream inside the opening half hour.

A two-goal deficit was not in the script as Nikola Kalinic struck a quickfire double - first with a header and then with a neat finish, both from close-range.

There were plenty of glum faces around the stadium but thankfully Stephen Warnock got Martin O'Neill's men back into the contest almost straight away with an exquisite right-foot finish from a cracking Ashley Young centre.

It levelled the tie and gave Villa fresh impetus.

Emile Heskey then hit a perfect ball through the centre and Gabby Agbonlahor raced towards goal. Chris Samba lunged to make contact but only proceeded to take down the striker in the box. Referee Martin Atkinson got it right with a spot-kick and a red card for the influential Rovers defender.

James Milner blasted home with the resulting shot from 12 yards and Villa were level in the game and one-up in the tie overall. Villa fans wished they'd bought a calculator for the second half as what followed was a plethora of goals and free-flowing attacking football.

Richard Dunne bundled the ball home soon after the restart following a delicious corner into the box from Stewart Downing.

Gabby Agbonlahor, a tireless worker throughout the match, got in on the act just before the hour mark, sneaking a touch on Milner's thunderbolt left-foot shot from 25 yards, which comfortably beat Paul Robinson.

Big Emile made it 5-2 just past the hour mark, rounding Robinson after another tremendous ball into the danger area from the all-action Milner.

A minute later, Martin Olsson made it 5-3 with a superb overhead kick finish as the game which seemingly had everything produced yet more drama. And there was still more to come.

After Benni McCarthy and Agbonlahor had both spurned good chances for their respective sides, Brett Emerton beat Guzan with a shot from just outside the box, which flew through a ruck of bodies and into the net.

That made it 5-4 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate but there was still time for one more as wing wonder Young flew forward down the left before cutting inside and blasting an unstoppable shot into the well-worn net.

The great finish finally put an end to the tie as a contest and claret and blue supporters celebrated wildly on the final whistle, singing along to Que Sera Sera, Rockin All Over the World and My Way.

Frank Sinatra got it spot on - Villa certainly did it their way and we're all off to Wembley.