Bournemouth keeper Chris Tardif booked his side an FA Cup fourth round trip to Stoke as he proved the hero in the penalty shoot-out at Crewe.
Tardif saved the Cheshire side's first two kicks form Dave Brammer and Kenny Lunt before Steve Jones crashed the third against the post.
Although David Wright finally found the net with Crewe's fourth penalty, Wade Elliott and Derek Holmes had already beaten substitute keeper Ademole Bankole and Warren Feeney clinched a 3-1 shoot-out victory for the third division side with a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
The visitors seemed to be on their way to an upset after goals from James Hayter and Steve Fletcher turned the game on its head with the latter's coming eight minutes into extra-time.
But Nigerian defender Efe Sodje rescued Crewe with a towering backpost header from Brammer's deep cross in injury-time to take the tie into penalties, where Bournemouth's nerves held up the best.
They were good value for their victory too in normal time and it was only in the latter stages that an under-strength Crewe side really began to stamp their authority.
Jones had fired them into a 29th minute lead after a sweeping move involving Brammer and David Vaughan with the forward taking the ball in his stride and shooting into the corner of the net from just inside the box.
But the lead lasted just eight minutes when some indecision by Crewe's back four allowed Fletcher to head on Stephen Purches' cross and Hayter reacted the quickest to chest the ball down and volley past Clayton Ince.
The Cherries were presented with a chance to take the lead three minutes into the second period when Dave Walton was harshly adjudged to have brought down giant centre forward Fletcher, but Gareth O'Connor put his spot kick onto Ince's left-hand post.
Crewe's worries deepened as the Trinidadian hobbled off after appearing to injury himself stretching for the kick.
And after Lunt had volleyed onto Tardif's post and Vaughan and then Jones spurned other openings, replacement keeper Bankole was caught out by Hayter's vicious shot, spilling the ball, which span back for Fletcher to sink the rebound from close range to give the visitors the lead.