Ten man Mossley threw away the chance to go through to the next round of the Emirates FA Cup at the first time of asking, conceding a soft equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of an intense and dramatic Seel Park tie against a very well supported 1874 Northwich side.

The Lilywhites were there own worst enemies in a first half that saw few chances of note for either side. Mossley were harassed out of their passing game by a fired up '74 who quickly stifled Mossley attacks with Oliver Martin called into action on a couple of occasions to thwart the visitors lively forwards.

Mossley were then hit around 30 minutes in when Adam Latham was controversially red carded for an alleged elbow offence on a Northwich defender leaving the Lilywhites with around an hour to play with ten men.

The red card seemed to galvanize Mossley who upped their game from then on and were rewarded on the stroke of half time when Tom Dean was wrestled to the floor by '74 keeper Greg Hall and Jack Tuohy confidently fired home from the penalty spot.

The second half saw the visitors work hard to find an equaliser but Mossley came closest when Mason Duffy's powerful shot was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Hall.

The equaliser came on the hour and it was due to a mix up between Caldon Henson and Tom Dean as both players failed to clear their lines and the ball broke to ex Mossley forward Sam Hind who gratefully snapped up the chance.

Not to be denied, the ten men strove manfully to find a winner and it looked like they had when in the 79th minute substitute Jamie Matthews won a midfield header despite being fouled. The referee played the advantage as the ball landed for fellow sub Sam Howell who then played a clever through ball for Liam Ellis to confidently slot the ball between the legs of the onrushing Hall and into the Northwich net.

Northwich threw everything they had at Mossley in the closing minutes but it looked like the Lilywhites would survive as the game entered 4 minutes of stoppage time. However, as happens so often in the World's greatest cup competition there was to be a dramatic finish. Oliver Martin appeared to comfortably save a weak shot only to let the ball slip from his grasp for Sam Hind to joyously bag a second goal and send the game to a replay at Barton Stadium, Winsford on Tuesday evening.

Wiz

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