And United manager Keith Curle hopes the pain of the loss – and the sound of the Grecians’ joy as they secured a date against Blackpool at Wembley – will spur his side on to greater things next season.
On his own thoughts at Thursday night’s dramatic defeat, the boss said: “I’m fuming. The easy thing for me to do would be to get in the car and have a sulk on the way home. But that’s not me.
“The players in the changing room wanted to slam the door and keep it shut, but I didn’t. I wanted to make them listen to them celebrating. Make sure it hurts you. That is success.
“You have got to make sure you listen to that success. It has got to hurt you because it has been taken away from you. That has got to be the foundation of our building blocks for next season.
“That pain of them celebrating, because they have got an opportunity, they are going to Wembley, that has got to stay with us.
"It needs to be part of our journey and our groundwork for the journey we start on next season.”
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