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Scott Oakes became a legend in the FA Cup sixth round © PA Photos

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Just eight teams remain in the FA Cup, with all those participants acutely aware just one more victory will bring them a date with destiny at Wembley.

All four ties promise to be frantic affairs, so with that in mind ESPN takes a look back at some dramatic finishes to previous sixth round contests...

Nottingham Forest 3-3 Ipswich, 1981
A classic FA Cup tie - two great First Division teams going at it, with momentum swinging both ways and neither side seeming to consider defeat a possibility. Ipswich roared into a two-goal lead at the City Ground thanks to Paul Mariner and an own goal from the unfortunate Viv Anderson (whose error had also created Mariner's opening opportunity). Forest - managed by Brian Clough, who was still looking to reach his first FA Cup semi-final as a manager - then came back strong, finding themselves ahead inside 50 minutes thanks to a clinical finish from Trevor Francis, a straightforward strike from Colin Walsh and a penalty from John Robertson.

Ipswich would not be deterred, however, and finally booked a replay through Franz Thijssen - as the decision to use their one available substitution to bring on a forward (Kevin O'Callaghan) for a defender reaped dividends with only six minutes remaining. Ipswich then won the replay - thanks to a lovely volley from Arnold Muhren - but were subsequently knocked out of the competition in the semi-finals.

Newcastle United 4-3 Nottingham Forest, 1974
A year before Brian Clough rode into town, Forest were still toiling with the same agonising FA Cup struggles. This time it came at St James' Park, in a game that they arguably should have won were it not for an off-field interruption that upset their rhythm.

The east Midlands club were 3-1 up when the turning point came in the match, as a rather portly Newcastle fan (with an undone shirt, rather than the later fashion for no top at all) sparked a pitch invasion that cause numerous injuries and forced the police into strident measures. Some of the Forest players were attacked, and that along with the permeating atmosphere seemed to knock the stuffing out of them, as Newcastle quickly scored twice to get back onto level terms.

Bobby Moncur then scored the winner in the final minute from a brazenly offside position - with the clear implication being that the linesman had been unwilling to rule out the strike for fear of retribution from the stands. In the next days the Football Association eventually decided to replay the game at a neutral venue - but Newcastle won the replay of that rescheduled encounter as they eventually went on to lose to Liverpool in the final.

Luton 3-2 West Ham, 1994
"Remember the name," people would say at the end of this quarter-final replay, "Scott Oakes is set to be a big star." Alas, that never quite worked out, the young midfielder instead adding to the litany of people over the years who have fulfilled Andy Warhol's prophecy about everyone's 15 minutes of fame. The 21-year-old - the son of a Showaddywaddy guitarist, no less - scored a remarkably proficient hat-trick in this nationally televised game, which saw a struggling side at the bottom of the third tier of English football hit back against an established Premier League name.

Oakes' final strike was sumptuous, running clean through on goal and flicking it over Ludek Miklosko like the Czech wasn't even there. It won the tie and the attention of a nation ... it was just a shame that injury ravaged his later big-money move to Sheffield Wednesday, as his subsequent career never hit the heights this performance hinted at.

Birmingham City 0-1 Manchester City, 1955
Bert Trautmann might be most famous for his injury-overcoming heroics in the FA Cup final of 1956, but a year earlier his resilient performance in this game helped his side reach the final (although they would go on to lose).

The German-born goalkeeper endured a rough ride from Birmingham's forwards, but held his nerve and kept a clean sheet, giving his side the foundation to steal the game at the death - Roy Clarke's free-kick deflecting into the corner of the net, sparking a pretty impressive pitch invasion from the delighted away contingent.

William Gallas scored a late winner for Arsenal © Getty Images

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Arsenal 2-1 Hull City, 2009
Arsenal were expected to win this one against the Premier League's surprise package, but boy did they make their fans sweat over it (plus ca change...). Nicky Barmby had given Phil Brown's side the lead after just 13 minutes, as his shot took an unfortunate deflection off Johan Djourou and looped over the helpless Lukasz Fabianski. The Gunners, who had lost to the Tigers in the league at home six months earlier, were once again not at their best but were finally bailed out in the final 15 minutes, with Robin van Persie restoring parity.

