Scramble saves Harriers as Kidderminster set for cup replay - analysis and pictures

Had the goal line technology been present on Saturday, it may well have meant this tie being settled at the first attempt.

It would certainly have given a defining answer to the game's pivotal moment, which came with just a handful of minutes remaining.

With Harriers being pushed further and further back as the seconds ticked down, Peterborough won a free-kick 25 yards out. Lee Tomlin's delivery which smacked against the underside of the bar was dramatic enough but was merely the precursor to 10 of the most intense seconds of football you will see anytime, anywhere.

With all 22 players seemingly chasing the bobbling ball, the bar was struck again, then again, while blocks were made on the line and the net suggestively rippled in a cloud of swarming bodies and flying mud. Eventually the ball was cleared – the Reds' last stand successful.

Or not, as Posh boss Darren Ferguson would soon claim, as he felt the ball had crossed the line – and by some distance.

"It was two yards over," he said. "It was well over the line."

"He's got good eyesight," Harriers boss Steve Burr wryly observed, before adding: "I still make the result being 0-0 and nothing will change that."

So Kidderminster travel to London Road on Tuesday week for another chance to make a fourth-round date with Premier League Sunderland.

Saturday's game didn't need the late controversy to be memorable. The FA Cup may have been, apparently, disregarded, in other more senior football parts of the Midlands but it was very much alive and well in this corner of Worcestershire.

From the teeming home terrace which created a thumping atmosphere, to the much busier than usual press box, to the volunteers who were up with the lark to ensure the pitch was playable, this was every bit the big occasion.

The biggest buzz in the early stages came whenever Harriers hero Joe Lolley was on the ball, racing past defenders in a blur. This time last year the 21-year-old was plying his trade with Littleton in the Midland Combination Premier and, if popular rumour is to be believed, by the end of this month he may have climbed further up the football pyramid.

Catch him while you can at Aggborough – or don't, as was the case for Posh defenders for much of the first half.

Barely a minute was on the clock when Lolley raced inside and fired in a cross which deflected off defender Shaun Brisley and clipped the top of the visitors' bar.

Harriers were moving at pace, making light of the rain-battered surface as their League opponents struggled to get a foothold. Lee Vaughan was the next to try his luck with a shot which keeper Bobby Olejnik could only push straight to Michael Gash. The striker got his header on target but was denied a goal by the recovering Kgosi Nthle, who cleared off the line.

With Harriers pressing the visitors at every turn and switching from back to front in an instant, the chances kept coming. Olejnik was soon in action once more, smartly saving a low Lolley drive after the forward had taken down a Vaughan long ball and embarked on a trademark race into the box.

Peterborough picked up and Tomlin, then Britt Assombalonga, were both off target with efforts from distance. Home keeper Danny Lewis wasn't called into serious action until a minute from the break, saving a dipping Tomlin free-kick which threatened to creep inside the near post.

His workload would increase markedly after the break as he tipped an Assombalonga header over – a trick he repeated again with barely minutes remaining as Posh looked to end the tie at the first attempt. The visiting team seemed to take turns at shooting off target from the edge of the box – it would be quicker to name those who didn't try their luck. Meanwhile, Harriers' best chance fell to Vaughan but he sliced horribly wide from the right of the box, when perhaps passing to the more central Amari Morgan-Smith would have been the better option.

Burr threw on fresh bodies as Harriers looked to stem the tide, while Ferguson, notably, made no changes as his side pushed ominously on. It was all building to the incredible scramble following Tomlin's free-kick, in which first Assombalonga and then Brisley hit the bar, Josh Gowling blocked on the line and Posh thought they'd scored.

"I think everyone behind the goal headed it away," Burr later mused.

For all the visitors' pressure it was Harriers who actually finished the game in the ascendency, a stoppage-time corner causing brief panic in the Peterborough box but Gowling was unable to force the ball home, meaning the teams must replay.

"In the first half I thought we played some good stuff and brought some good saves out of their keeper," said Burr.

"We were disappointed not to score in the first half but obviously withstood a lot of pressure in the second half. We are pleased to have another crack at it."

Ferguson felt his side should have been more clinical around the box.

"Up until the last bit we were good and it's the last bit which counts," he said.

"They are a good team, I know they have been through a bad run like ourselves but they have some good players. There have been shocks here before so it was always a difficult game. But we are disappointed."

Watch the match highlights of Kidderminster's draw with Peterborough here