I've got cup fever!
It's been a long time since we could say that, but after what has felt like an eternity, Sunderland are in the hat for the fourth round of the FA Cup after our penalty shootout victory at Everton.
For the past decade, my team has been in a bit of a pickle and any idea of going on a cup run has been firmly put on the back burner.
But with 30 points on the board in January and Premier League safety practically guaranteed, we can dare to dream again and prioritise a good run in the cup.
We should be taking cup competitions seriously. That's the whole point of this thing, right? We all want to experience the feeling of winning. Lifting a cup is the best thing you can do outside of winning a Premier League, and that's basically a closed shop, so why not?
From the off, we were energetic and the tempo was good. While the scoreline might indicate this wasn't a particularly dominant Sunderland performance, I felt there was only ever really one team that was going to win it.
Our goal was superb – and it had to be Enzo le Fee. After all the carry-on last week with his terrible penalty at Brentford, he took his opportunity and celebrated in front of the near-8,000 Sunderland supporters in the stands.
And then came the undeserved Everton goal. It was never a penalty, and John Brooks ought to be ashamed for awarding it.
Extra time should be renamed "waste of time". Surely it will soon be scrapped in the FA Cup and we'll skip straight to the shootout?
The way Everton got back into the game was a joke, but it did give the travelling away fans another fun experience. Robin Roefs faced three penalties and saved them all, while Le Fee, Granit Xhaka and Luke O'Nien expertly dispatched their spot-kicks. Job done.
It's been a tough few weeks, but this win gives us momentum heading into an important game this weekend against Crystal Palace.
Let's dare to dream both in the FA Cup and the Premier League!
Find more from Gavin Henderson at Roker Report
