Nobody saw this coming.

Chester FC suffered their heaviest defeat for many a decade as they went down 8-1 at Blyth Spartans after a shambolic display at Croft Park.

Back in 2000, Chester went down 7-1 to now Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion in the Football League, on this occasion it was a National League North encounter against a side who had lost their first two games - and they went one worse.

Impressive in their first two games, Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley could only watch as their Chester side produced a bafflingly bad performance where a Dan Maguire brace and goals from Jamie Holmes, Kieran Green, Sean Reid, a Steve Howson own goal, Adam Wrightson and Nathan Buddle handed the home side a simply jaw-dropping win. Gary Stopforth netted a consolation for Chester in a performance so bad it had to be seen to be believed.

The task was made even more difficult after a straight red card for Gary Roberts midway through the second half after he was adjudged to have gone in over the top of the ball when challenging Holmes.

The Blues embarked on their longest away day of the National League North season as they headed to the North East to take on a Blyth side who had struggled in their opening two games.

While Chester had opened their campaign with a 0-0 draw with Spennymoor Town and a 3-0 win over Curzon Ashton, Blyth had suffered losses to Hereford and Bradford (Park Avenue) in their first two games, with Spartans manager Alun Armstrong describing their first-half showing as 'disgusting'.

But with one of last season's most prolific strikers in the North, Dan Maguire, in the line up there was certainly the quality to hurt Chester going forward.

There was no Shaun Tuton owing to an injury but there was a return to the squad for Scott Burton with a place on the bench while Matty Hughes partnered Anthony Dudley in attack after completing a two-match ban.

Chester saw much of the ball in the opening 10 minutes but Blyth were looking dangerous going forward on the counter, if a little suspect at the back.

After repelling a Blyth attack on six minutes the returning Hughes was set free from a long ball forward, nicking the ball off Nathan Buddle and racing clear before checking back and finding Dan Mooney, but he found his route to goal blocked as the Blyth defence managed to recover.

But the Chester defence that had looked so solid in the opening two games and hadn't been breached was looking fragile and was cracked on 14 minutes when a mistake from Dominic Smalley set Maguire free, with the Blyth front man, under pressure from Steve Howson, driving a low angled effort from 15 yards that crept under Grant Shenton and hit the back of the net.

Chester looked shell shocked and Blyth continued to come forward and doubled their advantage four minutes later when the home side broke forward quickly and Jarret Rivers, in acres of space on the right, whipped in a cross that found the head of Green 12 yards out, with the midfielder heading past Shenton into the far corner.

The Blues were getting overrun in midfield and the home side looked like adding to their tally with every foray into the Chester half, and it took a fine stop from Shenton on 22 minutes to keep Maguire from almost putting the game beyond the away side when he pushed away the striker's well-stuck 18-yarder.

Blyth were getting in behind Chester almost at will, with Maguire and Rivers causing them problems time and time again.

And it wasn't just defensively they were falling below the standards they had set in the opening two games as the midfield looked almost non existent and Blyth having almost free reign across the pitch.

Chester did manage to muster a couple of efforts as Hughes lashed over from 20 yards and Dudley saw a well-struck 15-yarder blocked superbly by Spartans defender Alex Nicholson.

The home side were getting plenty of encouragement from their stunned fans and the third goal arrived before too long when, on 42 minutes, more space was afforded to Maguire who found Holmes, with the midfielder riding a challenge on the edge of the box before dispatching an effort beyond Shenton into the back of the net. It felt like game over.

Half time: Blyth 3 Chester 0

The half time team talk would no doubt have been an interesting one but there were no changes at the break from Johnson and Morley.

There looked to have been some response when Dudley shot wide from 18 yards after fashioning himself some room on the edge of the box, but it was number four for the home side when a Rivers corner found the head of an unmarked Reid 10 yards out who made no mistake in nodding past Shenton to end the game as a contest.

And the misery continued just before the hour mark when Blues skipper Gary Roberts was shown a straight red card for being deemed to have gone in over the top of the ball on Holmes, getting his marching orders from referee Richard Aspinall.

But Blyth weren't in any mood to make do with their lead and added a fifth in farcical circumstances 60 seconds later when a ball into the box was turned past Shenton by Howson as he attempted to hook it clear from close range.

Rivers curled just wide on 65 minutes, his last action of the game before being replaces by Wrightson.

And within seconds of him coming on he made it 6-0, finding acres of space on the edge of the box before shooting low past a stranded Shenton. It was shambolic stuff.

Michael Liddle headed a Hughes effort from close range off the line as Chester searched for a consolation, which did arrive on 71 minutes through a Stopforth strike from distance.

One bright spot was Lloyd Marsh-Hughes coming on for his senior debut, but that was where the good news ended as Blyth soon added another.

Shenton saved well from Robbie Dale but the ball fell to Buddle who rifled through a crowded penalty area and past Shenton to send Blyth into seventh heaven.

And the misery was compounded in injury time when Wrightson broke free in the box, laying it off to Maguire to tap home.

It was miserable end to a shocking afternoon. The Blues have hit the earth with an almighty thud.

Match facts

Blyth Spartans: Jameson, Nicholson, Liddle, Green (Oliver 62), Buddle, Cunningham, Rivers (Wrightson 65), Reid, Maguire, Holmes (Horner 67), Dale. Subs: Watson, Skirpan.

Bookings: Nicholson, Liddle.

Goals: Maguire 14 & 90, Green 18, Holmes 42, Reid 55, Howson (OG) 60, Wrightson 66, Buddle 74.

Chester: Shenton, Smalley (Marsh-Hughes 73), Pritchard, Howson, Grand, Livesey, Stopforth, Roberts, Mooney (Burton 62), Hughes, Dudley. Subs: Mahon, Thomson, Moran.

Bookings: Hughes.

Red card: Roberts.

Goals: Stopforth 71.

Referee: Richard Aspinall.

Attendance: 737

Star man: You must be kidding.