Carlisle United were denied a place in the third round of the FA Cup by two late goals at Walsall.
It looked as though Ryan Edmondson’s 29th minute strike was going to be good enough until two Walsall substitutes struck in the 88th and 93rd minutes to turn the tie on its head.
The goals from Andy Williams and Douglas James-Taylor snatched victory away from Paul Simpson’s side to earn the Saddlers a potential money-spinning third round tie.
The two sides had drawn 0-0 at Brunton Park two weeks ago and again there had been little to choose between the pair throughout an even contest.
Edmondson opened the scoring when he got on the end of a Jon Mellish cross and beat home keeper Owen Evans with a well-struck half-volley.
Johnson was inches away from levelling for Walsall just before the break but saw his effort cleared off the line.
Carlisle keeper Tomas Holy made a fine save 15 minutes into the second half to keep his side in front when he pushed a shot from Isaac Hutchinson around the post.
But it was Holy who was at fault two minutes from the end when he sliced a long ball into the box from Manny Monthe which allowed Williams a simple task in firing into an empty net.
Worse was to follow for the Cumbrians when James-Taylor wrapped up an unlikely victory in added time with an excellent first-time finish after being set up by Hutchinson.
Walsall manager Michael Flynn said: “I have had a lot of players struggling in the starting XI and I couldn’t change it around as much as I wanted to. If I’m honest it was a game we didn’t need. But we’ve won it and it was a game we would have lost in September.”
Carlisle boss Paul Simpson added: “The first goal has killed us. It is a horrendous mistake and you can’t legislate for that.
“From the 88th minute to the 95th minute you have to say that Walsall deserved to go through but for 88 minutes we have absolutely dominated the game.”
