How unfortunate that Sunday's capital showdown - tagged 'The Snarling Cup final' in Monday's morning papers - will be remembered for the dark arts rather than Arsene Wenger's youngsters' bewitching display.
The 60 seconds of injury-time in which chaos erupted in Cardiff - resulting in red cards for Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and John Obi Mikel - should not be allowed to overshadow what was a cup final of the highest quality - with the enduring image being a landmark display from Arsenal.
From the off, the young Guns exuded a fearlessness and confidence that even their senior colleagues lacked on their trip to Stamford Bridge earlier in the season, and their youthful exuberance could well have overwhelmed The Blues in a thrilling first half.
It is remarkable that Cesc Fabregas - still just 19 but with a World Cup behind him - was the senior man in Arsenal's front six and the Catalan duly delivered with his usual brand of prescient passing.
Whilst Denilson lacked the spark that had accompanied his performances against Liverpool and Tottenham in previous rounds, Abou Diaby and Jeremie Aliadiere both contributed heavily to a fluid and incisive performance that evoked the senior team in its pomp.
However, it was Theo Walcott - at a reported £12million the most expensive of Wenger's young recruits - who truly came of age, capping a fine outing with his first senior goal for The Gunners.
The unassuming teenager turned into a raging bull after producing a Thierry Henry-esque finish after 12 minutes, and his display hinted that he could well be a big game player - a title that has so frequently been used to taunt his captain.
Not all of the fledglings impressed of course, and if Wenger's team selection could be questioned then the decision to include Philippe Senderos was surely puzzling given his abysmal track record against Didier Drogba.
The Ivorian ghosted in front of Senderos to head his second, and the winning, goal to cap another match-winning display and underline his psychological hold over the Swiss stopper.
At left-back Armand Traore was more Marc Overmars than Nigel Winterburn, with his defensive limitations exposed by substitute Arjen Robben, and his inability to deal with pace and trickery would have been no surprise to those who saw his panic at facing Aaron Lennon in the semi-final.
However - at 17 the youngest player on the pitch - the latest Frenchman to roll off the North London production line still did enough to suggest that extra training with Steve Bould could see him emerge as a viable rival to Gael Clichy.
Ultimately though, experience won the day as Chelsea triumphed thanks to the excellence of Petr Cech in goal and the clinical efficiency of Drogba as the striker claimed his 27th and 28th goals of a remarkable season.
Jose Mourinho witnessed top earners Michael Ballack and Andrei Shevchenko fail to produce the goods again, but the deep yearning for success within his side secured their second Carling Cup in three years - a fact acknowledged by the Portuguese boss: "They [Arsenal] have a great coach, great players, but football is about winning and the cup goes to us."
The question of whether Wenger can imbue his side with a similar winning mentality will be key to whether his class of 06/07 will graduate into Premiership winners in the future, but, at the final whistle, Mourinho clearly had a lot more to worry about than John Terry's injury.
His Premiership hegemony may well be broken by Manchester United this season, but Arsenal's Carling Cup side - with a average age of 21.6 years to Chelsea's 27.1 - did more than enough to suggest that a further challenge could emerge a lot closer to home in the coming years.
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