Kidderminster Harriers started this FA Cup run by beating Sporting Khalsa in front of 687 spectators and finished it with millions from around the world glued to television sets and radio stations, willing them to hang on against West Ham.
They almost made it. They were agonisingly close. When the board went up to show stoppage time after 90 minutes, they were 1-0 up and just three minutes from the greatest upset in FA Cup history.
Never has a team from the sixth tier of English football beaten a team from the top flight since the competition adopted its current structure almost a century ago.
Jarrod Bowen had a tap in in the final few seconds to send West Ham through in the FA Cup
Yet here they were, Russell Penn’s side from the National League North led from the 18th minute when right-back Alex Penny pounced after West Ham failed to clear a free-kick.
They defended with all their might and refused to yield as David Moyes threw on his best players from the bench. Anticipation crackled inside Aggborough Stadium where they knocked out Reading of the Championship in the previous round.
Then Declan Rice picked up the ball and broke their hearts with just 160 seconds still to play.
Rice, the best midfielder in Europe and worth ‘humongous money’ according to Moyes, carved through the red-shirted resistance and crashed a shot into the roof of the net to avert West Ham’s embarrassment.
Bowen glances at the linesman to check he was onside before celebrating with the away end
It was a devastating conclusion to the game for sixth tier Kidderminster Harriers, who did well
On at half-time, sub Rice lifted his team and changed the game. In fact, he seemed to be the major difference between two teams separated by 113 league places, and produced an intervention reminiscent of Steven Gerrard’s salvage operation for Liverpool in the 2006 FA Cup final against the Hammers.
It was brilliant individual goal to take this fourth round tie into extra time and, 30 minutes later as penalties beckoned, Jarrod Bowen grabbed the winner in the 121st minute.
As near misses go, it was spectacular and painfully cruel for the Harriers but they were determined to celebrate this extraordinary effort and this wonderful FA Cup occasion.
There hasn’t been a lot for them to cheer since they slipped out of the EFL in 2005 but the FA Cup has restored pride and brought in hundreds of thousands of pounds in unexpected revenue.
Just as it did 28 years ago, when they toppled Birmingham and Preston, then captained by Moyes, before falling to West Ham in the fifth round, the only goal on that occasion scored by Lee Chapman.
Just as then, the BBC cameras were at Aggborough to see it and more than two hours before kick-off, queues were snaking down the road from the turnstiles.
Red-and-white wigs completed with half-and-half scarves, and carefully crafted tinfoil trophies were hoisted aloft.
Sir Geoff Hurst, an FA Cup winner with West Ham, and Led Zeppelin front man and Harriers fan Robert Plant were among a capacity crowd in good spirits.
Alphonse Areola made strong saves to deny Sam Austin and Ashley Hemmings before the keeper on loan at West Ham from Paris Saint-Germain was fishing the ball out of his net.
It had been a dream start for Harriers when Alex Penny (right) fired them into an early 1-0 lead
Penny’s opening strike after 20 minutes blew the roof off a packed-out Aggborough Stadium
It came from a free-kick on the Kidderminster left, swerved into the penalty area by Omari Sterling.
Areola came from his line but did not make it through the crowd of bodies and the ball fell to right-back Penny who produced a wonderful, composed finish, a side-foot volley that would have been easy to miscue in the giddy thrill of the moment but planted firmly past two defenders and into the goal.
Little Aggborough erupted. Red flares smoked and the volume soared. Penn’s players grew in belief.
Russell Penn’s sixth-tier outfit were the lowest ranked team remaining in the competition
West Ham boss David Moyes cut an unimpressed figure as his side looked lethargic early on
Penny was the hero early on as Kidderminster looked more up for the fourth round encounter
By half-time, the Hammers had yet to produce an effort on target and Moyes turned sharply on the whistle and disappeared stony-faced down the tunnel.
On came Rice and Craig Dawson but Kidderminster started the second half just as well.
Hemmings went close and a penalty shout ignored by referee Jon Moss when a cross by Austin struck Dawson on a hand.
Declan Rice showed his class to fire in an equaliser in the final moments of the 90 minutes
But Rice made a difference. He skied one shot and the ball vanished out of the ground to an ironic cheer. ‘Who are ya?’ the Harriers fans demanded to know. In the 90th minute, they found out.
Rice picked up the ball and powered once again into the penalty box from the left, chopped inside Matt Preston and smashed a shot high into the net from the corner of the six-yard box.
So near yet so far for the exhausted hosts. Another 30 minutes stretched before them and the electricity drained out of the atmosphere.
Rice danced his way into the area before he hammered into the roof of the Kidderminster net
It was heartbreak for Kidderminster having done so well to keep their opponents at bay
The busy away end behind the goal where Rice scored exploded after the midfielder scored
Incredibly, they survived until extra time trickled into stoppage time and penalties loomed. Then came the killer blow from Bowen, who tapped in from close range.
West Ham sighed with relief as they go through to the fifth round. Kidderminster go to AFC Telford, back to the quest for promotion, back on the map thanks to the FA Cup.
Not quite the biggest of all the giantkillers but close.