It certainly looked like we were heading towards a replay at Crewe and, as John Sheridan said after the game, that wouldn’t have been such a bad outcome for Carlisle. Going away from home and getting a draw is rarely a bad result, whatever the competition.

The manager would have been confident of taking them back to Brunton Park and finishing the job but, as we know, things ended up going even better for United in the closing stages.

Overall, a draw would probably have been a fair result. Adam Collin didn’t have as much to do as Crewe’s keeper Ben Garratt, but the home team did get into some better areas at times, without their final ball or cross being all that great.

It was an entertaining enough game, maybe because the shackles of League Two were off. Both teams went at it. It didn’t always have the intensity you expect but there was a sense both sides enjoyed that break from the league and the chance to focus on something completely different.

Fairly evenly-matched, then - so it was great for Carlisle to get through at the death. Jamie Devitt had two great shots in the first half and either would have been a great goal, but in the end the luckiest goal he’s probably ever scored got United the win.

You have to say fair play to Devitt. In the 90th minute he was still chasing down the goalkeeper, putting pressure on his clearance.

We shouldn’t forget that Jamie has only just come back from injury a few weeks ago, so to last the full game, and go to the end, tells you that he made his own luck.

It made, too, for a funny end to the game. All the Carlisle supporters were laughing and joking about the way they won it and for that reason it will be one of those games they remember they were at.

If they go on to reach the third round, and land a big club, it will be remembered even more fondly, too.

It can make a real difference when your luck turns in your favour. Last weekend, first-team coach Paul Murray referred to the penalty he felt Newport should probably have had, but didn’t, moments before Carlisle got their last-minute winner through Danny Grainger. Eight days later, they win a cup tie with the sort of goal nobody expected.

The moment Devitt’s deflection rolled into the net, you could sense some Crewe supporters thinking, ‘That’s typical Crewe’, as they stood up, shook their heads and made their way out of the ground.

How many times over the years have we thought, ‘That’s typical Carlisle’ when things have gone against us?

So it’s nice to come out on the right side of a break like that – and on the subject of unusual goals, it takes me back to one I scored at Bradford City in 2006, with part of my anatomy that didn’t get too many over the course of my career.

A bit like Devitt on Saturday, I’d had a couple of chances earlier in the game, and also in other matches in that League One season, that hadn’t quite come off. I’d gone for curlers which had hit the bar, and I’d seen keepers pull off great saves.

Before the game you always picture how you are going to score, but I’d missed a chance in the first half at Valley Parade and felt that, as a midfielder, that was probably my opportunity gone for the day.

Then, out of nowhere, I got in the way of a Kevin Gall volley. To begin with, I knew I’d saved him the embarrassment of hitting the corner flag. Then it got even better as the ball deflected off my buttock, wrongfooted the keeper and found the net.

At the time I was getting a bit of stick for my backside, because people thought I’d put a bit of weight on it. But it turned out well for everyone as it earned us a 1-1 draw – and I don’t care what anyone says, it was my goal as much as any other I’d scored in a more normal way.

I’m probably right in thinking Devitt felt exactly the same about scoring at Crewe as he has when he’s bent one into the top corner in other games. You still get that feeling no matter how it goes in.

He said after the game that it goes down as his goal, not how it happened, and that’s exactly right. When the score flashed up on TV it said ‘Devitt (90)’ and that’s all anyone sees. After scoring two the previous week, people will have looked at that and thought the midfielder has hit a good run of form.

It’s amazing how a moment like that can galvanise your season. Especially after winning at the death against Newport, going away next game and winning 1-0 gives players a real boost.

Had they lost on Saturday, that Newport game would have looked like a one-off. Instead it is back-to-back victories. It allows the team to think they are getting back on track. It can restore some belief.

Sheridan said the right thing afterwards, too. He said he wasn’t going to dissect the performance too much. Carlisle’s bad run, at home, is still fresh in the mind and the players probably don’t need any more reminders of where they might have gone wrong.

Sometimes it’s better simply to go in and say, ‘Well done lads, you’ve got the job done’.

You even see Pep Guardiola doing it at times on that Amazon documentary. I’m sure there are times when he wants to pick everything apart straight away, but there are occasions when you’ve just got to play on the good feeling of a win, however it comes.

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With their good away record, Carlisle should be looking forward to going down to Swindon next weekend.

The game has, though, been given a different spin with the news that the Robins have sacked manager Phil Brown and No2 Neil McDonald and, earlier today, appointed Richie Wellens as their new boss.

Swindon has always struck you as a proper club, certainly at League Two level, with a decent fanbase and a good stadium.

Their chairman demands results and nothing shows that more than the decision to let Brown and McDonald go despite a win on Saturday against York in the FA Cup.

Clearly the hierarchy aren’t happy with their league position, or maybe the style of football isn’t what they wanted.

Brown is one of those managers who, for some reason, fans don’t always take to, even when things are going well.

When Carlisle went to Southend a few years ago, they were going for promotion yet supporters still had some gripes with him.

With a new manager in place on Saturday, there will surely be some sort of reaction, and that can go either way.

Some players who felt they were hard done-by under Brown might be desperate to impress Wellens. Carlisle have to be ready for that sort of mindset.

The first 20 minutes will see people going that extra yard, fighting a bit more, which might seem wrong for professionals but happens so often in these circumstances, when a manager goes.

That will be the crucial spell in the game for me. Carlisle have to try not to give Swindon any reason to excite home fans who will be desperate for something to hold onto.

You can see positive results at times like this but at other times a new man in charge isn’t sure of his best team, and things can be a mismatch.

United’s job is to keep them in their lull for a long as possible.