Preston North End U18's came twice from behind to edge into the final of the LFA Youth Cup after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Rochdale.
The young Lilywhites were moments away from being dumped out of the competition before defender Fred Holtom popped up to send the game into extra time. The momentum was then carried through as Scott Davidson struck the winner, in what was a thrilling semi final at Springfield.
The game began brightly with both sides having opportunities to take the lead. Firstly Preston's Jamie Proctor put through Sam Hart who produced a stunning ball for Michael McLellan but he failed to trouble the keeper.
Then Rochdale's skipper Josh Brizzell found an unmarked Scott Hogan in the box but the winger could only header wide.
Dale did take the lead after striker Reece Gray started then finished a superbly worked goal. Gray fed the ball out to Brizzell on the left whose cross fell to the diving Gray who headed past keeper Dominic Comrie.
The lead did not last long when a bursting run from Tom Owens down the middle created space for Proctor to place a perfect ball for Ryan McGreevy to nod past the on rushing goalkeeper.
The second half was much the same as both sides tried to grab the crucial advantage.
Rochdale's Helios Andre began causing havoc to Preston's defence although he failed to find a finish to go with his tenacity upfront.
Then Preston came very close to taking the lead on the hour, when Michael McLellan found himself space in the area but he could only hammer the ball against the upright.
This miss was then punished by Dennis Sheriff. Brizzell hit an ambitious free kick which Comrie kept out but the ball fell to Sheriff whose powerful shot put Rochdale narrowly ahead.
Into the last 15 minutes Preston were working tirelessly to produce an equaliser but Rochdale's defence stood firm. This then forced North End boss Jamie Hoyland to throw defender Daniel Devine upfront to bolster the attack.
That tactical change almost paid off when Devine found himself in a great scoring position but he fired over from close range.
The Lilywhites never stopped believing and after a string of corners up stepped the unlikely presence of Fred Holtom to smash home minutes from the end of normal time.
The equaliser seemed to invigorate Preston in extra time and with the bit between their teeth they looked the most likely to score.
And just five minutes in Rochdale keeper Daniel Taberner made a fatal error as his tame clearance fell to Preston's striking duo who together helped set up Davidson to fire the team into a dramatic lead.
Davidson's strike ended up being the crucial turning point as Rochdale failed to find a reply meaning Preston will play in the final in April.
Manager Jamie Hoyland was encouraged by the teams fighting spirit, he said: "To be two minutes from going out of the cup the team showed real resilience, which is another part of their character that I have been really pleased about this season."
"Although not the best we have played this season, mainly down to a few changes with players away with Northern Ireland, we kept going and dug in at the end to pull off a great win".
"I knew this was going to be a hard game for us and so it turned out to be. Although we should have done a lot better in stopping their two goals as they came from sloppy errors which were punished".
"I thought we were going out when Daniel (Devine) missed but in the end the decision to chuck a centre half up front did pay off": said the relieved boss.
Hoyland felt confident going into extra time, he said: "Obviously psychologically we were in the ascendency as Rochdale's heads were down after our late goal so I told the lads that we were out of it now we are in it and that we were fitter and stronger so we can win it, which they did."
Report by Geoff Berkeley
