In front of an enthusiastic 200 plus crowd at Church Street on Thursday night. However the victory may have come at a cost as influential skipper Lee Parsons was helped off the field early in the second half after badly twisting his knee writes Russell Brown.

Heath Hayes came into this game after making their own history by progressing into the third round of the FA Vase and indeed, had the audacity to have the ball in the Chasetown net in the 14th minute as Richard Hewitt cleverly lobbed advancing keeper Matt Sargeant after latching onto a through ball. But the striker had just strayed offside and his celebrations were cut short by the assistant’s raised flag.

Leading the front line for the Scholars was 19 year old Daniel Dubidat along with Nathan Lamey and it was to prove a night of conflicting results for the differing styles of the strikers, with the youngster doing everything but score whilst the more seasoned new acquisition Lamey went on to register a hat-trick to complete his night’s work.

The visitors were working hard to contain their hosts who sit two leagues higher than the Midlands Combination Premier Division outfit, but were undone in the 27th minute by a simple free kick. The ball was hung into the area and the tall figure of Sam Smith did the damage as his perfectly executed flick saw Lamey nip in to glace a close range header home.

Two minutes later and the lead was doubled. Mark Swann, making his first senior team appearance of the season, found Neil Aulton on the left flank. The tricky attacking wing back slipped past his marker and with both the Chasetown strikers and the Heath Hayes keeper anticipating a cut back into the area, Aulton smashed a rising drive high into the net from a ridiculously narrow angle.

Stuart France denied Swann with a breath taking save to keep out a well placed effort from the midfielder, and then Nick Hawkins came close as his instant return from a clearance from the keeper drifted just wide.

Hawkins was rested at the half time interval with Chris Lewis replacing the former Hucknall Town midfielder, but Chasetown were forced into their second substitution of the night when Parsons caught his studs in the grass to go down clutching his knee. After several minutes of treatment, he was replaced by new signing Robert Meacham.

On 54 minutes the game was put beyond the Cannock side when a short corner was pumped into the area by Aulton and with France under pressure from Lamey, the striker showed his predatory instincts by turning and lashing in from close range as the keeper fumbled the cross.

Five minutes later and Lamey was the proud owner of the match ball when he calmly slammed in from the edge of the area as Heath Hayes got their offside trap spectacularly wrong, leaving the former Bromsgrove hit man all the time and space to chose his spot for his third of the night.

There then followed an amazing sequence that saw Chasetown hit the woodwork four times in the space of eight minutes. Lamey profited from some quick thinking from Aulton as he collected a throw in the area to swerve into a shot that slammed against the near post. Dubidat can consider himself unlucky not to gain the goal that his performance deserved when the youngster beat France with a low drive and as the striker wheeled away to celebrate, he saw the ball cruelly strike the base of the post.

Smith should have scored when the rangy defender waltzed onto a loose ball in the six yard area only to slam the ball firmly against the bar and then Dubidat could not believe his luck as another great effort hit the frame of the goal.

The fifth came with six minutes remaining. A ball in from Aulton looked to be a routine catch for France, but lack of communication saw James Barber take the ball out of the hands of the waiting keeper and his attempted header fell for Meacham who wrapped things up with an instinctive finish from four yards out to end an energetic performance and earn a semi final spot.

Chasetown: Sargeant, Currithers (Turner), Aulton, Hughes, Smith, Thompson, Swann, Parsons (Meacham), Dubidat, Lamey, Hawkins (Lewis)

Other Subs: Edwards, Hancox (not used)