Last Tuesday, Stanley knocked holders Carlisle United out of the John-stone’s Paint Trophy and secured passage into the next round and a home fixture against Tranmere.

When the facts are laid bare and reported as above you could be forgiven that the victory was a run of the mill affair.

The game was definitely not run of the mill and the 1,069 (321 from Carlisle) who braved the abysmal weather at the Crown were witness to what I personally think was one of the Reds’ greatest performances for years.

All the pre-match talk on the terrace was of penalties and whether or not we could hold out against last season’s Trophy winners for 90 minutes.

As it turned out, the two teams were very evenly matched and had it not been for some schoolboy fouls by the Carlisle team then it could have all been very different.

It was great to see the Reds all craving the ball and battling for possession and we were well deserved winners.

The match on Saturday was always going to be a hard trip as Gillingham have spent big in the summer, but Stanley more than held their own and should have taken all three points from the match.

Ian Craney will be delighted to have scored a cracker on his 200th appearance for Stanley and I hope this will be the first of many for the talented midfielder.