CARDIFF, May 13 (SW) - Normally one man is designated a hero in a football match, but Liverpool had two on Saturday as Steven Gerrard and José Reina lifted Liverpool to a 3-1 penalty-shootout victory over West Ham United in the FA Cup final after a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Trailing by a goal in the dying stages, Gerrard hit a cracking shot to level the match at 3-3, and a hit post late in extra time by West Ham sent it to penalties where Reina saved three efforts in the victory.

The Hammers, who dominated early, were the first on the scoreboard in at Millennium Stadium on 21 minutes as a cross in on the ground by Lionel Scaloni was touched past Reina by Reds defender Jamie Carragher, gifting West Ham a deserved lead.

Seven minutes later, the man of the match at that point Dean Ashton made it 2-0, poking in the rebound after Reina spilled an effort by Matthew Etherington.

Liverpool, though, were not to roll over and Djibril Cissé pulled them back within a goal after 32 minutes with a thunderous volley off of Gerrard's pass. Both sides then threatened the goals after that, but the match went to the break at 2-1 to the Hammers.

Nine minutes after the restart, Liverpool found themselves level as skipper Gerrard fires home after Peter Crouch got his head to a corner kick. That joy for Reds fans would soon turn to gloom, however.

Ten minutes later, West Ham snatched back the lead as Paul Konchesky inadvertently hit a deep ball up and over Reina into the corner of the goal for a 3-2 lead. It was a fluke at best, but it was enough to bring the Hammers fans back to life.

With Liverpool players, including Gerrard, succumbing to cramps as the match got into the latter stages, it apppeared unlikely that an equalizer would come. Enter Mr. Gerrard.

With 89 minutes played, the England international grabbed what looked like a harmless ball over 30 yards from goal, but he unleashed a powerful drive that eluded goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, sending the match to extra time.

EXTRA TIME

The first half of extra time was quite uneventful as players were grasping to find energy, but the second frame came alive as Fernando Morientes nearly got on the end of a ball in by Mohamed Sissoko, but Hislop was able to gather at the last chance.

Then, with one minute to play before penalties, a header in on goal by Nigel Reo-Coker had to be pushed onto the post by Reina. Then, a failed clearance led to another chance by Marlon Harewood, but his shot went wide, forcing penalSties.

PENALTY SHOOTOUT

Liverpool got the proceedings underway with substitute Dietmar Hamann scoring before Reina and Hislop saved efforts from Bobby Zamora and Sami Hyypiä. Teddy Sheringham then stepped up and leveled the shootout at 1-1 after two rounds.

Gerrard made no mistake with his spot kick to make it 2-1, and Reina gave Liverpool the edge with a save off of goalscorer Konchesky's spot kick. John Arne Riise's successful attempt meant West Ham had to score, but Reina again saved off of Anton Ferdinand to claim their seventh FA Cup victory and first since 2001.