THEY had said all the right things, but Fulham left themselves open to accusations of disrespect when they scuttled out of Accrington Stanley’s Crown Ground within five minutes of the final whistle on Saturday.

The 3,700 enthusiastic souls present for this fourth round tie witnessed the sort of thrilling occasion that had many a media outlet digging out their big book of cliches and pulling out the phrases ‘plucky underdogs’ and ‘this is what the FA Cup is all about’.

The latter is a rather well-worn expression, generally the last reserve of floundering television pundits not quite sure what else to say – save possibly for ‘I’ve seen them given’.

But Premier League opposition coming to the most rickety establishment in the Football League, as former chairman Eric Whalley was always so puzzlingly fond of reminding everyone, was intriguing and romantic in its own way.

Fulham toiled but eventually won 3-1 with sufficient grace, and their eminently likeable boss Roy Hodgson stayed to pay credit to the efforts of the hosts.

But by the time Hodgson had finished his post-match interviews, amid the rather unfamiliar media scrum in one corner of the Crown Ground, his players were already on their way back to their hotel in their kit.

They had shaken hands and offered up their shirts, with one lucky ballboy handed a souvenir to be treasured, before a momentary debrief in Stanley’s cramped away dressing room.

But once that was over, they were off. One by one, players scampered through the hordes, seemingly keen to sign as few autographs as they could get away with.

One international player was witnessed swiftly ducking under railings, like a cornered animal attempting to escape its enclosure, in a successful bid to hasten his departure.

No-one is pretending that Stanley’s home is the lap of luxury but, as John Coleman pointed out, his side have to put up with it every week.

Would it really have killed Fulham to change there and stay for more than five minutes after the game?

It is possible that the Cottagers felt changing at the ground pre-match would have only increased the sense of dread about the game ahead of them, and reduced their chances of victory as a result.

But Fulham’s actions somehow did not seem in the spirit of the day.

And if this was Stanley’s World Cup, they played it in true English tradition – with 10 men for the most part.

Like Blackburn’s Carling Cup semi final second leg at Aston Villa three days earlier, similarly Rovers’ biggest match of the season, most knew the game was up when the red card emerged from the referee’s pocket.

In both cases, a needless rush of blood from a centre half had proved costly.

Just like Chris Samba would have been better letting Gabby Agbonlahor score at Villa Park rather than hauling him down and seeing James Milner convert the penalty in any case, Stanley’s Darran Kempson foolishly dived in when he had already been booked.

But despite the anger surrounding Kempson’s possibly harsh first yellow, which saw assistant Jimmy Bell banished for the touchline for his half-time complaints, Stanley could still afford to go home feeling proud.

A cup run often does more to boost reputations, of players and management alike, than any league success can.

Top scorer Michael Symes was in the Shrewsbury side that lost at Blyth in last season’s first round, yet his goal on Saturday is sure to add further pounds to his already spiralling valuation.

The Reds may soon be keener to buy than sell, though, having raised £112,500 in prize money alone during their journey to the fourth round.

But, while cash can be used to purchase quality on the field, Saturday’s evidence suggests it does not always buy etiquette off it.