Chester City 1 Newcastle United 0 att. 18,320.

Chester City : G.Millington, N.Edwards, T.Loska, T.Storton, R.Matthewson, S.Mason, N.Whitehead, I.Seddon, D.Draper, J.James, D.Lennard sub. T.Owen.

Newcastle United : I.McFaul, I.Nattrass, F.Clark, T.Gibb, G.Keeley, P.Howard, S.Barrowclough, A.Kennedy, M.McDonald, P.Cannell, J.Smith sub. M.Burns.

Fourth division Chester had stunned the football world by trouncing the mighty Leeds United in the fourth round and now had Newcastle United firmly in their sights after managing to hold out grimly for a goalless draw in the first game of this replayed quarter final.

Newcastle, for their part, remained confident that they could reach Wembley for the second season running. The Geordies were particularly keen to acclomplish this feat in order to hopefully banish the painful memories of their 3-0 humbling to Liverpool in the FA Cup final earlier in the year. With first division sides falling at every turn a golden opportunity was available to them.

Any thoughts about the possible ease of the first division sides' task were quickly dispelled, however. With over eighteen thousand people shoehorned into the tight Sealand Road ground and the pitch extremely heavy conditions were the type commonly referred to as "a leveller".

Chester set about the game with relish. Biting into every tackle and sending the ball forward quickly at every available opportunity they made sure their opponents could not settle.

Whenever the ball went anywhere near Malcolm McDonald a possee of defenders were immediately in attendance to snuff out the threat, in truth the only obvious one carried by the first division side.

It was not until midway through the first half that a clear chance arrived and was the result of the first telling pass of the night. Stuart Mason played the ball, splitting the Newcastle central defence and releasing John James.

The lively Chester forward ran on and shot but Iam McFaul, advancing smartly, was able to block and the ball was cleared to safety.

Spurred on the home team continued to press and there were loud claims for a penalty shortly afterwards when Mason and James combined again, this time inside the box. The referee was happy for play to continue, however, when James went to ground under heavy challenge.

It was hard to pick a winner with the teams level at the break. The play had been reasonably even with both teams struggling to create anything clear cut. At the back Newcastle's giants, Howard and Keeley, were certainly up for a scrap but did not give the impression of total authority.

At the other end Chester's impressive young goalkeeper, Grenville Millington, had looked the part in dealing with the stream of crosses coming into his box but as yet had not been seriously tested by any real attempt on his goal.

The frantic pace of the game continued into the second half with the home side continuing to work tirelessly to deny Newcastle space. It was impossible that the imposing figure of McDonald should be totally subdued, however, and just before the hour the England striker suddenly burst into life.

Finally finding some space between the diligent Trevor Storton and Reg Matthewson, McDonald hit the accelerator and was away.

Tearing towards the edge of the box McDonald let fly with a typically vicious drive for the top corner.

Most in the crowd probably could not follow the blur of a ball or immediately understand that the leaping, arching Millington had managed to lay fingers on it but they would draw their own conclusions as they first saw McDonald's reaction, an agony of frustration, then the eager congratulations of the Chester defence for their keeper and could finally watch Stewart Barrowclough busily preparing to take a corner.

It was a magnificent save.

Further inspired by this resistance Chester continued to press forward whenever possible but still they struggled to make openings against the bruising Newcastle back line.

With a quarter of an hour to play the home side won a corner. With the fans manically calling for a goal Norman Whitehead sent the kick over. Trevor Storton, who had been immense, won the header, the ball dropped to James, six yards out, and his instant shot found a route to goal through a crowd of flailing legs.

With the ground now in complete uproar the visitors frantically set about seeking an equaliser, helped by the belated entry of their busy substitute Mickey Burns. With everyone back in defence bar James, however, clear chances were still at an absolute premium.

For ten minutes the ball was loaded into and across the Chester penalty area but at every turn a flying boot or a towering head, normally Storton's, repelled the threat while anything within the eager reach of Millington was gobbled up. Eventually the whistle sounded, sending the fourth division side into the semi finals and their fans into unconfined raptures.

For Newcastle it was another embarrassing chapter in their history following on swiftly from their famous FA Cup defeat to non league Hereford United and their frustration was evident in manager Joe Harvey's uncharacteristically bitter assessment of ther victors as a "kick and rush team" who "I don't rate at all".