Preston North End are through to the Northern Area semi-finals of the Football League Trophy after they defeated Oldham Athletic 10-9 on penalties at Boundary Park.
After the match had ended 2-2 in normal time, a marathon shootout ended when Preston stopper Thorsten Stuckmann netted the winning spot kick after his opposite number Neil Etheridge had missed for the home side.
Preston started brightly and could have gone ahead twice inside the opening five minutes. Kyel Reid blazed over the crossbar when well placed after good work from Kevin Davies before Jermaine Beckford forced a save out of Etheridge.
Reid sent a free kick inches over the crossbar as the hosts struggled to get going but Mike Jones did almost break the deadlock when his set piece evaded everyone before missing the far corner.
Oldham continued to improve but shortly after the half-hour mark, Preston took the lead when Scott Laird rose above the Latics defence to head home a Scott Wiseman cross.
Athletic boss Lee Johnson made three changes at the break and his decision had an immediate impact as Oldham equalised just a minute into the second half through Dominic Poleon, who was on hand to convert a Jonathan Forte cross into the net.
Two minutes later, Poleon almost notched his second with a volley but just before the hour mark, the turnaround was complete when Danny Philliskirk jinked past his marker before finishing confidently past Stuckmann.
Preston were shell-shocked but they almost found an instant reply through Beckford, who drew a stop out of goalkeeper Etheridge, who was making his first start for the club.
However, with 10 minutes left, North End did equalise when Tom Clarke capitalised on Etheridge failing to gather his initial attempt to poke home from inside the six-yard area to send the game to penalties.
After Davies missed for Preston and Jones did the same for Oldham, the shootout entered sudden death and it took until the 21st and 22nd kicks for the tie to be decided as Etheridge's kick over the bar proved decisive.
Darren Plant
