Spot kick king Danny Crow kept his nerve to net two penalties as United fought back from 2-0 down to earn a replay in this action packed FA Trophy tie.
Just five minutes remained on the clock when Crow beat Eastbourne keeper Danny Knowles from 12 yards to ensure the sides will meet again at Priory Lane next Tuesday.
United will feel they should have won the match after dominating for long periods. But both sides spurned great chances to wrap up the tie in a frantic second half which will have left both managers tearing their hair out at some of the defending.
Lining up in an unfamiliar 4-3-3 formation, the U's were on top throughout a one-sided first half, but couldn't make the breakthrough. Robbie Willmott was revelling in a more advanced role alongside Crow and Chris Holroyd, and he came closest to breaking the deadlock for the home side with a free kick which hit the underside of the bar and bounced clear.
So it was completely against the run of play when the visitors took a two-goal lead, scoring from their only attacks of the half. First Jamie Taylor showed great control to pull down a Liam Enver-Marum cross and poke a half volley past Danny Potter. Then a free kick from Paul Armstrong flicked off the head of the unfortunate Crow and into the net for an own goal.
But United were back in the game within a minute when Crow surged into the area and was bundled to the ground. The linesman immediately flagged for a penalty, which the former Norwich man stuck away with aplomb.
The second half was end-to-end stuff, with Enver-Marum and Taylor both spurning guilt-edged chances to increase Eastbourne's lead. United ended the match with five forwards on the pitch, and one of them, Adam Marriott, saw his close range shot brilliantly saved by Knowles as Martin Ling's side pressed for an equaliser. And it came when Brian Saah was tripped in the area, and Crow made no mistake from the resulting penalty.
After that leveller both sides could have won it, with Enver-Marum somehow slicing a shot wide with the goal gaping, and Rory McAuley popping up at the other end to meet a cross from sub Mark Beesley but seeing Knowles make a sprawling save to keep his shot out.
So it ended all square, and Salisbury or Histon await the winners of next Tuesday's replay.
Man of the Match: Robbie Willmott - His pace troubled Eastbourne all evening, and there was a marked improvement in his crossing and set pieces compared to Saturday's game. Unlucky not to score from a first half free kick
Cambridge United: Danny Potter, Rory McAuley, Daryl Coakley, Brian Saah, Wayne Hatswell, Robbie Willmott, Paul Carden, Jai Reason (Marriott 80), Sam Ives (Beesley 69), Chris Holroyd, Danny Crow. Subs not used: Laurie Walker, Josh Coulson, Andy Parkinson.
Bookings: McAuley 46 (foul).
Eastbourne Borough: Danny Knowles, Gary Elphick, Marc Pullen, Ben Austin, Neil Jenkins, Matt Crabb, Paul Armstrong (Weatherstone 58), Simon Johnson, Jamie Taylor (Crabb 80), Andy Atkin (Smart 58), Liam Enver-Marum. Subs not used: Darren Baker, Michael Jordan.
Bookings: Crabb 22 (foul), Armstrong 38 (foul).
Referee: Steve Ross.
Attendance: 913 (14 away)
Matthew Gooding
FULL TIME: Cambridge United 2 - 2 Eastbourne Borough
21.37: And that's the final whistle, which ends a breathless cup tie, great entertainment for the sparse crowd. We'll try again at Priory Lane next Tuesday.
21.34: ... and so should that! Marum somehow slices wide of an open goal after Crabb's cross. His team mate seemed to get in his way a bit, but still a shocking miss. How this game remains 2-2 I have no idea.
21.33: Eastbourne's turn to win a corner off Coakley as the match ticks into the final minute. Four minutes to be added. Corner cleared, breathless stuff, as United break and McAuley meets Beesley's cross but is again foiled by Knowles. That should have been the winner...
21.31: United's tails are up like a squad of squirrels, and Pullen has to block a Holroyd header at the expense of a corner which is scuffed behind again by Johnson. All hands to the pump in the Eastbourne box, but they somehow clear the danger.
21.30: So that is the Crow hatrick I mentioned earlier, I wonder if they'll let him take home the match ball?
21.28: GOAL. United 2 -2 Eastbourne. Another penalty as United's pressure pays off. A corner is cleared but the ball comes back into the box where Brian Saah is tripped and the referee immediately points to the spot. Danny Crow goes left this time, and luckily Knowles goes right, and United are level. A replay looms large.
21.26: I don't believe it, how did that stay out. Hatswell wins a header from the corner, and finds Marriott, whose turn and shot from six yards is somehow saved by Knowles, who turns it over the bar.
21.25: United getting increasingly direct, and after the ball is cleared out of the box Willmott thunders in a shot which is deflected behind for a corner.
21.24: Yellow card. Marum foolishly throws the ball away in frustration after being penalised and is booked. Silly boy. Play switches to the other end and United win a free kick when Holroyd is flattened
21.22: At least Taylor won't be scoring again, as he is replaced by Nathan Crabb. Another change for the U's, as Ling goes for broke, introducing Adam Marriott for Jai Reason. By my reckoning we now have five forwards on the pitch.
