Part-time player Tamworth produced a heroic performance to take Tottenham to extra time before the Premier League club limped into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 3-0 win.
Andy Peaks' National League side pushed Spurs all the way at a vibrant Lambs Ground on an occasion the whole city was proud of, albeit with a hint of disappointment after they missed out on a potentially lucrative replay.
Tamworth had threatened to win the tie in second-half injury time before Ange Postecoglou saw two of his substitutes help them progress.
A deflected Dominic Solanke shot opened the scoring in the 101st minute, before Dejan Kulusevski clinched the hard-fought victory with a second six minutes later.
Brennan Johnson added unfair gloss to the scoreline with a third after 118 minutes but failed to spoil a memorable occasion for the non-league club, who received a standing ovation after extra time.
Tamworth had called for volunteers to help clear the ground on Saturday morning to ensure the biggest match in the club's history could take place 24 hours later and Postecoglou showed plenty of respect with his starting line-up.
Tottenham left late to dispatch National League side Tamworth and advance in the FA Cup
Ange Postecoglou's men scored three goals in extra time to secure a place in the fourth round
Postecoglou was forced to bring in some key players after watching his team limp into overtime.
James Maddison captained a five-man Spurs team from the midweek victory over Liverpool, but kick-off was delayed due to a problem with the netting in one of the goals.
The game finally started five minutes later after Tamworth's Beck-Ray Enoru climbed onto goalkeeper Jas Singh's shoulders to help fix the net and nearly stunned the visitors within 25 seconds.
Enoru beat Pedro Porro on the left but his rasping cross-shot was parried away by Tottenham's January signing Antonin Kinsky.
Tamworth long-kicker specialist Tom Tonks was called on after four minutes and yet Spurs handled him comfortably to briefly calm a partisan home crowd.
This was not the case in the next as Tonks' long shot went past Kinsky and hit the post, but referee Peter Bankes had already called a foul.
Tottenham had struggled to dominate the artificial surface at Lambs Ground until Maddison began to dictate play midway through the first half.
Maddison had tried his luck twice early on without success, but came close in the 31st minute with a superb curling shot, which Singh impressively parried away.
Pape Sarr had a shot blocked moments later before Maddison scored after 38 minutes.
Tamworth defended resolutely from the kick-off and came close to opening the scoring early on.
Timo Werner found Maddison inside the area but the Spurs playmaker could only fire straight at Singh in the Tamworth goal, ensuring there was no goal at the break despite a brief moment of concern for Kinsky afterwards. from a bad pass from Sarr.
A standing ovation greeted the return of the Tamworth players for the second half as the sun began to rise on a frozen Staffordshire.
The breakthrough almost came in the 55th minute when Mikey Moore moved away from his opponent and picked out Werner, but his header was saved by Haydn Hollis.
Three minutes later, Tamworth came awfully close when Enoru had a shot blocked before Callum Cockerill-Mollett's follow-up was deflected.
Chances were being created more frequently now and Johnson played in Werner, but Singh came out quickly to brilliantly deny the German attacker and Jordan Cullinane-Liburd produced an equally good block to frustrate Werner again.
It was almost followed by a sensational breakthrough for the non-league side when a Ben Milnes corner was headed wide by Cullinane-Liburd with 22 minutes of normal time remaining.
Postecoglou had seen enough and introduced Solanke and Lucas Bergvall, which failed to spark a dramatic shift in momentum.
As the seconds ticked by, the Premier League side's frustration began to grow with Porro booked before six minutes were added to the end of the 90.
Tamworth drew on their reserves of energy to push forward and were almost rewarded with a spectacular added-time winner.
A slip by Solanke presented a chance for Thomas McGlinchey but Yves Bissouma crossed to block and Kinsky gratefully collected the loose ball after Cullinane-Linurd threatened again.
It was already a result Tamworth were proud of and sadly they saw Son Heung-min and Kulusevski set to go into extra time.
As the half-time team began to tire, quick thinking helped create the first goal when Son found Johnson with a quick free kick and his cross found Solanke, who scored.
Kulusevski made it 2-0 in the 107th minute with a good shot after a pass from Son and Johnson closed the scoring with two minutes left before Tottenham reached the fourth round after a tremendous scare.