IT was a case of what might have been for Kidderminster Harriers as their FA Cup adventure came to an end in the cruellest of ways as Premier League side West Ham scored in the final minute of both normal time and extra time to put themselves into the fifth round.
England midfielder and substitute Declan Rice rifled home an equaliser in the 92nd minute to send the game to extra time before Jarrod Bowen tapped home at the back post with the final kick of extra time to break Harriers' hearts.
Kidderminster had taken a shock lead in the 20th minute of the game when right-back Alex Penny thrashed a loose ball into the back of the net to spark wild celebrations at Aggborough.
The Premier League side had to call on their star men in the second-half as manager David Moyes was forced to bring Declan Rice, Thomas Soucek, Aaron Cresswell, Pablo Fornals and Craig Dawson on to save the visitors' blushes.
113 league places separated the two sides ahead of kick-off but there was little evidence of that in the first-half.
West Ham had plenty of the ball but not once broke the national League North side down and at the other end, Harriers' attackers of Amari Morgan Smith, Ashley Hemmings and Omari Sterling caused problems for the hammers' backline.
And the hosts grew in confidence as the half wore on and could have taken the lead in the 10th minute when captain Sam Austin fired a shot at keeper Alphonse Areola.
The away side were wasteful and reduced to shooting wildly from distance and then a sloppy pass in defence led to a free-kick to Harriers.
Sterling whipped it in and keeper Areola made a mess of it and the ball fell to the feet of right-back Penny, who did not hesitate in lashing it into the back of the net.
West Ham had the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Andriy Yarmolenko and Nikola Vlasic up top but not once did they create anything of note as the half ended with Kiddy 1-0 up and a shock on the cards.
West Ham brought Declan Rice and Craig Dawson on at half-time and the visitors began to dominate the ball and pin Kidderminster back.
Luke Simpson had to get down well a few times to prevent Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma and some heroic defending from the likes of Geraldo Bajrami and Mark Carrington thwarted the Hammers.
Later Thomas Soucek and Aaron Cresswell were also called upon as David Moyes was forced to use his star men.
And it would be one of the subs that would finally break the resistance with just 60 seconds left in stoppage time.
Rice charged forward into the Kiddy half before beating a defender in the box and cutting back onto his right foot before rifling it into the roof of the net and send the tie to penalties.
There was little to talk about in extra time but West Ham did get the ball in the net but Bowen was offside.
And then with time all but out, another of the replacements proved decisive as Cresswell's low cross found Bowen at the back post and this time there was no flag, and the top-flight outfit edged the most dramatic of cup ties.
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