Chatham eased into the FA Cup third qualifying round with a comfortable victory at Ashford.

The visitors took charge of the tie with early goals from ex-Ashford youngster Stanley Oldfield and Tope Fadahunsi.

Substitute Kofi Anokye-Boadi added a third for Kevin Hake’s Isthmian Premier high-fliers soon after his introduction as a second-half substitute.

Another Chats substitute, Dapo Olugbodi, received a late red card following an off-the-ball incident, but the game was done by then.

Nuts & Bolts boss Lloyd Hume knew his Isthmian South East side would need to be at their best to stand a chance of pulling off an FA Cup upset.

But, possibly affected by the early goals, they couldn’t find the levels needed to trouble their higher-division opponents, whose extra fitness told.

Chatham dominated possession in the early stages and took a sixth-minute lead.

Ex-United striker Oldfield ran on to a flick through the middle of the home defence and slipped the ball past Taite Holtam.

Oldfield looked good for the visitors, strong, a good size, mobile and a grafter for the team tracking back.

The Isthmian Premier visitors were looking strong and they took command of the tie with a second goal on 15 minutes.

Holtam was caught out from a cross, with his attempted punch presenting Fadahunsi with a simple header.

Chatham should have had a third on the half-hour when Sam Sene-Richardson squared across the six-yard box but Lewis Chambers, sliding in, couldn’t get the touch required.

The slow pace of the game suited Chatham with their two-goal lead, allowing them to pop the ball about with little pressure.

Ashford, with top scorer Louis Collins having to drop deep to pick up possession, needed to speed up the tempo and get in the visitors’ faces just to make life a bit more difficult.

They had a couple of bright moments towards half-time when a swift counter-attack saw Collins feed skipper Gary Lockyer, whose low strike went just past the far post.

Soon after, Lockyer got his head to a deep free-kick from Roarie Deacon, forcing Chats keeper Henry Molyneux into action.

Sene-Richardson went close to a third for Chats on the stroke of half-time after Kian Garlinge and Fadahunsi combined.

Ashford, making a tactical switch as Joe Ellul replaced Liam Gillies, did look to move the ball quicker in the second half and play more in Chatham territory.

Lockyer had a well-stuck effort saved from a Collins pass, then a neat move involving Miquel Scarlett and Jefferson Aigbangbee down the right ended with Collins’ strike being blocked by Alex Giles for a corner.

But Chatham killed off the tie with a third goal on 70 minutes.

Fadahunsi found Oldfield, who got to the byline and laid on a tap-in for substitute Anokye-Boadi.

Chatham were reduced to 10 men on 86 minutes when Olugbodi, who’d only been on the pitch for five minutes, was shown a straight red card following an incident in the Ashford box.

Ashford: Holtam, Penn, Scarlett, Moses, Dixon, Deacon (Fletcher 80mins), Hume, Gillies (Ellul 49mins), Lockyer, Collins, Aibangbee. Subs not used: Podger-King, Bodkin, Stone, Sobhee-Turner, Duprey.

Chatham: Molyneux, Evans, Aidoo, Butler, Moynes, Sene-Richardson (Anokye-Boadi 66mins), Garlinge (Robins 72mins), Chambers (Leathers 75mins), Oldfield (Olugbodi 81mins), Fadahunsi (Allen 84mins), Giles. Subs not used: Nelson, Cooper.

Referee: Jake Woodman.

Attendance: 634.