Watford 2-1 Chesterfield: Tom Dele-Bashiru hits injury-time winner for the Hornets to deny the National League leaders an FA Cup third round replay

Not for Chesterfield, but as crushing as it was for the non-league players to concede when the clock read 94:09 at Vicarage Road, the thousands who traveled wasted no time in reminding their team what is more important.

“We are top of the league,” the army of 4,000 sang to Paul Cook and his deflated players on the field. Promotion to the Football League is their top priority, although there was no escaping the painful end of this FA Cup third round defeat.

Chesterfield led through Joe Quigley until the 76th minute. That was when Mileta Rajovic equalized for Watford before Tom Dele-Bashiru struck the final blow in stoppage time to prevent a repeat. The consensus among those having their chippy tea afterwards at Fry Days was that it was tough on the visitors who made the five-hour, 270-mile round trip in the hope of seeing some FA Cup magic.

Yet there will be no run for the Chesterfield players. No repeat of 1997. No being felt by a former England footballer on primetime television. If that last sentence sounds a little strange, some context will help.

There's an old episode of the BBC series They Think It's All Over where a blindfolded Gary Lineker is tasked with figuring out what's in front of him using touch alone. It turned out to be Sean Dyche and his Chesterfield teammates who had reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1997.

Joe Quigley had given the National League leaders a shock lead with a first-half header

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“It was crazy,” Andy Morris, the striker who scored the opening goal for the lower division in the famous 3-3 draw against Middlesbrough, told Mail Sport on Saturday morning. “Little old Chesterfield, we were hardly ever in the spotlight, but when you go through these rounds it changes.

'Next thing you know, you're on TV with TFI Friday, (David) Baddiel and (Frank) Skinner, 'Feel the Sportsman' on They Think It's All Over. You think: “Jesus, is this what happens to Premier League footballers every week?” It was surreal.'

Everyone wants a piece if the Davids beat the Goliaths in the FA Cup, as Maidstone will soon discover. Chesterfield were hoping to join their fellow non-leaguers in the fourth round, but as Cook's assistant Danny Webb said last night: 'That was a kick in the teeth. It's a torment for the fans. They'll be a little disappointed, a little upset, but we're proud of the National League.”

Watford boss Valerien Ismael was full of praise for Chesterfield as he predicted they would win promotion, but he was also critical of his own players. It is a championship club that, after all, still has Premier League players on Premier League wages.

“I didn't understand what was happening,” Ishmael said. 'We have to raise our level. This is non-negotiable. We did it in the second half. We hoped for a comfortable afternoon. The players chose the other way, to make it more complicated.'

Watford should have scored first after 25 minutes when Ismael Kone, with only Ryan Boot to beat, fired the ball straight at the Chesterfield goalkeeper. Costly, because the visitors then took the lead.

There were 63 places between Championship Watford and National League Chesterfield and Joe Quigley was given an equally wide gap to score, with no one marking the six-foot mark when he headed home Ryheem Sheckleford's cross.

The end burst. There was also a strange outburst in the home game, when the Chesterfield fans who had bought home tickets made themselves known. “Championship, you smile,” went the tune.

Mileta Rajovic came off the bench to level the hosts with a header against the net

There were boos at the half-time whistle from Watford fans, and Chesterfield almost scored another goal within 30 seconds of the restart, with Daniel Bachmann preventing Ollie Banks from putting the finishing touches to an excellent move.

Jorge Hurtado was featured for his Watford debut. The highly rated twenty-year-old Colombian had twenty minutes to make an impression, but it was another substitute in Rajovic who made it 1-1. Dele-Bashiru then sealed the deal after six minutes of injury time, showing quick feet before firing past Boot for 2-1.

“I don't want to jinx it, but it's looking good,” Morris added of Chesterfield's chances of escaping non-league exile where they have been since 2018. Based on this display they are a Football League club in waiting.