Steve Burr pointed to the character within his squad as decisive to the lionhearted FA Cup win at Southend United.
Chester produced an exceptional performance from start to finish and the deserved success sent the Football League hosts crashing out in the first round.
Ben Heneghan and Craig Mahon, who celebrated the birth of twins with his wife the night before, got the goals to book them a place in round two.
Barry Corr replied from the spot to help Southend come from behind to go into half time level but the League Two side conceded again six minutes into the second period and this time the Blues refused to surrender the advantage.
There were standout contributions across the pitch, most notably from centre backs Kieran Charnock and Matty Brown, and there was no doubting the result was the right one.
Burr described the performance as 'gritty' and his side did have to cope with some heavy pressure but there was also lots of attacking endeavour and some neat football on show.
Burr said: "To get ourselves in front and then have the setback of a penalty, it was a clear cut penalty, I thought it was going to be difficult for us but we showed a lot of character and it's great to get through and again it was a great following from the supporters.
"I think it was about hard work and determination to get through along with some good passing. I thought we played well and I thought we moved the ball about well.
"They closed us down quickly and it's harder then to move the ball but I thought it was a really good performance."
Heneghan gave the Blues into the lead on five minutes when he headed home Peter Winn's free kick and the right back made an important defensive contribution too alongside Brown, Charnock and Gareth Roberts.
Burr said: "We've obviously been working on things this week like set pieces and that, and we were delighted with what came off with our set pieces and to get in front was very pleasing.
"We worked on pressing and closing down quickly this week but Southend are a dangerous side and you could see that. They have got some good players in the side obviously and they wouldn't be at the right end of the table if they weren't doing things right.
"I wouldn't say we rode our luck at times because that's what the FA Cup is about. We've got two very influential players missing with Matty Hughes and Michael Kay but I thought the lads who were out there were terrific.
"To keep the likes of Corr quiet was important to us. Matty Brown has been out for a while and I was dead pleased with him because he's not had the best of luck but he came in and as a leader and our captain I thought he was immense.
"Charny has done well too and both lads showed really that they have played in the Football League, Matty not as much as Charny, but they both showed good qualities.
"Southend had a few chances towards the end and when seven minutes of injury time go up you're always concerned because that's a long time but I thought we stuck to it and our shape was good.
"We had to change things round a little bit early on because we thought we were being a little bit overrun in the middle of the park but we dropped Sean (McConville) back into the middle but all round I thought we deserved to win."
Mahon got what proved to be the winner on 51 minutes, cutting in from the right and firing a low shot past keeper Daniel Bentley with his weaker foot from outside the box.
His goal capped an unforgettable 24 hours for Mahon and the manager was full of praise for Irish winger, whose involvement had been dependent on when his wife gave birth.
Burr said: "It was great news for him on Friday and we were hanging on and hanging on and thankfully the twins were born on Friday
"It was great for him to get the winner and sometimes that's just the romance of the cup isn't it?
"I'm sure if the twins hadn't been born on Friday we might not have seen him but everything was sorted and he's played and took his goal well.
"I thought he was excellent for us and he's my type of player I've always said that with the way he excites people and he's finished it off great."
