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Three-one up in the dreaded penalty shoot-out and needing just one successful kick from two attempts, you would have put your house on Chris Giles firing home and securing a second successive Play-Off final slot.
He hit it clean enough, had the beating of keeper Matt Glennon, but then looked on in disbelief as the ball cannoned off the underside of the crossbar to safety, disturbing the white chalk of the goal line on the way.
That pretty much summed up the night as a whole.
Talk of Friday May 6 will no doubt rumble on and on in years to come — and none of it for the right reasons.
This was a night where the home support — who helped swell the attendance to a Conference record 10,803 — let their club down and won themselves few friends.
Quite frankly, they were a disgrace as coins, lighters and bottles were hurled in the direction of the 800 or so Shots fans who made the long trip to Cumbria, amidst TWO separate pitch invasions, which no doubt unsettled Terry Brown's men in their penalty shoot-out quest.
And all the time, Shots fans were kept penned in like caged animals by a sea of heavy-handed yellow-vested stewards, who did precious little to stop the barrage.
Indeed, had Giles' penalty managed to bounce the right side of the chalk, thus earning the Shots a return to the Britannia Stadium on May 14, who knows what could have happened?
With such a hostile crowd and a determined Carlisle line-up awaiting them, this was a night when the Shots needed intervention from Lady Luck herself.
Yes, she might have played a small part in Jamie Slabber setting up a tense period of extra time with a dramatic 95th minute leveller, but from there on, it was the Cumbrians who seemed to get the breaks.
Giles' miss gave the hosts faint hope of pulling off a miracle comeback, but when Nick Crittenden saw the next decisive spot kick brilliantly saved by Glennon low to his right, it was all to play for once again.
Confident spot kicks from Will Antwi, David Lee and Slabber again put the Shots in cruise control earlier, with keeper Nikki Bull more than playing his part, saving from Brendon McGill and Glenn Murray.
But when Magno Vieira and Peter Murphy stroked home either side of Crittenden's miss, a tense sudden death ensued.
Chris Billy cancelled out Gary Holloway's effort to take the scores to 4-4 before Jon Challinor stepped up and saw his spot kick met by a fantastic lunge from Glennon, this time to his left.
What happened thereon shamed the club as fans, believing they had already won, swarmed the pitch in jubilation.
Five minutes later, when referee Neil Swarbrick finally resumed control with Carlisle needing to score one more, Danny Livesey sent Bull the wrong way to bring the Shots season to a sad, sad end.
Dejected Bull, Challinor and skipper Steve Watson were all clouted from behind by fans as they attempted to make their way back down the tunnel as the Brunton Park pitch, which was covered in water five months ago, was flooded again, this time with a sea of supporters.
On par with last year's penalty heartache at the Britannia, this had to be an ultimate low in the short but sweet history of Aldershot Town — ironically coming so soon after the ultimate of highs.
Two-one down on aggregate with just 30 seconds of injury time remaining, Lee floated over a hopeful cross into the box and substitute Slabber arrived in the nick of time to head home his first goal for the Shots, thus stunning the home crowd into silence and sparking joyous scenes in the visiting section.
The Shots, in truth, should really have been dead and buried by this stage, but Brown's troops deserved huge credit in clawing their way back into a game which looked beyond them.
The 1-0 lead from the first leg at the Rec on Monday was under threat right from the off and it wasn't long before it was cancelled out.
Just 13 minutes had gone when the Cumbrians were controversially awarded a corner, Murphy floated the ball in and Livesey, who missed the first game through suspension, rose highest to power home a header at the far post.
Indeed, Carlisle were proving to be a major threat from set-pieces with Tarkan Mustafa forced to hack clear from his own goal line on just six minutes after Murphy's free-kick from the right was glanced goalbound off the head of Tim Sills.
With the home team emulating their huge support with intimidation tactics on the field, the Shots took far too long to settle as the defensive duo of Antwi and Brett Johnson looked nervous and somewhat starry-eyed early on.
Recalled Glenn Murray went close with a header from Billy's cross on the left and then wasted a golden opportunity to double the advantage when completely misjudging a McGill centre following a 60-yard run down the flank.
Indeed, McGill, also recalled to the side from Monday's first leg, was enjoying far too much freedom down the right and it was no surprise when it was he who conjured up the inevitable second goal.
A poor clearance from Bull and an even worse attempt at a tackle from Darren Barnard, culminated in another surging run and a cross from the by-line which was met by the boot of the unmarked Billy at the far post — his volley flying past a stranded Bull.
The Shots showed precious little in return, giving Brown opportunity to express words of wisdom during the half time break.
Sills — playing with tonsillitis — headed their best chance straight into the arms of a grateful Glennon from Lee's free-kick, while a frustrated Watson blazed high and wide when in a good position.
Something had to be done to save the Shots season and with the early arrival from the tunnel for the second half, came a renewed determination.
In the exact same minute in giving the Shots their first leg advantage, Crittenden found himself clean through from Lee's pass, only to scuff his shot horribly wide of the far post.
Then, Watson, re-discovering his leadership qualities for the fightback, smashed a half volley against the inside of the far-post, giving sign of his intentions not to roll over and die.
Carlisle's response, however, was immediate, and set the scene for a hot-blooded end-to-end affair.
Just 60 seconds later, McGill broke free again and crossed deep for Murray to do exactly the same as Watson with a downward header, which Mustafa once again was able to clear to safety.
With so much at stake and Carlisle on the back foot, the game hotted up as tackles flew in and tempers frayed. More than once the teams squared up — the most serious coming after Barnard clattered into Murray off the ball for which he was lucky to escape with just a booking.
At the same time, Challinor skied a good chance over from 15 yards and strong penalty claims for a push on Antwi from Livesey were waved away.
But just when it looked like being one of those days, Slabber popped up with the leveller in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Lee's corner from the right was half cleared to Crittenden, who in turn played the ball back out. Instinctively, Lee volleyed the ball back in for the former Tottenham striker to loop a near-post header over the out-stretched Glennon into roof of the net.
Penalties for the third successive Play-Off match were always on the cards from then on in as good fortune pledged its allegiance to the hosts.
A meeting with Graham Westley's Stevenage would have most certainly appealed to Brown, but as it is, the boss now starts his summer of re-building.
Just how many of these players will be at the club next season remains to be seen, one thing is for sure, however, they won't forget this in a hurry!
Ref: Neil Swarbrick. Att: 10,803.
Aldershot Town won their appeal to have original referee Stan Gate excluded from officiating the game after it was discovered he had once played for his home town club.
With thanks to the Aldershot News.
Here is a copy of the back page of the news - picturing Nikki Bull:
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