The Northampton Town Football and Education Programme South Premier Division squad knocked Bradford City out of the NFYL Trophy with a dramatic 5-3 win on Wednesday afternoon.
The Cobblers came from three goals down at the break and took the tie to extra time with two in the last 10 minutes of the 90. Two more either side of the extra time interval sent the hosts through to the next round.
They got off to the worst possible start when a clearance deflected off an attacker and flew into the back of the net early on.
Harry Francis-Jones denied a quickfire second when he tipped a shot onto the crossbar less than a minute later, but it was two midway through the opening period when an effort was poked into the bottom corner.
Alfie Doherty had a lob smothered and a free kick tipped over as he looked to respond for the hosts, but the tie looked to be over on the half-an-hour mark when a forward followed in to convert the rebound after another Francis-Jones save.
There was a glimmer of hope for the Cobblers when a defender diverted a floated cross past his own goalkeeper five minutes after the break.
A once unlikely comeback was well-and-truly on when the visitors were reduced to 10 men and substitute Jake Webster found the top corner from the resulting free kick late on.
The Cobblers pushed for an equaliser and were back on level terms in added time when Doherty scored directly from a corner.
The striker volleyed home 10 minutes into the first half of extra time to complete a remarkable turnaround, and substitute Eddie Panter finished from close range in the second period to put the game beyond all doubt.
Fran Constancio’s team return to league action next week when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur.
Cobblers: Harry Francis-Jones, Josh Whaler, Keiron Mobbs, Elliot Turton, Lewis Cove, Ethan Aldridge, Patrick McGrath, David Sarpong, Alfie Doherty, Freddie King, Cairo Taylor
Substitutes: Tom Ladyman, Zack Douglas, Eddie Panter, Jed Roberts, Jake Webster