Auxerre end Nîmes adventure

By Chris Burke

AJ Auxerre won a place in the French Cup final after finally bringing third division Nîmes Olympique's magnificent run to an end with a tense 2-1 victory in tonight's semi-final.

Duchesne heroics
Fit-again Auxerre duo Benjani Mwaruwari and Bonaventure Kalou wasted no time in testing Nîmes goalkeeper Cédric Duchesne, but he kept the visitors in the game with a string of fabulous saves. Benjani and Philippe Violeau both struck the crossbar for the 2003 winners in a pulsating first half, but their lower-league opponents were far from outclassed and Auxerre goalkeeper Fabien Cool had to be alert to keep out Eloge Enza Yamissi's header and a long-range Mathias Verschave effort at the other end.

Tainio winner
Nîmes's resistance was eventually broken in the opening minutes of the second half when Kalou beat Duchesne from the penalty spot, but the third division team refused to lie down and Verschave drew another fine stop from Cool on 65 minutes. Teemu Tainio doubled Auxerre's advantage with a composed finish in the 78th minute, and Nîmes were dealt another blow when Siramana Dembelé was sent off for a second yellow card. They still managed to make Auxerre sweat, however, when Verschave fired a free-kick past Cool four minutes into added time.

Final date
It was not enough though, and Guy Roux's side will face the winners of Wednesday's semi-final, between AS Monaco FC and CS Sedan-Ardennes, in the final on 4 June at the Stade de France, Paris.