Full time: Watford 1 Newcastle 1

Glenn Roeder said:

"I didn't feel like a condemned man at 2-1 down, not at all. It never crossed my mind, the final whistle had not gone.

“It is amazing. Football is not an exact science and I can’t give an explanation for that because we have played well enough to win Premiership matches but it hasn’t gone for us on the day.

“The result last Thursday against the team that is top of Serie A and who came out at the weekend and beat Sampdoria 2-0 was fantastic because English clubs just don’t win in Italy.

“But we came back and had the most disappointing performance. We keep hoping that when we have a good cup result it will kick the Premiership season into a start for us.

“It hasn’t happened yet but hopefully this weekend it will turn our way.

“Thankfully it was Tuesday night and not Wednesday so we have got the extra day.

"Because we have played so many games in a mad fixture list the boys are fit at the moment.

“Three full days before lunchtime on Saturday should have the boys back in shape.

About the injured Tim Krul:

"Tim got injured before the game in Italy last week, and we weren't sure then whether he had damaged his cartilage or just had a bang on his knee.

"We had it scanned, and that didn't show anything conclusive and he was able to play against Palermo and had the most wonderful debut.

"We were not 100% certain that there wasn't some sort of cartilage damage, and sure enough it looks like that has surfaced tonight.

"He wasn't going to be involved in the game, but was doing a pre-match training session with Terry Gennoe when he dived and made a save. As he got up, the knee locked and he was in a lot of pain.

"He has been very well looked after by the medical staff and doctor at Watford and has been taken to hospital.

"If he needs anything done, then it will be done in Watford."

An apologetic Scott Parker (who threw his shirt to the fans after the shootout) said:

"I know I should not have done what I did at St James's Park on Saturday and I can only say sorry and apologise to our supporters.

"It was all heat-of-the-moment stuff when the passion and the pressure both boiled over.

"All I can say in my defence is that all the players want to win for these magnificent fans we have got here at Newcastle United.

"We know we were nowhere near what we should have been against Sheffield United on Saturday and that we did not apply ourselves.

"We have come in for a lot of criticism since Saturday but we have stuck together and we have got our reward tonight and now we are really looking forward to take things on from here.

"This was a very important victory for us to get into the last eight of the Carling Cup on a long night when not a lot of football was played.

"Watford made it very difficult for us by putting the ball in the air for a lot of the time, but when we did get it down and play a bit, we seemed to cut them open.

"We should have been a couple of goals up at half-time, but it wasn't to be and this put a lot of pressure on us throughout the second half.

"Even so, we could still have won it in normal time when Damien Duff hit the post and when they scored late on we showed great resilience to come back into it when Nobby Solano sent me in for our equaliser.

"He saw me make my run and I left it late and there were a couple of things going through my mind. I was going to shoot early on but it bobbled a bit and all I had to do was dink it over the top of the keeper.

"Obviously, we are all delighted to have won and I must say that if we hadn't, we would have been devastated."

While a euphoric Steve Harper also had his say:

"I must be honest and say I enjoyed that!

"When I saw the five takers I told the lads to just score them as I would save one.

"For a goalkeeper it is a no-lose situation. I got a little bit of help as Steven Taylor has played with one of them with England and Pav was watching them beforehand.

"I also have a habit of going the right way. I didn't on the first one, then I dived past a couple. They were high as I dived low, but I managed to save the last one thankfully.

"The lads showed great character with some fine penalties, and I have to give a special mention to Charles N'Zogbia. He stepped up and I was delighted that he scored.

"I have a habit of going the right way but the lads have got to score them. They all showed great character, especially young Charles.

"People have questioned our character and mental strength but I think that's what they got from us last night."

"I had a shoot-out against Everton and I saved the first one (against David Unsworth), but we lost, so last night was the first penalty shoot-out I've ever won but it was worth it."

Aidy Boothroyd commented:

"We did battle, we did get ahead and with five minutes to go we should have won.

