FA Cup: Kidderminster 1-2 West Ham AET - Report

The West Ham striker tapped home from close range as the non-league hosts were denied the chance to take a thrilling fourth round tie to penalties.

Harrers were on the brink of pulling off perhaps the biggest shock in FA Cup history when they led through Alex Penny's 19th minute strike.

But Declan Rice levelled for the Premier League side in stoppage time to force the extra period before Bowen struck right at the death as spot kicks loomed.

Analysis

Defeat was horribly cruel on the Harriers, who were worthy of at least a draw over the 120 minutes.

Russ Penn's team, the lowest ranked left in the competition, were more than a match for their top flight visitors.

After Penny opened the scoring they looked comfortable and were seconds away from a famous win before Rice, one of five subs to come off the bench for the visitors in the second half, scored in the first minute of stoppage time to force extra time.

Even then Harriers rallied and looked to be taking the tie to a shoot out until Bowen, anonymous for much of the afternoon, tapped home.

Harriers team featured one change from that which started against Reading in the third round, Matt Preston handed a spot in central defence after a string of impressive performances since joining on loan from Solihull.

The former Walsall man was again excellent, while the decision to push Geraldo Bajrami into central midfield proved a masterstroke.

West Ham's team was strong but, crucially, missing striker Michail Antonio following the striker's late return from international duty. As a result the visitors badly lacked a focal point in attack.

This was so close to being a nightmare repeated for Moyes, who was beaten on the same pitch when captaining Preston in the fourth round 28 years ago.

Hammers owners David Gold and David Sullivan, meanwhile, were the owners of Blues when Harriers had dumped them out in the third round in the same season.

This time their blushes were spared but only after Rice had come off the bench to save the day and then Bowen got the winner even later on.

Harriers had been hunting revenge for their fifth round exit to the Hammers in 1994 and almost got it.

The start was, admittedly, ominous for the hosts, Ben Johnson hammering a shot a yard or so over the bar after an opening five minutes in which Harriers barely touched the ball.

Yet there were quickly signs when the hosts did find possession they could cause problems. Sam Austin, scorer in the previous round, brought the first save of the match from Alphonse Areola with a well-struck first-time shot from the edge of the box. Soon after Ashley Hemmings also shot too close to the keeper, following a sharp Harriers break.

Harriers were chasing everything, not giving the visitors any time to settle. Morgan-Smith looked second favourite to a loose ball until suddenly he had it, Diop bringing him down. Sterling swung in the free-kick and when Areola failed to connect with the punch, the ball fell into the path of Penny. The right-back needed a good connection and got it, his shot flying into the top corner, sending three sides of Aggborough to their feet.

Having grabbed the lead, Harriers were comfortable in protecting it until the break. They actually came closest to scoring again, Sterling sending a free-kick a foot or so wide of the post after Hemmings had been brought down by the sleepy Diop. Said Benrahma's wayward effort on the stroke of half-time was only the Hammers second shot of the half.

Moyes, unsurprsingly, made changes at the break, Rice and Dawson replacing Diop and the anonymous Alex Kral.

Yet it was Harriers who had the first effort of the half, Hemmings sending a dipping long distance effort just wide.

Rice eventually made his presence felt with a driving run into the box which ended with Said Benrahma seeing a close range shot blocked.

Still, Harriers looked comfortable until an equaliser almost came from nothing. Caleb Richards' clearance was blocked into the path of Bowen and Simpson was forced to save down to his left, with Preston throwing his way in front of the follow-up. Moments later, Benrahma brought the second save of the match from Simpson with a low effort.

But the visitors were otherwise ponderous and short on ideas. With 15 minutes remaining Rice lost patience and tried his luck from 30 yards out. The ball cleared the top of the stand.

When Andriy Yarmolenko then added to the Hammers' embarrassment by falling theatrically to the ground in an attempt to win a penalty, it looked like the day belonged to Harriers.

But then came Rice 40 seconds into stoppage time, latching on to a return pass from Pablo Fornals and firing his finish high into the net, in an instant silencing the home support.

Penn got his players in a huddle when the whistle went to signal the end of the 90.

And despite the serious disappointment they had just experienced, the home side rallied, once again holding their own as the visitors again pushed and probed.

There was one glimmer for Harriers. Areola came to claim a free-kick, dropped it, but Morgan-Smith stumbled as he looked to get a shot away.

Early in the second half of extra time Bowen had the ball in the net only to be denied by a raised flag.

But in the end he was not to be denied. Yarmolenko's hopeful shot took a deflection and found its way to Aaron Cresswell, who squared for Bowen to tap home from two yards out.

Harriers' players still left the field to a standing ovation. Never has one been more deserved.

Key Moments

19 GOAL Three sides of Aggborough erupt as Alex Penny puts Harriers in front. Omari Sterling's free-kick falls in the box for the right-back, who keeps his cool to fire home.

90+1 GOAL Heartbreak for Harriers as Declan Rice levels at the death for the Hammers. The England international fires a shot into the roof of the net after being played in by Pablo Fornals.

120+1 GOAL Jarrod Bowen breaks Harriers hearts with the last kick of the game.

Team

Harriers (4-2-3-1): Simpson, Penny, Cameron, Preston, Richards, Bajrami (Lowe 111), Carrington (Montrose 71), Hemmings (White 101), Austin © (Redmond 77), Sterling, Morgan-Smith (Martin 106) Subs not used: Foulkes, Lissimore, Bastable, Emery (gk).

West Ham (4-3-3): Areola, Fredericks, Diop (Dawson HT), Zouma, Johnson (Cresswell 63), Vlasic (Fornals 77), Noble (Soucek 63), Kral (Rice HT), Benrahma, Bowen, Yarmolenko Subs not used: Coufal, Oxo-Flex, Alese, Randolph (gk).