Jubilant Northampton manager Ian Sampson was delighted with his players after they came from behind three times before beating Reading 4-2 on penalties in the second round of the Carling Cup.
Royals skipper Matt Mills bagged a brace either side of a Hal Robson-Kanu strike, but his 125th-minute own goal saw Northampton equalise for a third time after goals from Andy Holt and Kevin Thornton during normal time.
Cobblers keeper Oscar Jansson saved the opening spot-kick from Simon Church and Jake Taylor blazed wide for the Royals, meaning successful efforts from Steve Guinan, Kevin Thornton, Michael Jacobs and Abdul Osman sent the League Two side through in the shootout. Sampson said: "We expected to win. We expect to win every game we play. "I am so proud of my players. We had a youngish team out there helped by a couple of experienced players.
It was a cracking game of football and we did so well to come back three times. "The boys showed such great character and you hope that they now want more of these things and that the win will encourage them to grow with Northampton or move on from Northampton. They also showed character with the penalties at the end, particularly young Michael Jacobs who showed the bottle to take one of them."
Source: PA
Source: PA