Delighted Oldham boss John Sheridan sent his FA Cup heroes out on the town to celebrate after this remarkable giant-killing at Premier League form side Everton.

Sheridan had no worries about sanctioning a night on the tiles, and how the League One lads deserved a few pints after their deserved third-round win thanks to Gary McDonald's first-half cracker.

Everton can have no complaints. Boss David Moyes rested three-quarters of the side who will play at Chelsea on Tuesday in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg but defended that decision.

The post-match phone-ins did not make pleasant listening for Moyes, with fans furious that he had seemingly sacrificed the FA Cup with Wembley so close in the lesser domestic competition.

Moyes reckoned he put out a strong side, but the team sheet must have been a great incentive for Sheridan's men.

Skipper Phil Neville, for example, spent the day in the stand with Oldham-born Paul Scholes, his former Manchester United mate. And the likes of Tim Howard, Tim Cahill, Nuno Valente, Ayegbeni Yakubu and Joleon Lescott did not start the match.

Moyes eventually threw on Yakubu, Victor Anichebe and Lescott from the bench to try to rescue the situation, but by then Oldham were on their way to glory.

Yakubu hit a post, veteran goalkeeper Mark Crossley saved at James Vaughan's feet while James McFadden had a shot kicked off the line. But that was about all a disjointed Everton created.

If Everton get a good result at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, all will be forgiven. Anything else and Moyes will have seen two cup competitions lost in four days.

Sheridan was forced into a different sort of rotation, with injuries, suspensions and the loss of loan players.

But after matching everything Everton could manage, the former Sheffield Wednesday star sent his side out to celebrate.

Sheridan said: "I told the lads to go out, have a pint, do what they want. Because this will not happen too much to them in their careers.

"They won't beat a Premier League side too often. They all did brilliantly.

"I've only been a manager for about a year and a half. So this is pretty special for me.

"I am enjoying what I am doing. I believe we are going in the right direction and I am just trying to put belief into young kids."

He added: "I have a lot of respect for David Moyes and his players. A lot of them came into our dressing room to say 'well done' to the youngsters, David too, and they wished us good luck.

"Financially maybe it would be good if we got Manchester United or someone really big next, but I would rather we got Havant and Waterlooville because I want to go as far as we can."

McDonald, Sheridan's first signing from Kilmarnock, had no doubt Oldham deserved their win.

He said: "We are all chuffed, we defended well after we scored and Everton did not really create much. This is all just unbelievable, it is a great feeling, a great performance and a great result.

"I'm pretty pleased with the goal, from something like 25 yards. It was an unbelievable feeling when it hit the back of the net. I got plenty of stick from the lads for my celebrations, apparently it was the quickest I have moved all season.

"But I wanted to celebrate with the fans. There were 5,000-plus of them there and when we came out onto the pitch it was amazing to see so many, it gave us a real boost. You just want to perform when you see that many there."

This was very much a patched-up Oldham as they made it seven successive away wins and just one defeat in their last 14. Youngsters like Kelvin Lomax were launched into the fray at short notice.

Lomax came in for Ryan Bertrand, whose loan from Chelsea ended in midweek. Lomax said: "We had great respect for Everton, but we came to win.

"The boss told us not to just enjoy it, but that we were here to get something from the game. We deserved it in the end, I was asked to play full-back because Ryan had gone back, and I just wanted to show the boss I could do it."

But while Oldham were off into the night to celebrate, Moyes and Everton were left to reflect on an uncharacteristic performance.

Moyes' sides are built on graft, drive, pace and organisation. But little of that was on show.

Moyes said: "We have a very good squad, we picked a side who have all played at the top level, they have all played in Europe this season.

"It wasn't a vastly weakened team at all, in fact I felt it was a strong team." The jury will be out on that view until Tuesday night in west London.

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