Accrington Stanley had the lottery of penalties to thank as they resisted a sharp Rochdale comeback from two goals down to beat the League Two side on penalties.
Tommy Leigh came off the bench to clang home a last-gasp leveller to take the game to spot-kicks, before a fine goalkeeping show from Toby Savin secured the bonus points for Stanley.
Accrington had drawn four and won one of their last five matches, with one of those draws preceding a stunning 11-12 penalty loss to Tranmere in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
The hosts made seven changes to the side that drew 0-0 at home to Exeter City last time out, as Toby Savin, Shaun Walley, Matt Lowe, Mo Sangare, Seamus Conneely, Josh Woods and Baba Fernandes coming into the side.
The visitors sit right at the bottom of the 92 professional clubs in England having won none of their six games in League Two so far, drawing just one.
They sought to boost their team by making eight changes to the side that drew to Crawley Town for their first league point of the season, as Cieran Slicker, Jimmy McNulty, James Ball, Abraham Odoh, Ethan Brierley, Sam Graham, Rayhaan Tulloch and Connor Malley came in.
Story of the game
The opening half an hour failed to offer up any clear chances, aside from a sliding Baba Fernandes challenge in the box that denied Abraham Odoh with 12 gone.
A half-decent shot finally presented itself with 29 minutes on the clock, as an Accrington counter-attack saw the ball land with Ryan Astley from 20 yards, but the centre-backs strike was seen over the bar by Cieran Slicker.
Rochdale saw two decent opportunities come their way next. Firstly, some smart play from Dale captain Aidy White saw a recycled cross get thumped clear impressively by Fernandes.
Five minutes later, some dazzling footwork by Odoh freed him up to square across the face of Toby Savin's goal, but Rayhaan Tulloch couldn't stretch a toe to the loose ball.
The second half saw the intensity turn up a notch, and it was the lower-league visitors who started stronger as Odoh raced onto a loose ball down the right-hand side before flashing a low effort past the far post.
Accrington threatened to bite straight back as the chances started to increase as Shaun Whalley hit a powerful drive past the post five minutes into the half.
The stalemate was finally broken just a couple of minutes afterwards, as some fine wing play from Matt Lowe allowed him to square a ball across the box for Sean McConville, who made no mistake to fire home first-time.
Four minutes later, the lead was doubled, and it was Lowe and McConville who joined up again to make it.
McConville had a strike from 20 yards that was parried skywards by Slicker, but on-hand was Lowe to nod the rebound back over him coolly.
Dale tried to bite back just after the hour mark through Connor Malley, but the wide-mans effort screwed high over the bar.
They managed to halve the deficit five minutes after the chance through Ball, who fired low into the Savin's net after Stanley failed to clear their lines.
A remarkable turnaround was on the cards as they drew level after just another two minutes of action, as a miscommunication between Savin and his defence saw a loose ball fall to Ball again, who rounded the stranded keeper and square to substitute Ian Henderson to tap home.
Rochdale really started to twist the knife from there, as Graham broke the lines to substitute Tyrese Sinclair on the right to cross, but nobody was there to get on the end.
The sensational comeback was completed after 73 minutes by 18-year-old Ethan Brierley.
Femy Seriki clipped a great ball down the right to Malley, who drove inside before smacking an attempt off the bar that fell straight to the youngster to slide home his first professional goal.
Stanley struggled to find an answer to Rochdale's sudden spark, as Astley sent a half-volleyed effort high over Slicker's goal a few minutes later.
Stanley came again through substitute Pritchard with just a few minutes remaining, but the midfielders strike flew wide of the target.
Accrington finally managed to restore parity in the dying seconds of the game, as a scramble in the box saw Tommy Leigh come from the bench to squeeze the ball under Slicker and avoid a banana skin and send the game to penalties.
Rochdale shot first as Henderson smashed low past Savin to kick-off the shootout.
Keeper Savin took Stanley's first and rolled the goalkeeper the wrong way. Near-match winner Brierley stepped up next to fire in Rochdale's second.
McConville kept the goals coming as he took it to 2-2.
Tyrese Sinclair was the first to miss as Savin kept out his effort to the right. Leigh took the game to penalties before, and he kept his cool to score his.
Liam Kelly was up next to send his penalty straight into the top corner for 3-3. Josh Woods put all the pressure on the next Dale taker as he slotted his penalty home comfortably.
Captain Aidy White had it all to do from the spot to keep his side within a chance, but Savin pulled off a second save to avoid a cupset from the spot.
Player of the match
It was a tough game to stand out in, but Femi Seriki did enough to get himself above the rest tonight.
His key pass made the winner, and his all-round defensive effort was sublime, despite his side not walking away with the win in the end.