Garry Wilson had urged his players not to freeze on the big occasion on the eve of Eastbourne Borough's historic FA Cup clash with Oxford United on Saturday.

But the Borough manager must have been grateful for the ice running through Ollie Rowland's veins in the midst of what must be the most dramatic finish to a game ever seen at Priory Lane.

With the Conference south club trailing 1-0 against Brian Talbot's League Two outfit, Rowland was suddenly thrust into the spotlight when Yemi Odubade won a last-ditch penalty.

A record crowd of 3,770 - 2,000 more than the previous best - collectively held their breath as Rowland stepped up to send Billy Turley the wrong way from the spot.

The ground erupted until referee Mike Russell brought the party to a sudden end by ordering Rowland to do it all over again after deeming Danny Simmonds had encroached in the area.

It was all too much for some Borough fans in the crowd but Rowland was the coolest man on the pitch as he confidently put his second spot kick in the opposite corner.

That cancelled out Steve Basham's stunning 70th-minute strike and earned Borough a deserved replay at the Kassam Stadium next week.

"It takes a lot of bottle to score one penalty in that kind of situation so you've got to take your hat off to Ollie for doing it twice," said skipper Stuart Tuck.

"That sort of thing can make or break a player. If he had missed then we would have lost the biggest game in the club's history but now we've got a second bite of the cherry.

"He knew what was at stake and there was the added pressure of a big crowd and the cameras watching him. Hopefully it will be the making of Ollie.

"When he put the first one in it must have been such a relief but to then be able to calm himself down and do it again was amazing."

Rowland grabbed the headlines but he was by no means the only hero on a day when Borough forgot their disappointing league form to match a team two divisions above them blow for blow.

In fact it was hard to tell who were the full time professionals and who were part-timers as every Borough player rose magnificently to the occasion.

Darren Baker and Tuck were rock solid at the heart of the defence while Matt Smart drove Borough on from midfield and Ramsay battled for every ball up front.

But it was Lee Hook who did as much as Rowland to ensure Borough's big day had a happy ending.

The crowd were still celebrating Rowland's equaliser when Oxford launched one last attack in injury time. Borough's hearts looked sure to be broken as the ball fell to Basham six yards out but somehow Hook managed to fling himself to his left to block from point-blank range.

A draw was no less than Borough deserved.

"It is a dream for us," said Wilson. "Ollie may have got the winner but it would have meant nothing if Lee had not made a brilliant save right at the end.

"I thought a draw was no less than we deserved because they never really opened us up. It was a great strike which gave them the lead but we kept pushing and got our reward in the end.

"I never gave up hope. We threw everything at them in the last ten minutes and we were either going to score or they were going to get another on the break. Thankfully we got the decision from the referee and Ollie kept his cool."

Despite the goal coming so late Oxford boss Brian Talbot could have no complaints about the result as the visitors struggled to make their superiority tell.

The closest they came to scoring in the first half was when Lee Mansell's corner was blown against the bar by the wind with Hook stranded.

That was a rare moment of excitment before the break although Dan Marney should have done better when put through on goal in the 25th minute only to put a weak shot wide.

Oxford turned up the pressure after the restart and after Lee Bradbury and Mansell had brought good saves out of Hook it was no surprise that the visitors took the lead.

Basham wriggled free of his marker on the edge of the area before turning to curl an unstoppable shot into the top right hand corner of Hook's goal. Rather than deflate Borough the goal seemed to give them renewed impetus as they bombarded the Oxford area with high balls.

Turley saved well from Baker's diving header with nine minutes to go and the Us defence looked like they would hold out until they failed to deal with another long punt from Hook.

Ramsay nodded the ball down to Odubade who was trying to make space for a shot when he was sent tumbling by Chris Willmott and Rowland did the rest.

"It was a definite penalty," Talbot said. "All credit to the lad who took it because to score twice under that sort of pressure showed real nerve.

"It was a fantastic strike for our goal and probably deserved to win the match. I honestly thought that it would be enough but they kept going right to the end."

Borough: Hook, Baker, Tuck, Smart, Warner, Austin, Cox (Simmonds 55), Atkin (Piper 84), Ramsay, Marney (Odubade 55), Rowland. Subs not used: Hemsley, Lightwood.

Oxford: Turley, Mansell, Robinson, Willmott, Ashton, Bradbury, Basham, Hargreaves, Sabin, Roget. Subs not used: Tardif, Davies, Stirling, Hughes, E'Beyer.