The boisterous home terraces fell silent, heads went down into hands. After a bit of searching, ‘devastating’ was the word the local radio commentator settled upon.

Scarborough were seconds away – literally seconds – from one of the upsets of the FA Cup first round only to be dealt the latest of sucker punches by Forest Green Rovers’ Olly Sully.

The non-leaguers had done the motto on their club crest, ‘No Battle, No Victory’, justice with a performance of skill and spirit that took them to the brink of a famous upset.

Did Forest Green deserve it? Possibly given their second-half chances having been demonstrably rattled before the break. But FA Cup romantics never like such comments.

Scarborough were seconds away from an FA Cup upset over League Two opposition

Alex Wiles had powered them into a first-half lead against Forest Green Rovers

On this evidence, sixth-tier Scarborough have every chance of beating them second time around on Tuesday week.

‘The boys are absolutely devastated because they’ve put an absolute shift in against a team that are two leagues higher than us, a full-time team whereas we’re only part-time,’ said Boro manager Jonathan Greening.

‘We knew we had to be on it today to get a positive result but we were so unlucky not to see out that final minute. A lapse in concentration killed us.

‘For the other 92 minutes, we were superb all over the pitch. They didn’t cut us open, or hurt us with good football because we were so organised and disciplined because I thought we were the better team.’

Forest Green boss David Horseman recognised they’d had a lucky escape.

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‘It was really disappointing, the first goal was really disappointing with the long ball they flicked. It was something we knew was going to happen,’ he said.

‘Once you go 1-0 down, and the crowd here were brilliant, I thought they had to do what they had to do really well.

‘We lacked quality, understanding, cohesion, everything today and the only comfort is that Olly Sully, a young academy boy, scores a good goal. They hung in there, got the goal and kept our hopes alive.’

Scarborough Athletic were marking 16 years since their resurrection as a fan-owned club and this was the first time the modern club had reached the FA Cup proper.

Accordingly, that led to a palpable sense of occasion with all home tickets sold out and spectators beginning to file into the Flamingo Land Stadium from two hours before kick-off.

Many were wielding inflatable seagulls as befits this famous seaside resort, which on this November afternoon was being lashed on and off by bitter rain.

That didn’t deter a few ticketless souls – in classic FA Cup fashion – from clambering up the grassy hillside overlooking the ground to catch a glimpse of the action.

With Forest Green third bottom of the League Two standings, Scarborough’s players hoping to make a name for themselves and the greasy plastic pitch creating another obstacle, the ingredients were there for a cupset.

When Forest Green’s Teddy Jenks sent an early sighter well wide, the packed home terraces certainly let him know their derision and that set the tone.

Scarborough’s Lewis Maloney curled a 25-yard free-kick narrowly over the crossbar a couple of minutes later and the League visitors had been served notice.

Alex Brown gained some joy down the left and crossed for Frank Mulhern, whose powerful strike was blocked by a Forest Green body in the six-yard box.

Scarborough were shading the contest as the first-half drew on and their breakthrough goal on 27 minutes sent the place into raptures.

Wiles, the scorer, had broken in behind a few moments before, but was unable to find the net from a tough angle.

But when Scarborough found Wiles inside the area again seconds later, he picked out the far bottom corner expertly despite being surrounded by defenders.

Stung into action, Forest Green tried to respond with Charlie McCann sending a free-kick over the top and Jamie Robson bending an effort from the left wide.

But Scarborough might have doubled their advantage on 40 minutes when Forest Green’s back line failed to deal with a long ball, allowing Kieran Weledji to test keeper James Belshaw.

Forest Green needed to urgently improve and they fashioned the first chance of the second-half, with Tyrese Omotoye’s looping header plucked out the sky by Ryan Whitley.

It quickly became apparent Scarborough would be in for a long second-half and Callum Jones came within a whisker of an equaliser with a dipping shot that just cleared the bar.

An even better chance came Forest Green’s way when Lewis Maddox missed from a very good back-post position after fine work down the right by Sean Robertson.

Scarborough excursions forward had become increasingly few and far between but those fans behind the goal screamed for a penalty – unsuccessfully – when Mulhern went down in the box.

Forest Green’s Nathan Holland then drew a parried save from Whitley as the contest approached the final 10 minutes. But Sully would save them at the death and send this tie to a replay.