An all-Blue Square North tie at Highbury saw high-flying Fleetwood Town struggle to beat lowly Vauxhall Motors, but edged it 3-2 in the end.
But they had to dig deep to mount a comeback after finding themselves 2-0 down by the 20th minutes, courtesy of a Lee Furlong brace.
Defender John Hills pulled the first back 2 minutes before the break and then Sean Clancy equalised right on the stroke of half time.
The winner for Fleetwood came with 14 minutes remaining through Gareth Seddon.
Another all-Blue Square North encounter saw Midlands rivals Solihull Moors and Redditch United do battle at Damson Park, with the visitors running out 2-0 winners, thanks to goals from Liam Francis after 34 minutes and Jack Byrne 9 minutes into the second half.
Another tie between two BSN teams, Alfreton Town and Southport, requires a replay after a 2-2 draw at the Impact Arena where Michael Powell proved to be the visiting hero.
He gave them a 20th minute lead only for the Reds to equalise through Paul Clayton 5 minutes before the interval and then go ahead with a goal from Liam Hearn with 16 minutes to go.
But Powell rescued `Port with an equaliser in injury-time.
Blue Square South side Worcester City will now fancy their chances in the replay after holding Blue Square North AFC Telford United to a goalless draw at the New Bucks Head, while there was a triumph for the north over south at the Jewson Avenue Stadium where Gloucester City won 2-1 at Dorchester Town, whose Nick Crittended gave them a 14th minute lead that Jack Pitcher and Tom Hamblin cancelled out in the final quarter of the game.
An all-Blue Square South encounter between Eastleigh and Basingstoke Town at the Sparshatts Stadium went the way of the home side, with goals from Richard Gillespie after 17 minutes and Danny Smith on 58.
However, Ryman League Premier Division Aveley will fancy their chances of causing an `upset` in next week`s replay after holding Blue Square South Hampton & Richmond Borough to a 1-1 draw at the Beveree.
The game sprang to life in the final quarter when Junior Dadson`s deflected effort gave the Millers a lead that lasted barely 7 minutes as Craig Dundas levelled with 10 minutes to go.
A Blue Square South side exiting at the hands of a Ryman Premier outfit were Lewes, beaten 3-0 by Wealdstone at Ruislip.
Lee O`Leary opened the Stones` account after jusst 4 minutes and Greg Ngoyi doubled that lead after 25 minutes, with Kieron Forbes making sure with a third just after the break.
Ryman Division One South side Walton Casuals were unable to cause an upset at home to Blue Square South neighbours Staines Town, going down to a 3-0 defeat with first half goals from Dean Thomas, Richard Butler and Gareth Risbridger proving enough for the Swans.
The only other Step 5 club, Coventry Sphinx, couldn`t overcome Zamaretto Division One Midlands neighbours Bedworth United in front of a terrific crowd of 871.
Matt Blair scored the only goal of the game for the Greenbacks on 67 minutes.
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Chelmsford City pulled a special performance from the bag at Princes Park as hero Antonio Murray bagged two goals and Ricky Holmes and Dave Rainford one apiece to dispose of Ryman League Premier Division leaders Dartford on their own pitch, trousering £7,500 of prize money for the club in the process.
Kent side Dartford met an energised and enthusiastic Clarets team keen to advance to the final qualifying round and head coach Glenn Pennyfather was delighted to see the return to form of some key players. He revealed: “Antonio was back to his best today after a rest and we knew he had it in him to score goals. It was also great to see Rains score because things have got on top of him a bit lately as Captain, what with trying to look after all our young players. He wears his heart on his sleeve but we told him to leave the youngsters to us and to go out and play for Dave Rainford. You’ve seen the end result.”
Chelmsford had raced into a three-goal lead by the 62nd minute and a late concession via Adam Flanagan was quickly corrected by Murray’s injury time conversion. Glenn added: “It was important we got the first goal then Craig made a save at a crucial time and Ricky’s great strike put us two-up. 2-0 is a funny score at half-time as the next goal often settles the tie but Dave Rainford’s free-kick to put us three-up was fantastic and he put one in exactly the same place during a training game. It was a sloppy goal to concede later but the hard work of Rob Edmans set-up Antonio for our clinical fourth.”
A last-minute injury to central defender Ben Martin meant he had to miss out so a line-up of Mark Haines and Steve Ward wore the four and five jerseys. Returning utility man Steven Clark also replaced Matthew Lock at right-back, while Murray came back into the starting eleven in place of Ricky Modeste up-front. They played their part in a competitive but fruitless early period as Lee Noble bobbled Dartford’s best chance across goal.
However, the 15th minute saw Pennyfather’s men take the lead when an in-swinging, right flank corner-kick dropped to Murray at the far post who was able to find the back of the net at the second attempt. Shortly afterwards, another amendment was made to the line-up as prolific marksman Danny Hockton had to leave proceedings early with a slight groin strain, to be replaced by Edmans who made a nuisance of himself instantly.
At the other end, goalkeeper Craig Holloway was called into action ten minutes before the interval to produce a reflex tip-over when a header via a free-kick came careering towards him. That proved vitally important as, two minutes later, Edmans’ half-cleared volley fell perfectly for Holmes on the edge of the home penalty area to rifle a controlled drive beyond Darts ‘keeper Andrew Young and double City’s lead.
Either side of half time the in-form hosts went close to responding through striker Lee Burns who firstly produced an excellent shot on the turn to smash the crossbar a short distance from goal then later he took advantage of some hesitant defending prior to striking over the bar. Amongst a spell of initial pressure during the second period, a teasing header also bounced across the goalmouth which left Dartford frustrated.
Arguably the killer blow arrived in the 62nd minute. Holmes managed to secure himself a clean run on goal only to be crudely grounded by Flanagan. The defender’s relief at receiving just a yellow card was then tempered by the fact Rainford placed the resulting free-kick perfectly into the top corner. That exquisite shot was out of the reach of Young, but would the three-goal deficit be too much for Dartford to handle?
Desperate to make a headway into their disadvantage, the hosts applied more hassle to Holloway’s goal through a close-range Allan Tait blast over and a Jay May diving header wide. They made a minor impact, however, when an 83rd-minute dead-ball into the City area was glanced into the net by Flanagan. Dartford were massive underdogs for the game, but stranger things had happened before in the magical history of the FA Cup.
Both sides traded efforts in the closing stages, firstly Murray, Edmans and Holmes taking responsibility for the three stages of a counter-attack which saw Holmes’ shot blocked then Edmans’ chip of the loose ball drift narrowly over. That was on 88 minutes then, seconds later, a tremendously well-struck Jamie Day thunderbolt nearly ripped the goalposts from the ground as it careered off the angle.
With seconds remaining, Edmans sank to the floor in disbelief as he squandered an open-goal with Young stranded but he came back stronger as his determined and skilful run saw him pull back to Murray who hooked home three minutes into injury time. Glenn summarised: “Cup games are anxious and tentative, especially as we were up against a team on an unbeaten run on their own patch. It was a blow to lose Ben Martin before the game as we knew they would have an aerial threat though full credit goes to Mark Haines who came in and did well. We’d done our homework and it paid off.”