In the final six minutes William Gallas scored a comically scrappy goal - meeting the ball a yard out after Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill had flapped at a free-kick thrown into the box. It was a fitting way for Arsenal to win a tie that they perhaps should have cruised through - as they booked a first trip to the new Wembley.

Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham, 2007
The Blues went on to win the cup after this narrow escape (completing a domestic cup double), but Tottenham really didn't make it easy for them. Edging into a 3-1 lead at Stamford Bridge after Dimitar Berbatov's early strike had been added to by Michael Essien's own goal and a rare finish from Hossam Ghaly (remember him?), Frank Lampard gave Jose Mourinho's side hope of a comeback with his second goal with just shy of 20 minutes remaining.

Salomon Kalou then grabbed an equaliser - volleying in first-time from Didier Drogba's cushioned header, a sweet strike that set up a replay the Blues would win with a bit of breathing room. From there, cup success was just two more wins away.

Barnsley 1-0 Chelsea, 2009
Success one year it may have been for Chelsea, but two years later they were suffering acute embarrassment at the hands of lower league opposition. Championship side Barnsley had given notice of their giant-killing intentions with victory over Liverpool at Anfield in the previous round, and they followed that up with a similarly inspired showing in front of their own fans. Kayode Odejayi was the man who took the glory this time, bundling the ball home with just over an hour gone to unceremoniously dump the Blues out of the FA Cup.

Leicester City 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers, 2001
A giant-killing, a fairytale story, a dramatic finish - this game had just about everything you could wish for from a cup quarter-final. So strapped for attacking options was Wycombe manager Lawrie Sanchez at the time, that he posted an advert on Ceefax (for our younger readers: a television text news service) pleading for any strikers (who weren't cup-tied or injured) to come on trial. Belfast-born, Finland-based journeyman Roy Essandoh answered the proverbial call, earning a week-to-week contract and a place on the bench for this mammoth match in the club's history.

Steve Brown (who would later be sent off for his celebrations) put the visitors ahead early with a close-range header, before Muzzy Izzet tapped home an equaliser as Leicester threatened to show their superiority. Perhaps sensing the tide was turning, Sanchez was then dismissed from the dugout for a foul-mouthed tirade after a (somewhat dubious) penalty shout was turned down, forcing him to watch the rest of the game on a tiny television in the bowels of the ground. He got in just in time to see Essandoh win the game, however, as the part-Ghanaian hit-man rose in the box to nod home the only goal he would score all season, at any level of the game. A Hollywood ending to a surreal story, one only cup competitions seem to throw up.

Park Chung-yong helped Bolton to victory in 2012 © PA Photos

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Leeds United 2-1 Sunderland, 1967
A case of one side winning the battle, but the other (belatedly) winning the war. By this point the two teams basically loathed each other - a combination of promotion battles, hard-fought contests and managerial intrigue (at one point, Sunderland tried to steal away Leeds' Don Revie) led to open warfare between the two sides.

This game was no different, and was only settled with three minutes remaining in dubious fashion. With the score at 1-1 and Revie having reportedly told his side to go down under any contact in the box, Leeds were given a penalty when Jimmy Greenhoff was felled somewhat softly. Some later suspected the referee, Ken Stokes, had been intimidated (this was an era when such antics were not unheard of) - but Johnny Giles nevertheless made no mistake to convert from 12-yards and seal the win.

To add to the pain for Sunderland, the Black Cats' talisman Bobby Kerr suffered a broken leg under a typically bullish tackle from Norman Hunter. Six years later Kerr would have the last laugh, however, as he lifted the cup for his team when they two sides met again in the final.

Birmingham 2-3 Bolton, 2011
They may have fallen apart in the subsequent semi-final against Stoke, but Owen Coyle's Bolton booked a Wembley trip in memorable fashion in this game against Birmingham City. Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies had twice put the Trotters ahead at St Andrews, before they were pegged back by Cameron Jerome and Kevin Phillips. The game looked like it could go either way - or, most probably, to a replay - as normal time expired, but then Lee Chung-young popped up to nod home and get Bolton fans rushing to book their train tickets to London.

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