Do we now believe in Huddersfield Town?

Either way, enjoy nights like this. What else is football for?

We expected to see a bit of Premier League quality turn the game, and it did. But it came from Chelsea loanee Leo Castledine.

The midfielder’s first goal for Huddersfield Town will be savoured for some time to come. His parent clubmate, Marc Guiu, threatened to ruin the evening for Castledine and the Terriers alike with his late equaliser. However, we know what happens when Lee Nicholls is in goal for a penalty shootout.

We need to remind ourselves that this was top-flight opposition, because it didn’t look like it until late on. There’s no question Sunderland were off their game.

But there is also no doubt that Huddersfield gave as good as they got and then some. Just as against Leicester, they controlled the first half. The goal didn’t come against the run of play in the slightest.

In every department, Town stuck to their tasks and did them well. Nicholls was commanding in his box and pulled off a couple of important saves. The two centre-backs, especially the brilliant Jack Whatmough, were rock solid. David Kasumu made the Sunderland midfield look like chumps again and again. Joe Taylor stretched the opposition line wherever he could with his endless runs in behind.

Michael Duff never recovered his standing with Town fans after their humiliation at Tamworth in the FA Cup in November. Even as his side embarked on a long unbeaten streak in the league, the doubts had been established and couldn’t be shaken off.

How different things feel under Lee Grant right now. Championship Leicester and Premier League Sunderland have both been dispatched. The fact both were sealed in penalty shootouts takes nothing away from Town.

“It should feel big,” as Grant put it after the game, “because it is big.”