(Sean Walsh is a Spurs' fan, and regular football contributor for BPL.) 

I hesitate to write this article in fear that it may be all downhill from here, that I'm tempting fate. Because, you see, I support a club - Tottenham Hotspur - that is the master of the glorious failure. A team that during the Premier League era has been seen as a serial underperformer. A once-big club that has been surpassed not only by its north London neighbor but also by the nouveau riche Chelsea and Manchester City. 

And two seasons ago a much derided manager came in to lead us out of a relegation battle. Often likened to "Arfur Daly" of Minder fame, Harry Redknapp has proven to be a perfect match for the Spurs' temperament: someone whose attacking mindset is mixed with a perceived tactical naivete. 

This is the backstory to what it means to be a Spurs' fan. A motto of "To dare is to do" is starkly represented in Danny Blanchflower's famous quote: "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."

The Spurs' fan has woken to many false dawns in recent years but Thursday's may have been the brightest. No longer can we be accused of hiding behind our beautiful football and not achieving the results an expensive list should produce. 

Tottenham's second visit to the San Siro in one season produced a starkly different performance to their first. That match against Inter was dominated from the start by the home side who raced to a 4-0 lead and were coasting from then. Spurs were looking at a loss that could derail their Champions League campaign. But a second-half cameo by Gareth Bale dragged the team back into a typically glorious 4-3 failure. 

However, by virtue of shrinking the margin of this loss, Spurs gained ground in the group and, after toppling Inter at home, won through to the knockout stages as a group winner.   

Prior to this week's AC Milan game, Spurs were all but written off as soon as Bale injured himself and could not make the trip.  AC Milan found no fear in a lineup without his threat on the wing and carrying two crocked playmakers in Modric and Van Der Vaart.  This line of thinking reasoned that Nesta and Yepes were more than a match for Crouch and the defensive achilles heal of Spurs could not cope with Ibrahimovic et al. This was also the stage upon which Redknapp's naivete would be exposed for all to see.

Spurs proceeded to dominate the first half without reward. Crouch was a handful, Lennon was giving the left back fits, VdV was occupying three defensively minded midfielders, Corluka and Assou-Ekotto forced Milan into retreat on the flanks and the defence had Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Seedorf in their pocket. 

Milan took some angry pills at half time and came out and took hold of the game. Flamini somehow escaped a red card for a two-footed tackle that all but broke Corluka's ankle. And Gattuso was losing his mind to the descending red mist.

Then a very curious thing happened. The Spurs' defence defended. Resolutely. 

This was something no person, not even those within the Spurs camp, had predicted was possible before the game. In fact the mere mention of such absurdity had caused ripples of laughter in pre-game press conferences. It was as if they didn't want Milan to score. 

Milan were aghast. First midfielders threw themselves forward, then full backs acted like wingers. Only a matter of time they thought. And it was. Sandro and Modric combined to dispossess Milan and then set Lennon free to set up the goal.

Silence from the home fans and Gattuso's mist - culminating his headbutt of Harry's assistant Joe Jordan - became a deluge.

The Yid Army now returns to White Hart Lane on March 9 to find out whether this dawn will herald a new era for Spurs - or just more false hope.