Jimmy Quinn was disappointed with the two goals his side conceded in the second half and some of the referee's decisions, but delighted with the two goals from substitute Lee McEvilly that gives the U's every chance of the right result in Tuesday's home leg.
United had the better of the first half and went in 0-0 at the break, but found themselves trailing 2-0 until McEvilly's penalty and free kick in the final twelve minutes levelled the scores.
"It was exciting stuff and it must have been a great game to watch for the neutrals," said Quinn, "but I'm disappointed in the goals we conceded - we're not usually in the business of giving away free headers in the box.
"I thought we just edged the first half and we could have had a couple of early shots but we tried to get everything settled perfectly before shooting. I said to Mags he should have hit hit one or two of them early, especially with a pitch like that.
"Then we went 2-0 down and what great character we showed," he continued. "It was fantastic and the fans kept singing away."
Withdrawing Mark Beesley and Dan Gleeson in the 73rd minute, he sent on Lee McEvilly and Ben Farrell and the big striker rewarded him by blasting home a penalty five minutes later when Hurst handled in the box.
"I changed it because I thought one or two were off the pace and that shows the value of the substitutes on the bench," explained the U's manager.
"Big Lee went on and got another bit of fitness under his belt and he can take massive confidence from the two goals he scored. It was a well-taken penalty and I don't know where he got the second goal (free kick) from because I haven't seen that before in training, but he had the bottle to take it and it gives us a chance and that's all you can ask.
"It's a chance to get them back to our place and get our crowd behind us for 90 minutes and a chance of going to Wembley - I'm very proud."
Quinn admitted that with the score at 2-0 he was concerned that Burton may take advantage of his men pushing forward, saying, "When you're 2-0 down you've got to take more chances and get more men forward, and I was a little bit worried in case they caught us on the break and added to their tally, which would have made it very difficult, but I'm pleased with my players.
"It was a very difficult pitch tonight and a difficult referee, I have to say. He seemed to give decisions the wrong way; the first one (Burton's) wasn't a penalty, without a shadow of a doubt. The second one was handball, I've seen the replay and he handled the ball in the box and that's a penalty.
"But," he added, "we should have had a penalty in the first half. Mags beat their guy for pace and was brought down but the referee said he saw the ball deviate, indicating that the lad got a foot to it, but I don't think he touched the ball - I've seen it on the monitor. So some you get and some you don't, but I'm delighted with the result because it gives us a chance on Tuesday.
"We've got home advantage, which is massive in any game, and from what I'm told there could be 8,000 there and I'm sure most of them will be shouting for our team, which will give the lads a massive lift. But we're playing a very good side and neither side would have a problem with League Two.
"This result gives us a chance and that's all you can ask. If you're 2-0 up and you get pegged back to two each then it's got to catch you psychologically. Let's get our fans shouting on Tuesday and getting behind the team again.
"It's going to be a tough game, they have some very good players and it will be a case of grinding out a result; it doesn't have to be pretty, but I thought from a spectator's point of view that was a really good game to watch," Quinn concluded.
"It was a fitting result for both sets of fans and it sets us up nicely for Tuesday."
The second leg at the Trade Recruitment Stadium on Tuesday (kick-off 7.30pm) is all-ticket and advance purchase is necessary. The Ticket Office will be closed this weekend but open again for ticket sales between 10am and 3pm on Bank Holiday Monday and from 9am on Tuesday until 5pm.
The only tickets now remaining are for the Habbin South terrace and restricted view seats in the Main Stand. The latter are discounted by £1 across the board.
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