21.21: Holroyd goes penalty hunting, crashing to the ground after a shove from Pullan. A dramatic wave of the arms from the ref indicates he has been unsuccessful.
21.20: Marum turns Hatswell and sets up Taylor for a shot which Potter saves fairly comfortably. United seem to have run out of steam.
21.16: A frustrated Coakley blasts a shot into the South Stand. This is turning into yet another one of those days. Amusingly, Eastbourne have again brought 14 supporters, I wonder if it's the same people, perhaps they've been camping out since Saturday. The overall attendance is a predictably poor 913.
21.15: Crow's free kick hits Marum - who is clearly not the required ten yards by the way - on the arm. No penalty says the ref, probably rightly so, but United keep up the pressure and force another corner on the left.
21.14: Beesley's first contribution is to almost put Holroyd in with a through ball that Pullen whacks behind for a corner. From the flag kick McAuley is chopped down literally right on the edge of the area for a free kick. The ball is six inches outside the box.
21.11: Glorious chance for Taylor, the scurge of United, to wrap up the match. Saah misses his header letting the striker in, but he rushes his shot and hits it wide. First change from Ling as Beesley replaces Ives, Willmott dropping back into midfield.
21.09: Ouch, all the men in the stadium wince as Willmott takes a boot in what might politely be described as his midriff. Free kick which Reason curls over everyone and into the keepers arms. Poor.
21.08: Another corner, this time on the left. Saah gets the flick at the near post but with no team mates around him Eastbourne thump it away.
21.07: Better from United as McAuley forces a corner on the right after good play from Crow and Reason. But the ball in from Willmott is headed away.
21.04: Holroyd races onto a big hoof out of defence and is brought down outside the box. But Hatswell's free kick is off target, floating just over the bar.
21.02: Very much 4-5-1 now from the visitors, and who can blame them. Play stops for a couple of minutes while Taylor is treated for an injury.
21.01: Double change for Eastbourne, with Weatherstone replacing Armstrong and Atkin lumbering away to be replaced by Matt Smart.
20.59: United have lost a but of their early impetus, and almost gift Enver-Marum a goal in calamitous fashion. Coakley and Hatswell collide, gifting the ex-U's striker the ball, but Danny Potter takes the sting out of his shot and it is cleared away. Good keeping from the U's number one, but the murmurs of discontent grow louder.
20.57: The home crowd are beginning to get a little restless as Saah whacks a pass intended for Coakley straight out of play.
20.54: Willmott crowded out as he surges into the box, the visitors are struggling to cope with his pace.
20.51: That's much better from the young winger-cum-striker though, a high delivery across the six yard boxes which misses the swooping Crow by a matter of inches.
20.50: Wasteful from Robbie Willmott, who picks the ball up after a Sam Ives shot deflects into his pass, but tries to score from an acute angle and blazes hopelessly wide with team mates waiting in the centre.
20.48: The teams are back out, and a frission of excitement ripples around the Abbey. That or it was just a collective shiver on what is another freezing night.
20.42: Elsewhere in the Trophy, Histon are 1-0 up at Maidstone, Stevenage are strolling, 2-0 ahead against Vauxhall Motors, and ex-U Phil Bolland has scored for Barrow to put them 1-0 up at Maidenhead.
HALF TIME: Cambridge United 1 - 2 Eastbourne Borough.
20.34: The free kick resulting from McAuley's indiscretion leads to a corner, which United defend fairly comfortably, and seconds later the half time whistle goes. It's been an entertaining and open 45 minutes, and it would seem unlikely that there won't be another goal in the second half. I wouldn't like to say who'll get it though.
20.33: Yellow card. We're going to have two minutes of added time, and in the first of them Rory McAuley is booked for a late tackle on Crabb.
20.32: This has been an entertaining half, mainly because neither team looks particularly capable of defending.
20.30: Great stuff from Holroyd, who gives backtracking Eastbourne skipper Armstrong twisted blood before firing in a low shot which Knowles grabs near his post. No doubt who the busier keeper has been today.
20.28: Bollan takes the safety first approach and heads the ball behind under no real pressure after a McAuley long throw. The corner finds Ives, who glances a header wide.
20.26: Real chance for Crow to complete what I suppose would be a hatrick. Reason's through ball puts him in on goal, but his first time lob sails just wide.
20.25: Yellow card. Armstrong is the second visiting player in the book when he brings down Ives as he looks to launch a counter attack.
20.23: It puzzles me how Eastbourne have managed to score twice in this game, but in fairness United look open at the back, and Potter flaps unconvincingly at an Atkin cross meaning McAuley has to hack the ball away.
20.22: GOAL. United 1 - 2 Eastbourne. That's a penalty at the other end though! Crow bursts forward and is upended in the box. The linesman's flag is up quick as a flash, and DC tucks away the spot kick, low to the keepers left. Two goals in two minutes for the striker, shame one of them was in the wrong net.
