Two goals in a disastrous minute condemned Chester FC to a 2-1 defeat at The New Lawn as Forest Green Rovers return to the National League summit.
It's too obvious to describe what happened between the 32nd and 33rd minute a Halloween horror show but that's exactly what it was because the Blues had been on top until then.
Chester displayed real intensity from the first whistle and took a deserved lead on 13 minutes when Jordan Chapell's corner ended up in the back of the net with Ross Hannah claiming the final touch.
James Roberts screwed a volley into the side-netting as the Blues went close to a second before the home side began to take hold of the game with Jon Worsnop saving well from Darren Carter.
Chester seemed to be coping well enough but found themselves behind when Forest Green scored twice inside 30 seconds.
Re-read: All the action from the Chronicle's live blog
The first was unfortunate with Ian Sharps tackling Carter and a kind ricochet benefited the midfielder and he released Elliott Frear to square for the unmarked Jon Parkin to tap home.
But the second was a gift as Ryan Higgins' back-pass intended for Worsnop fell short and Keanu Marsh-Brown swooped to curl around the stranded keeper to give Rovers the lead at the break.
Chester settled back down as the second-half wore on without mounting a serious threat on the Forest Green goal with Hannah flashing a half-chance wide from an acute angle.
Rovers seemed content with a one goal lead and created little until the 78th minute when Frear broke through but his shot flicked the crossbar.
Tom Shaw should have levelled with 10 minutes to go when he nodded Johnny Hunt's clipped cross wide from six yards and substitute Jamie McDonagh forced Johnny Maxted into action with a decent strike from 20 yards but that was close as the Blues came.
Talking Points
Ryan Higgins: We know from last season how good a full-back Higgins is but he's struggling to recapture that form at present. There are others who have been unable to hit the heights of 2014-15 but Higgins is perhaps the most glaring and he seems short on confidence.
He's still getting himself into good positons going forward but has been unable to produce the quality required on the ball and has been caught out defensively. His mistake for the second goal was the kind of thing that happens to players in tough spells.
He could well benefit from being taken out of the firing line for a few games to allow him to rebuild his confidence and get back to his best.
Positives to take forward: This defeat will be a tough one to take because the Blues side began so well and then threw that good start away, but there were chinks of light. Luke George showed up well on his return and will improve for the outing and Jamie McDonagh gave a promising performance off the bench.
The lesson to take from this game is that the level of performance produced in the opening 20 minutes is the standard required for the rest of the season because Forest Green found it difficult to handle.
Match facts
Chester FC: Worsnop, Higgins, Kay, Sharps (Heneghan 63), Hunt, Chapell, George, Shaw, Mahon, Roberts (McDonagh 63), Hannah.
Subs: Forth, Gordon, Woodland.
Goal: Hannah 13.
Booked: Sharp, Worsnop, Kay.
Forest Green Rovers: Maxted, Bennett, Clough, Racine, Jennings, Marsh-Brown (Kelly 74), Sinclair, Wedgbury, Carter (Bender 87), Frear, Parkin.
Subs: Eve, Baldwin, Jones.
Goals: Parkin 32, Marsh-Brown 33.
Booked: Sinclair, Parkin, Jennings.
Referee: Nigel Lugg (Surrey)
Attendance: 1,561.
Star man: Michael Kay.
Verdict
Chester have reason to feel aggrieved at the end result but will know that it was ultimately their own doing.If the Blues can reproduce the intensity, crisp passing and attacking movement shown in the first 20 minutes week in, week out then we'd be talking them up as genuine play-off contenders.
The problem this season has been that they've not been able to do that on a consistent enough basis and paid a heavy price for switching off here.But there was a lot of promise in that impressive start and the players and manager know what is required from here on to start moving up the table.
Steve Burr and his squad now have 10 days off in which to evaluate where they are and prepare themselves for an extremely winnable game with Kidderminster Harriers.
