Zola snatches replay for Burton

Calvin Zola salvaged a replay for Burton in a 3-3 thriller against Blue Square Bet North side Altrincham in their FA Cup first-round clash.

The underdogs thought they had been handed victory in a topsy-turvy contest when Brewers defender Damien McCrory put through his own net in the 86th minute. But Zola headed in a Jordan Chapell cross in the third minute of added time to spare the blushes of the League Two side. Burton failed to heed the warning after surviving a major scare in the fifth minute. Mark Oxley was adjudged to have brought down visiting midfielder Simon Richman in the area but the on-loan Hull goalkeeper redeemed himself with a brilliant one-handed saved to deny Damian Reeves from the spot. However, Altrincham's slick football was rewarded when winger Nicky Clee beat two defenders to set up a close-range finish for Carl Rodgers in the 29th minute. Burton suffered more embarrassment five minutes later as Nathan Stanton stabbed a Clee corner into his own net. But the hosts were back in the contest in the 53rd minute when skipper Zander Diamond side-footed home Lee Bell's free-kick from close range. And Burton should have been level 10 minutes later, only for Robbie Weir to blaze his spot-kick yards too high after a handling offence by Jake Moult. It was left to Diamond to make his mark on the game for a second time when he bundled in another Bell free-kick in the 76th minute. But McCrory handed the lead back to Altrincham when he sliced sub Duncan Watmore's cross into his own net, only for Zola's even later intervention.