Red faces for off Whites!

"The last time we beat you in the FA Cup was in 1911 and you went on to win promotion to the old First Division," the sage said in a sporting, consoling tone.

It was offered as a sympathetic crumb of comfort but, should history repeat itself and the Wanderers do go on to make it back to the top flight this time, there will be no reason to dwell on their unceremonious exit from the FA Cup.

Yet promotion is still some distance away and, for now, they must come to terms with being on the receiving end of one of those famous giant-killing stories on which they have built their reputation in recent years.

Now they know how Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal and Villa felt in previous FA Cup campaigns and how Chelsea and Spurs suffered this season in the Coca-Cola Cup. Walking tall in the league, Wanderers were left bowing their heads in shame last night after submitting so woefully to John Duncan's Second Division mean machine.

The consequence is that they have missed out on a home tie against Nottingham Forest in the fifth round - a chance to pit their wits against Premiership opposition in a dress rehearsal for what they hope will be bread and butter business next season.

They had a realistic chance of making it to the last eight - the opportunity to show they were proud, promotion-chasing lions giving the cup their best shot. Instead they are sheepishly licking their wounds and only time will tell whether the humiliating defeat will have a knock-on effect in league terms.

Colin Todd wasn't a happy man and let his players know it in private before he toned down his reaction in his public assessment of the night's setback. It wasn't so much the defeat, he explained, as the manner in which his team lost.

"The players have got to look at themselves," the Wanderers boss suggested. "They've set great standards for themselves this season yet this has been an embarrassment."

It was an uncharacteristically disjointed performance which lacked the passion or the pattern that has made them runaway leaders of the First Division. They struggled for any kind of rhythm as an offensive force and in defence they were guilty of fundamental errors that left 19-year-old Kevin Davies to grab all three goals for his first personal hat-trick and the first by any Chesterfield player in the history of the FA Cup. Yet Todd immediately turned his attention to the 12-point lead in the race for the Premiership and insisted: "That result will not spoil our season."

Nevertheless it spoiled the night for the home fans in a disappointingly sparce Burnden crowd. It has been said so often of Wanderers this season that they have wanted to win games more than their opponents but this time the boot was on the other foot and it's an uncomfortable feeling.

Chesterfield showed that they wanted it more. They were up for it from the start and never really let up - even after Scott Taylor crowned only his third start with a 14th minute header, in off the post, to cancel out Davies' first.

The Sheffield lad, who rejected a £400,000 transfer to Bristol City last week explaining that he didn't think it was time for a move, couldn't believe his luck when he gathered Chris Beaumont's high ball and discovered Gavin Ward had raced five yards out of his area to leave his goal unguarded.

Wanderers always reckoned they'd find it hard to break down the most stubborn defence in England but they never imagined being so embarrassed by the Spirites' modest attack. Davies had only scored two goals this season so it's fair to say he was amazed to find it so easy.

But for two saves by Ward, he could have had a hat-trick just three minutes into the second half thanks to some alarmingly sloppy defending. The lucky escapes merely delayed the agony for a couple more minutes. Bryan Small's backpass wrong-footed Gerry Taggart and the hero of the hour raced clear, confidently drew Ward and helped himself to his second.

Just when it seemed it couldn't get any worse for Wanderers or any better for Davies, another episode of defensive chaos left him free to complete his hat-trick 15 minutes from the end.

The game was over as a contest when Scott Green turned in a Nathan Blake shot a minute from the end of normal time. It prompted Wanderers into their first flush of urgency but it was far too little and far too late and it's not being unfair to suggest they were flattered by the second goal.

Chesterfield, who haven't been in the fifth round since 1950, were good value for their win and rightly proud at the end.

Duncan, who led them to promotion two years ago when they beat Bury in the play-off final, put the result into historical context. "This is one of the biggest victories in the club's history.

"People would have thought you a fool if you came to a place like Bolton expecting to win. Hardly anyone's done that this season, including Tottenham."

Chairman Norton Lea, who bought the club in 1987 and runs such a tight ship that he says he doesn't have to sell players to survive, always reckoned the 1995 promotion and a 3-0 Coca-Cola Cup lead against Liverpool (they drew 4-4 and eventually lost the tie) as his club's finest hour. Now he's not so sure. "To beat Bolton, who are doing so well in the league, is an amazing achievement," he declared.

"I fact it's an amazing achievement for us to score three goals but we deserved it.

"It wasn't a flukey result."

Davies made it sound all so simple, though, when he reflected tactically: "We were told Bolton pushed out a lot from the back so we were looking to put balls over the top.

"It was no different to any other game we've played this season. We just got on with it."

Wanderers, who went into the game without John McGinlay, Scott Sellars and Gudni Bergsson, have paid a high price for failing to show their more humble opponents enough respect. In terms of commitment and desire they were a pale shadow of the team that has taken the Nationwide League by storm.

Taggart, captaining the side in Bergsson's absence, conceded: "We just weren't at the races.

"Chesterfield came and battled it out of us in midfield and up front. There were a few tired legs out there but that's no excuse. I don't think we were mentally right for the game.

"It's difficult to explain your feelings at losing a game like that. It's weird because everyone knows this club's priority is to get back into the Premier League.

"But I think this defeat has given us just what we needed - a good kick up the backside.

"The gaffer's given us a right roasting and we've deserved it. We didn't play well and I think we needed that kick after a performance like that.

"Hopefully this can be a blessing in disguise."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.