An hour after Exeter had written their headline, Alex Ferguson made his own piece of history. With the visitors still sharing the moment with their 9,000 fans in the stadium - a fair response to their very existence - the United manager was both sorry and grateful. He was almost gracious.

"I made a mistake and apologise to the fans," he said. "I thank our lucky stars we're still in the Cup. It was Exeter's day."

That much is beyond doubt, and their fans enjoyed it with thrilling appreciation, savouring the rewards of faith, hope, charity and hard work, prolonging the experience as if they might suddenly wake up.

"It was a group effort, on and off the field," said their unpaid director of football, Steve Perryman. He was referring to the supporters' trust which now owns and runs the club after its near demise and its exit from the League on the eve of its centenary. Some 2,000 members pay £5 to £100 a month to keep City going. What would United's fans give for such influence?

The draw was a victory for respect and romance, as well as the reality of football to the vast majority of its disciples.

"It was an honour to play here," said the other Alex, Inglethorpe of Exeter, 33 and three months into his first managerial job. "I'm incredibly proud of the team, their performance and conduct through the week. Sir Alex was complimentary," he added, almost shyly.

Inglethorpe, who has lifted Exeter from 15th to fourth in the Conference in 11 games, said beforehand: "We'll have to live off the scraps that might come our way." He was talking about the game, but half a million pounds will do nicely.

"This goes some way towards putting us right financially," said Ian Huxham, managing director, referring to debts already cut from £4 million to £600,000. "The next will go some way to restoring pride."

By that he meant the replay on Wednesday week. "Ticket prices will be as for a standard game," Huxham said honourably.

But television is worth £150,000 per club. The problem is the capacity at St James Park, barely the 9,000 that raised Old Trafford's rafters as the home support fell silent.

The early omens on Saturday were not bright. Inglethorpe knew "we needed to get off to a good start". Exeter, in all black, could not even kick off properly, the ball failing to cross the line. Was this to be the Theatre of Dreads? As it turned out, "we worked, concentrated, held shape and kept our desire and good decision-making throughout," said Inglethorpe, conceding that "frus-tration crept into their play".

At the same time, Ferguson's mistakes were unfolding. His XI had 26 league starts between them this season, albeit a fair number of caps. Some were barely distinguishable from the 11 mascots. "I expect better from these young players," he said. "The passing was poor".

Ferguson had written in the programme: "I always turn with pleasure to the FA Cup at this point of the season." If he thought he had made his peace with the Cup by winning it last May, the gods have better memories.

This day City were simply heroes, one and all, from Dean Moxey and the goalkeeper Paul Jones, both 18, to Scott Hiley, 36. Andy Taylor, on United's books before a knee injury, brought as good a save from Tim Howard as Jones had to make from Cristiano Ronaldo, one of three front-liners put on in vain to save face. And Ferguson said Chelsea would be found out when they go north.

Alan Smith and Paul Scholes slewed late shots past the post and Marcus Martin had one last sight of glory for City, though of course away goals no longer count at Old Trafford. A replay would suffice. Before that, United visit Chelsea for the League Cup, then Anfield. Exeter go to Billericay.

Guardian Service