Matt Crooks missed the vital penalty as Hull City reached the second round of the League Cup with a penalty shootout triumph after sharing four goals with Accrington Stanley in extra time this evening.
In a frustrating opening to the match for Steve Bruce's side, Accrington were proving to be a difficult adversary to break down as the hosts limited the opportunities on offer.
Sone Aluko and Nikica Jelavic were kept on the fringes of the game for much of the early stages until the former created space to drag an effort wide from the edge of the box.
Hull should have broken the deadlock a few minutes later, but Jelavic somehow managed to clear the crossbar after Jason Mooney had spilled the ball while attempting to collect from a corner.
After soaking up pressure from the visitors, Accrington were left ruing a missed opportunity when Crooks headed over from Anthony Barry's inviting cross.
The hosts continued to look threatening early in the second half as Eldin Jakupovic came to Hull's rescue with a fine stop to deny Piero Mingoia.
Bruce introduced Arsenal loanee Chuba Akpom in an attempt to inject more pace into his attack, and the player was soon in the action when he fired a low strike straight at Mooney.
Hull continued to pile on the pressure in the closing stages, but the closest they would come to a winner in extra time arrived when Clucas sent a spectacular volley just over the crossbar.
A night of frustration in both boxes was finally ended in the second minute of extra time when Akpom produced one of the only moments of quality in attack by creating space and cut inside before curling home from just inside the box.
Despite looking in control in the first period of extra time, Hull were stunned when Accrington hit back just before the break through Crooks, who punished poor marking to head in from Mingoia's cross.
It looked like the tie had been settled in the 108th minute when Greg Luer climbed highest to reach Ahmed Elmohamady's cross and score his first senior goal with a powerful header.
However, the drama was far from over as a resilient Accrington side equalised for the second time when Terry Gornell tapped home after Jakupovic had kept out a Josh Windass effort.
An enthralling extra 30 minutes was followed by a penalty shootout, and it was Accrington who claimed the early advantage when Hull defender Harry Maguire sent the third spot kick over.
Jakupovic stole the control for the visitors with saves from Billy Kee and Sean McConville, but David Meyler's miss prevented Hull from securing their progress.
Bruce's side were gifted a spot in the next round in sudden death, though, as Crooks fired over from 12 yards to bring a dramatic night to a disappointing end for the hosts at the Crown Ground.
