Poppies rediscover form and hold their nerve to set up final chance

Dan Jezeph will take the deserved plaudits - denying the visitors with three penalty saves, while the woodwork came to his aid for a fourth, during the most dramatic 15-minute period possibly ever witnessed at Latimer Park.

But the evening was littered with heroes, as captain fantastic Connor Johnson scored the winning spot-kick and put in an immense defensive shift, whilst Lewis White’s last-ditch tackles and Wes York's Duracell bunny style runs merit comment.

It took two sides to serve up an enthralling encounter, and credit must go to Harborough Town who have had an incredible first season at Step 3.

The towering defence, led as ever by Liam Dolman, was matched by the tenacity of former Poppy Connor Kennedy, and Elliott Taylor pulled off a world-class save against Jamar Loza in the latter stages of normal time.

He also kept his cool when Devon Kelly-Evans couldn't beat him from just yards out - not once but twice!

Few though will disagree that the Poppies deserved to progress.

Although not the most polished performance, it was a return to the dominance of earlier in the season.

From the off it was Kettering enjoying the possession, but again they had little to show for it after the first half-hour.

A goalmouth scramble on 28 minutes and Sam McLintock's shot just inside the area on 41 minutes were the closest the hosts came to scoring in the first half.

Harborough's aerial threat came into focus in the second half, with Johnson and Nile Ranger needing to nod away goalbound efforts from corners, whilst White was in the right place to turn Ben Starkie's effort off the line.

The Poppies had enough chances to win the tie in 90 minutes.

Kelly-Evans could only nod the ball into the hands of Taylor on 68 minutes just yards from goal and the same keeper needed to be alert to keep out McLintock's stinging shot three minutes later.

The chance of the game came on 75 minutes when York and Loza linked beautifully with the latter cutting in near the byline and shooting low, but the legs of Taylor did enough to keep the ball out.

Right at the death, four minutes into stoppage time, Kelly-Evans was again bearing down on goal but slipped at the crucial moment and could only poke his shot into the hands of Taylor from near the penalty spot.

Extra time ramped up the tension and this was highlighted with a tackle which was as good as a goal.

With the Poppies pressing high up the pitch looking for a winner, a Bees counter attack was always on the cards.

With four minutes of extra time remaining, the ball was cleared from the visitors’ box into the path of Juttore Burgess who was all alone and had over half a field to run towards goal.

But White's incredible covering to chase back and not only stop the attack but then set up another Kettering break was the moment of the game.

A winning goal continued to elude the hosts though, and for all of their efforts, the tie had to be settled by the lottery of penalties.

Due to safety concerns, referee Fabio Roque instructed that the shoot-out had to take place in front of the waiting Poppies fans in the Tin-Hat end.

And that genuine advantage gave fans a glimmer of hope that it could be their night.

Those feelings quadrupled when Jezeph guessed right to deny Ben Williams with the first penalty, but Edwards' stuttering run up and 'rolled' effort did not hit the back of the net and when Andi Thanoj also missed the following penalty, it was advantage Harborough and the Latimer Park faithful feared the worst.

But Aaron Powell, Hart and Kelly-Evans all held their nerve and when Jezeph denied former Brazilian international Sandro (yes you read that right) with the score level at 3-3, the tie turned again in the Poppies favour.

Up stepped the battle scared Johnson - bandage adorned from an earlier knock and there was no messing about or psychology games.

The second the whistle went he ran and fired the ball to the left of Taylor to unleash pandemonium at Latimer Park.

These images and memories will live long for several generations of Kettering fan, but the work is not done.

AFC Telford will hope that the euphoria of a penalty shoot-out win will have sucked the energy from Bank Holiday Monday's contest in Burton Latimer (ko 3pm).

But allow Kettering just a moment to enjoy this win – it was fun to be at Latimer Park again!