CHESTER CITY bowed out of the FA Cup at the Deva Stadium last night, and will be ruing a four-minute spell midway through the second period when the visitors sewed up the game with three goals.

The goal fest started after 73 minutes when referee Rob Merchant controversially awarded the visitors an indirect free-kick after he adjudged that Ashton had passed back to keeper Danby, who in turn had picked up the ball.

From the resulting free-kick 10 yards out, Sheridan laid a short ball to Andy Bond who drilled it into the net.

Two minutes later Ashton was again involved when he was adjudged to have brought Shaw down in the area. Jason Walker hammered the resulting spot-kick into the corner of the net.

Bond doubled his personal tally after 77 minutes, when he met a cross from the right and headed home via the underside of the bar.

Substitute Andy Cook completed the rout two minutes into added time when he broke away from the halfway line and shook off some woeful attempts at tackles before placing the ball into the corner.

City’s best chance came from substitute Lloyd Ellams who missed a sitter from six yards.

Following the match City manager Jim Harvey said: “It was a bizarre four-minute spell, because up until then there had hardly been anything in it.

“But then the controversial decision to award the indirect free-kick changed the course of the game, and after the penalty went in there really was only going to be one winner.

“There were some positives to take from the game. I thought young James Owen did well when he came on.”

CHESTER: Danby, Roberts, Ryan, Barry (Ellams 44), Lea (Owen 46), Ashton, Kelty, Coulson, Beesley, Flynn, Kay. Subs: Murphy, Maynell, Wilkinson, Kelly, Blundell.

REFEREE: Rob Merchant (Stoke).

ATTENDANCE: 1,287.