The magic of the FA Cup is one of the many cliches attached to this famous old competition -Stevenage will be happy to have avoided all of them against Guiseley, although only just.

After a goal-less first half, Jamie Reid eased the plentiful nerves eight minutes into the second half but the game was never in the bag.

And with seven minutes remaining of normal time, Will Longbottom sent the travelling fans into rapture with an equaliser.

No replays meant extra-time and with no more goals coming, it finished 1-1 and went to penalties.

And Guiseley came within a whisker of taking it. Skipper Lebrun Mbeka knew if he scored, they were through.

Murphy Cooper made a superb stop though and did so again to deny Jameel Ible and send Boro through 5-4.

It was harsh on Guiseley who were the equals of the League One side, their memories may support them later but not now.

There were six changes for Boro from the side who started the 4-1 loss to Bolton Wanderers in midweek.

Murphy Cooper replaced Taye Ashby-Hammond in goal while outfield, the injured trio of Carl Piergianni, Dan Phillips and Louis Thompson went out, along with Elliott List and Jordan Roberts.

Nick Freeman. Lewis Freestone, Harvey White, Aaron Pressley and Eli King were the others to get a start.

At least that was the plan. Luther Wildin went down injured in the warm-up and was replaced by Roberts.

Guiseley had not had a competitive fixture in two weeks and that, coupled with their excitement for this no-pressure clash, meant a fast start from the visitors was expected.

The reshuffle at the back for Boro, Kane Smith going into centre-back alongside Freestone with Freeman at right-back, also give the Lions a boost and as the game moved into the sixth minute, the NPL side thought they had taken the lead.

A cross from the right was planted wide of Cooper by the head of Will Longbottom but a foul for a push quickly ruled that out.

A long throw also caused a few heart palpitations as it bounced over everyone, but Cooper gathered.

And slowly Boro started to get a few chances.

Reid was the only one to test Joe Cracknell, an ambitious strike from a central position 30 yards out pushed away by the keeper diving to his right.

Other than that though, it was mostly crosses that were all slightly overhit or passes when shots were on.

Both White and Reid then had efforts blocked or in the case of White, an effort blocked by Prince Ekpolo.

Reid also had the opportunity to run to the near post for an easy tap-in in the final minute but stood still and Freeman then had to go long and it was cleared.

The nearest anyone came in the latter stages to scoring was the visitors, a quick break ending with a cross from Liam Ridehalgh headed a foot or so over by Longbottom.

Boos rang out from some in the East Terrace at the break and that was just the most vocal of the obvious frustrations among the home fans.

And there was a fairly stony silence that greeted the start of the second period. It needed something to ease the nerves and ignite the passion.

An early cross from Dan Butler was begging to be turned in but it ran just in front of Pressley.

It still didn't feel like the momentum had truly swung but on 53 minutes, Stevenage took the lead.

It was all to do with Dan Kemp though. His shoulder charge on Ekpolo down by the byline on the left-hand side of the box, allowed him to run inside before delivering with a thump for Reid to knock in from close range.

There was more of a spring in the Boro step after that but it was not enough to bring a second.

And while it was only one goal, there was always a chance.

And the home side needed Cooper to produce an excellent bit of goalkeeping to prevent Guiseley from equalising.

Smith and Freestone got caught in their own half and it allowed Longbottom to knock the ball forward.

Cooper not only had to stay in his box, he had to avoid bringing the man down and taking what would have been an obvious red card.

He did both beautifully, timing his intervention perfectly to push the ball away.

And with the game heading into the final 20 minutes, and Guiseley only a goal down, they decided to go for it, reminiscent of what Boro did so successfully at Aston Villa two years previously.

They had two glorious chances in three minutes.

The first saw the ball come back off the post.

John Lufudu did superb to take the ball away from Roberts on the byline and his cross was turned towards goal by Gabriel Johnson  but bounced off the near post.

A scramble followed where Cooper somehow prevented the ball from going in at least twice.

Jake Lawlor then met a deep free-kick at the back post but couldn't turn it in, or turn it across to Johnson whose slide was just too late.

It didn't matter though because the pressure was building and eventually Stevenage burst.

Two defenders and the keeper converged on a loose ball but the toe of Longbottom beat them to it.

He then won the foot race to score into an empty net.

It was a deserved equaliser and they repelled a Jake Young free-kick and a Reid shot in stoppage time to take it to extra-time.

There would be some that will have moaned about the lack of a reply for the non-league side. They though were sensing more.

Ludufu was causing havoc down the right and a couple of crosses had first Smith and then Cooper needing to make big clearances or saves.

The winger had to go off injured at the start of the second half in extra-time and it blunted Guiseley's forward motion, as did the amount of cramp.

The final 15 minutes also had fireworks going off behind the North Stand but with Boro playing towards them, any sort of pyrotechnics inside the ground were desperately craved.

Freeeman hit a low shot through a crowd and Reid found the side netting with a thumped drive.

That was it and Cooper's heroics somehow dragged Stevenage through.

FA Cup match details

Stevenage (0) 1 Guiseley (0) 1 aet

Stevenage win 5-4 on penalties

Stevenage: Cooper, Butler, Freeman, Kemp, Roberts, Smith, Freestone, White, Reid, Pressley (Young 60), King (List 104).

Subs (not used): Ashby-Hammond, Simpson, Aboh, Doherty, Thornett.

Goals: Reid 53

Booked: Young 90+4

 

Guiseley: Cracknell, Brown, Ridehalgh, Ekpolo, Mbeka, Lawlor, Lufudu (Ible 109), Moke (Bentley 120), Farrell (Emmett 33), Johnson (Ackroyd 99), Longbottom.

Subs (not used): King, Westfall, Sebine.

Goals: Longbottom 83

Booked: Brown 45+2, Moke 55, bench 58, Lufudu 100, Longbottom 104

 

Added time: 2+4+2+3

Referee: Oliver Mackey (Leicestershire & Rutland FA)

Attendance: 2,722 (including 329 from Guiseley)