CHESTER leapfrogged Bradford (Park Avenue) in the National League North table with a convincing 4-0 victory at the Deva Stadium.

The hosts, managed by former York City boss Steve Watson, belied their lowly league position with an impressive display.

Avenue started brightly, carving out a good opening in the second minute for Lewis Knight, who couldn't convert a one on one opportunity.

That was to be as good as the afternoon got for the visitors.

In the fourth minute, Chester took the lead when midfielder Rob Apter, on loan from Blackpool, fired the ball into the bottom corner past the in-form George Sykes-Kenworthy, who had a string of clean sheets to his name in recent weeks.

Chester continued to apply pressure and, in the 11th minute, they thought they had a second from a header, but Avenue were given a reprieve as the referee had spotted a foul.

After half an hour, Apter looked all set to add a second goal, until Mark Ross threw his body in front of the ball to block the shot.

From the midway point of the first half, Avenue started to enjoy more possession. By half time, they had settled down and gained a foothold in the match.

But Chester started the second half as they had the first – with an early goal.

The ever-dangerous Apter drew a save from Sykes-Kenworthy, before Kevin Roberts prodded in the rebound to make it 2-0 on 51 minutes.

It could have been 3-0 shortly afterwards when Apter found himself in on goal, only for Sykes-Kenworthy to come off his line, make himself big and make a good save.

A minute later, Man of the Match Danny Livesey – playing his last home game for Chester before retirement – got the ball out of his feet and hit a good shot, but Sykes-Kenworthy saved once again.

With Avenue looking increasingly weary as they tried to chase the game, Chester's creative players were able to take advantage of the gaps opening up.

Marcus Dackers, on loan from Salford, made it 3-0 after some good build-up play on 66 minutes, before Declan Weeks grabbed a fourth goal

The 76 travelling Avenue fans made themselves heard, but didn’t have much to cheer.

After the match, Avenue manager Mark Bower said: "It's obviously disappointing. I think that second half - certainly after they get the second goal - is not what we're about and it's not what we've been about all season.

"I thought first half we had the best chance - Lewis one on one, if he gets tucks that away and puts us infront, then goals change games and it could have been a different game.

"Then five minutes later we find ourselves 1-0 behind - poor goal to concede, but then I thought we controlled the game for the remainder of the first half. We kept the ball well and worked it in the final third on numerous occasions but couldn't quite find that bit of quality to open them up."

Bower gave credit to Chester, who had some "really good players" who can punish teams when they get their noses infront.

But he pointed out that a number of Avenue players were carrying injuries and there were some "tired legs" in evidence as his team tried to chase the game.

The result came two days after Avenue played out a goalless draw at home to Darlington.