LUIS CAVACO proved that West Ham United are not the only side with a foreign legion as he gained second division battlers Stockport a deserved replay.
Romanian Florin Raducioiu's first goal in English football should have given Harry Redknapp's side the springboard to leap into the last eight.
But lain Dowie missed three glorious chances on a night he will want to forget.
And then six minutes after coming on as an interval replacement, Portuguese winger Cavaco robbed the day dreaming Julian Dicks before advancing to the edge of the box and slotting past Ludek Miklosko.
A late flurry of pressure saw Dicks three times coming close to making amends for his dreadful error, but nobody could begrudge County their second chance at Edlev Park.
Stockport goalkeeper Paul Jones made a great reaction save from Michael Hughes's deflected second minute shot, and from the resulting Hughes corner Dowie started as he was meant to go on.
Dicks' flicked header dropped to the Northern Ireland international six yards out but his first effort was blocked on the line before he somehow fired the rebound over the top.
Miklosko was then called into action, plunging to his right to turn aside a fierce drive from Kieron Durkin, before Dowie's touch sent Raducioiu clear.
The club record £2.4 million summer signing from Espanyol has hardly pulled up any Upton Park trees this term. But when Dowie pulled clear of defender Mike Flynn to flick into space, 26 year old Raducioiu composed himself before steering home from just inside the box.
Yet that was about the only thing Dowie would want to remember from a match which should have been his for the taking.
Played in when Raducioiu returned the compliment from the goal on the half hour, Dowie had all the time in the world only to fire miles off target, and then at the start of the second half he headed over when unmarked.
West Ham were made to rue those shocking misses when Dicks' folly was exposed by Cavaco, who had replaced John Jeffers, and the free signing from Estoril might have grabbed a second on the hour.
