Football: Davies carves through Bolton

Bolton Wanderers 2 Chesterfield 3

Bolton Wanderers, seasoned exponents of the upset in recent years, were on the humiliating end of a surprise last night when Chesterfield, of the Second Division, bundled them unceremoniously out of the FA Cup.

The runaway leaders of the First Division were first slowed then halted in their tracks by Kevin Davies, a precocious 19-year-old striker who, on the evidence of this match, will not be playing in the lower reaches of the Nationwide League for much longer. He scored a hat-trick to earn a home fifth-round tie against Nottingham Forest on Saturday week. Three times he left a static home rearguard trailing and, with the weight of a famous victory on him, finished with aplomb.

Bolton were without the injured Scott Sellars and John McGinlay but that provided only a flimsy alibi. Only for a 20-minute period after they had equalised through Scott Taylor did they display their supposed greater pedigree. The rest of the time they were outplayed so that Scott Green's goal after 88 minutes was strictly a consolation.

That Bolton were in for a hard night was apparent almost from the start, Chesterfield taking the lead after seven minutes. Chris Beaumont played a long, speculative ball over the top and the Bolton central defence parted like curtains. Davies swept through the gap, dribbled round the advancing Gavin Ward and passed the ball into the net from the edge of the area.

There was a momentary look of disbelief on the Bolton players but they did not dwell on the emotion and they levelled within six minutes. Alan Thompson took a corner on the left, Gerry Taggart's massive frame flicked it on and Taylor, lurking at the far post, headed past Billy Mercer.

If the home team thought they merely had to keep applying the pressure and Chesterfield would fold, they were rudely shaken by the start of the second half. Twice Ward had to make stops from Davies but, on the third occasion, after 49 minutes, he had no chance. Bryan Small tried to play a back-pass which ricocheted off Taggart into Davies's path and, from a range of 15 yards, he waited until Ward made his move before beating him comprehensively.

The tie was slipping from Bolton and it was ripped from their grasp completely after 75 minutes. Tom Curtis played the ball through and Davies, last night, simply could not miss.

Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Ward; Green, Fairclough, Taggart, Small; Johansen, Frandsen, Pollock, Thompson; Taylor (Lee, 68), Blake. Substitutes not used: Coleman, Sheridan.

Chesterfield (3-5-2): Mercer; Williams, Dyche, Carr; Perkins, Hewitt, Curtis, Beaumont, Jules; Davies, Howard. Substitutes not used: Morris, Lomas, Mitchell.

Referee: P Alcock (Redhill).