Villa v Albion part II, as seen by Dave Woodhall.

It would be too much to have hoped for a performance like last Tuesday, and right on cue we didn’t get one. Without the injured Benteke and with Agbonlahor closer to his regular form Villa lacked an attacking edge. Indeed, for the opening twenty minutes they were second-best but, and to me this is the big difference a change of manager has brought about, there was a feeling that if they could get to half-time with the game still goalless they would be a different side after the interval.

And that’s what happened – Villa attacked with more purpose and within ten minutes N’Zogbia had taken out four defenders and laid on the perfect ball to Delph. Now why doesn’t he do that more often?

One goal leads are never safe but whatever threat Albion possessed was dealt with easily enough. Yacob’s dismissal (perfectly correct in my eyes) didn’t make much difference, particularly as a classic counter-attack saw Villa moving with speed and precision, two words that would have seemed unthinkable a month ago, for Scott Sinclair to wrap the game up.

Five minutes of stoppage time passed without incident, except for Jack Grealish being sent off (absolutely diabolical) and a premature pitch invasion, which was followed by a larger one at the final whistle. Unfortunately the reaction to this has marred what was the best week in the past five years.

Last Monday saw Villa having lost their first two games under Tim Sherwood, stuck in the relegation zone and there seemed no escape. Now the team are inching up the table and we’re going to Wembley. An FA Cup semi-final might not sound something to get worked up about but after what seemed like endless misery it’ll be a good day out.

Saturday wasn’t a “return to the dark ages” (Phil McNulty) or “straight from the 1980’s” (Mark Lawrenson). Neither was it the first nor will it be the last pitch invasion ever witnessed in English football.There was no motive other than sheer euphoria, and for that matter the mood inside the ground was never more then fevered. There was certainly none of the menace that we’ve known against other opponents. It’s ironic that the loudest condemnation came from employees of the BBC, whose FA Cup advertising has placed much emphasis on pitch invasions of years past.

Villa haven’t won an FA Cup quarter final at home since 1959, we haven’t won or come close to winning the trophy for even longer, and if anyone thought we were going to politely applaud and then go home quietly they don’t know Villa supporters.

These distractions out of the way, we can now concentrate on the more humdrum matter of Premier League survival. Sunderland, coming up on Saturday, seem to be slipping into the danger zone and another good performance would net the three points that will see Villa edge further out of trouble. A week ago it would have seemed a tall order but I can’t remember the feeling around Villa Park ever change so much as it has in the past seven days.