20.20: GOAL. United 0 - 2 Eastbourne. I think I'm just going to go home if that's ok, this is getting beyond a joke. Free kick to Eastbourne 30 yards out, and the ball flicks off the head of Danny Crow and over Potter for an own goal.
20.17: The Newmarket Road End bursts into a rendition of the Sky darts music. United could do with hitting the bullseye soon, too many of our shots have been landing in the double one.
20.13: Another chance goes begging as Crow's cross scuds across goal just ahead of Willmott and is put behind by Jenkins. Corner cleared to safety, but we're getting closer, need to put one of these away though.
20.10: Oooh, so unlucky from Robbie Willmott, who strikes the free kick from the left angle of the box, beats the keeper, but sees his shot rattle off the underside of the crossbar and bounce away to safety.
20.09: Yellow card. Carden drives United forward and is stopped in his tracks by an aggrecultural challenge from Matt Crabb, who is booked. Free kick 20 yards out.
20.05: Crow leaps like the proverbial tasty pink fish to meet a Willmott cross, but Knowles grasps his header fairly easily. Soon afterwards Reason puts Willmott in, but his shot is blocked by the Eastbourne stopper.
20.03: Reason blasts a shot over from the edge of the area. United look a bit shell-shocked after that goal, and Hatswell has to stretch to head a Johnson cross clear.
20.02: Holroyd glides forward, finding Crow on the U's right, but his shot is into the side netting.
20.00: GOAL United 0 - 1 Eastbourne. Hmm, where did that come from. Enver-Marum crosses from the right and finds Jamie Taylor, who displays fantastic control to bring the ball under his spell and toe poke a half-volley past Potter. I'm not even being biased when I say it's been totally against the run of play.
19.57: On his return to the side Jai Reason is looking hungrier than a lion eyeing a wilderbeast. A great pass releases McAuley on the right where the young right back is stopped in his tracks by a backtracking defender. Willmott's free kick is cleared
19.56: As Mark Johnson just correctly pointed out on Radio Cambridgeshire, we've had more entertainment in ten minutes tonight than in the first 45 on Saturday.
19.55: Hatswell's effort thumps into the wall, and though Carden gets the ball back into the area the offside flag goes up and Eastbourne can clear.
19.54: Another teasing delivery from Willmott, and this time Ives heads straight at the keeper when well placed. But Eastbourne gift possession straight back to Paul Carden, who is brought down by Jenkins just outside the box. Good chance here.
19.53: A twinkle-toed run from Holroyd wins a free kick after he is bundled over 30 yards out. Willmott's delivery is probably better than anything he managed on Saturday, and Johnson has to head clear at full stretch.
19.52: Knowles races off his line to beat Holroyd to a through ball, and with the goal gaping Jai Reason curls a good effort towards the target, though it lacks the power required to beat the recovering keeper. Good start from United.
19.50: Eastbourne actually adopting a similar 4-5-1 to Saturday, with Enver-Marum wide left, and Atkin up front on his own. He's a burly figure is Atkin, Hatswell and Saah could be in for a bruising night. Crow gets on the end of a Reason pass but sees his cross deflected into the arms of Knowles.
19.47: Actually, I take that back, it's 4-3-3 with Willmott joining Holroyd and Crow in attack. We're underway, and an early shot from Willmott loops into the NRE.
19.46: We've had a change of ends, so United will be attacking the Newmarket Road End when the game eventually gets underway. United look to be playing 4-4-2, with Jai Reason on the right of midfield.
19.42: Amazingly, Eastbourne's away contingent of 14 from Saturday all seem to have made the trip again, that's dedication for you.
19.34: Unsurprisingly, this doesn't look set to be a record crowd at the Abbey. However those in attendance are likely to see goals, with six of the seven FA Trophy ties United have been involved in since relegation to the Conference having produced five goals, including last season's second round defeat against Crawley (0-5) and that game at Histon in 2006 which we don't talk about.
19.17: Team news: Martin Ling has made four changes to the starting line up, with experienced heads Wayne Hatswell and Brian Saah and youngster Daryl Coakley taking the places of Josh Coulson, Blaine Hudson, and the cup-tied Aiden Palmer. Andy Parkinson drops to the bench, with Jai Reason returning in midfield. There's no place in the sixteen for winger Courtney Pitt, though it's unclear whether he has picked up an injury.
For Eastbourne, Danny Brown doesn't even make the bench (sob). Joe Benjamin is sidelined with a hamstring injury he picked up on Saturday so Andy Atkin comes in and will presumably partner Liam Enver-Marum up front in a 4-4-2 formation.
19.15pm: Evening folks, and welcome to the Abbey Stadium as United continue on the road to Wembley in the FA Trophy. Eastbourne Borough are again the visitors, and they will be looking for a repeat of Saturday's 1-0 win in the Blue Square Premier.
