Steven Davies stuns Spurs with late goal to secure replay for Rochdale

One last punt, one last chance for Rochdale to rescue the Wembley dream that had so cruelly been taken away when Harry Kane converted an 88th minute penalty for Tottenham Hotspur. In it went, Spotland held its breath and substitute Stephen Davies held his nerve to drill a 93rd minute equaliser into the bottom corner and sent the team that is somehow bottom of League One to a date underneath the arch. Mauricio Pochettino patted the grisly beard of Rochdale counterpart Keith Hill and exited down the tunnel. A fairytale ending, and thoroughly deserved.

This was the FA Cup in all its majesty. One of the most financially-stretched clubs in England stretched a team that had competed in the Champions League in midweek to the limit. A replay was richly deserved but seemed to have been ripped from them when Harrison McGahey tripped Dele Alli in the final minutes and Kane, his fellow Tottenham substitute, converted the spot-kick on the ground where he made his professional debut. But Rochdale would not be denied. They had performed with spirit and no little quality throughout and when the ball broke for Davies inside a crowded penalty area in stoppage time only the most hard-hearted of Spurs supporters could have begrudged a precise finish into the bottom corner.

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