"Newcastle deserved to go through because they scored their penalties and we've got no complaints. Fair play to them, they came back and got the momentum going into the penalty shootout.

"There's an energy about scoring a goal that teams seem to go up a level, and I'd like to look into that because it's not something that should happen, but it does, every week."

The talented rookie coach added: "I wouldn't lambaste our players. We haven't done well but we still showed our character and you can't argue with that."

From a bumpy pitch somewhere in South West Hungary to the edge of some allotments in Hertfordshire - a journey that took precisely thirty six years and three days to complete.

At long last though we've managed to win a competitive penalty shootout, fans and players finally able to enact that special moment we've seen other sides enjoy, namely that of going collectively barmy at the precise moment the crucial spot kick was scored - or in this case, saved. 

There were few if any travellers present in 1970 when we lost our first shootout to the less-than- magical Magyars, Pecsi Dozsa. However the 2006 vintage of black-and-whiters were there in force behind Harper's goal to savour this special moment, as they celebrated with and saluted the team.

Quite where those players had found the energy to celebrate from is unclear, following an energy-sapping two hours of football followed by 10 spot kicks and all the attendant fannying about. 

Only this club could set themselves the task of playing three games in six days and then string out the last one as long as possible.....

And on a night that at one point appeared to have been scripted - equal parts horror show, pantomime and sit-com - the third-least injured 'keeper in the club managed to make a save after three agonisingly close previous attempts.

But amidst all of the celebrations it's as well to remember that our opponents became the third successive sub-standard Premiership side that we've tried and failed to beat by conventional means.

Moreover, before Parker's late saving conversion things were just on the cusp of becoming less positive in the away end, the first stirrings of the Shepherd/Board shouts having just been temporarily drowned out by some stalwarts starting up a "United, United" chant. 

We'll never know exactly what response the final whistle would have brought had we lost 2-1 - and what its ramifications for the club could have been. That may be a good thing. 

While there may have been shortcomings in our overall performance though, there were some plusses for Roeder to take from this as he tries to keep up his side's forward momentum - anything to stop another Catherine Cookson styled Geordie Nation address from the Chairman's office.....

Restored to his more favoured position on the flank, Damien Duff looked far more comfortable than when deployed as an unwilling and ineffective forward against Charlton and Sheffield United, only the width of a post and some poor decision-making depriving him of a goal or an assist in normal time.

And on a night where most of those selected dug deep against overwhelming odds, it was the bargain basement signing Sibierski who took the plaudits for running himself ragged. 

His third goal in four starts could have been followed by more, but throughout the night he battled on up front in the face of some disgraceful refereeing.

Concerns included the soft centre of our defence, where both Taylor and Ramage endured uncomfortable evenings and we looked vulnerable to Watford's main weapon of dropping free kicks and corners deep into the box.

So it's now played two, won two for Roeder on his visits to former clubs this season, with our final scheduled game of this season sees us return to Vicarage Road.

And after the false dawn of Palermo and the immediate thud back to earth against the Blades on Saturday, it would be a brave man to predict which Newcastle will turn up at Manchester City this weekend, never mind what state we'll be in when we come back here in a shade over six months.

Questions remained to be answered about our squad though and whether we have enough firepower to score the goals that will drag us up the table. It's as simple as that really. 

And if things do go badly then we're right back in the proverbial, with any feel-good factor arising from this cup win rapidly evaporating. Defeat at City ahead of a trip to Arsenal will put renewed pressure on Roeder & Shepherd. 

Had we lost this tie, we'd not have been half as steaming as we were last season at the JJB and this report would have been taking the positives of one less game before Christmas etc. etc.

As it is though, a night of epic drama matched only in recent seasons by the miracle of Feyenoord is just another example of the brilliantly addictive unpredictability of watching these buggers.

Forget the rollercoaster analogy routinely referred to by fans; this is more of a midnight bungee jump - backwards and blindfolded. While drunk.

Surely the only thing remaining now is to win a proper Cup, then we can all go home and get some sleep..... 

Biffa

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