Cheltenham Town's hopes of a famous FA Cup upset against Tottenham Hotspur were ended at White Hart Lane.
Spurs, 67 places above Mark Yates' men, were simply too good on the day and eased to a three-goal victory in this third round fixture in north London.
Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko put the home side firmly in control at the break, with Giovani Dos Santos adding the third three minutes from time.
But the Cheltenham players and management staff can hold their heads high tonight, delivering on their promise of making proud the travelling support against the Premier League's third-placed side.
The club will now head to Portugal for a well-deserved mid-season break, returning for next week's important League Two fixture against Aldershot Town.
The qualities on display here will certainly put them in good stead as they mount a promotion push in the forthcoming months.
Boss Yates made one change to the side which defeated Port Vale 2-1 on Monday.
Striker Jimmy Spencer, who was on the bench at Vale Park, was selected ahead of front man Darryl Duffy.
Wide man Josh Low therefore started on the right of a five-man midfield, with Spencer deployed as the lone striker.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp named a strong side for this FA Cup third round meeting, naming England internationals Michael Dawson, Aaron Lennon and Defoe in his starting line-up.
Defoe lead the line alongside Russian front man Pavlyuchenko, served by Lennon and Dos Santos from the flanks.
Dutch ace Rafael van der Vaart was named among the substitutes.
It was the biggest crowd that the club have ever performed in front of, with almost 36,000 packed into this famous old ground and as a result, the game got underway in a terrific atmosphere.
Cheltenham though made a nervy start, allowing their Premier League hosts to take control of the game in the opening exchanges.
A neat move involving Niko Kranjcar, Lennon and Jake Livermore presented Pavlyuchenko with the first chance of the afternoon, but the Russian international curled his effort narrowly over from 16 yards.
Steve Elliott's knee came to the rescue with 15 minutes on the clock, denying Steven Pienaar after another probing attack down the right.
Cheltenham's first sight of goal arrived in the 21st minute, Kaid Mohamed bursting through the middle to create a shooting chance for Russ Penn.
However the midfielder's well-struck shot from 25 yards flew a foot over the bar.
Spurs took the lead in the 23rd minute through Defoe, when skipper Alan Bennett slipped to miss Kranjcar's diagonal pass which presented Dos Santos the chance to bear down on goal from the left.
Brown raced from his line to narrow the angle, but the former Barcelona man cooly lifted the ball over the Cheltenham number one for what seemed to be the opening goal.
Unfortunately for the Mexican, the England striker's poaching instinct kicked in, slidng in on the line to pinch the credit.
Yates' side struggled to live the stylish north Londoners in the first period, who dominated possession before the break and added a second third mintues before the interval.
Pavlyuchenko combined with Defoe on the edge of the box before side-footing past Brown to claim his third goal of the campaign.
Mohamed nicked the ball off Livermore to release the last chance of the half, but goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini was equal to his curled effort.
Scott Brown denied Defoe with a fine block immediately after the re-start.
Then Pavlyuchenko tried a cheeky lob from 20 yards, but the effort dropped over the bar.
Dos Santos wasted a great chance to cap a fine move in the 54th minute, spooning over his left-footer from a tight angle.
Next Brown flew to his left to produce a fine save to turn around Defoe's fantastic strike as the home side piled on the pressure.
Then Yates rang the changes, first withdrawing Low and sending on Brian Smikle before replacing Spencer with Duffy.
Brown pulled off three fantastic saves to prevent Defoe, Kranjcar and Dos Santos extending the lead, while at the other end Smikle nutmegged Danny Rose to tee up Penn from the right.
Unfortunately from a Cheltenham perspective, the midfielder lifted his shot over the target from 18 yards.
More substitutions with 13 minutes remaining; Juventus loanee Yago Falque came on for Defoe while striker Jeff Goulding replaced Penn to join the attack.
Sebastien Bassong then drew another notable save from Brown, this time dropping to his left to push away the centre half's low drive.
Luke Summerfield's clever 80th minute free-kick almost paid off after Dawson had brought down Duffy 25 yards from goal.
The England international was the first player to go into the referee's book for the offence.
Cheltenham were unlucky to concede the third three minutes from time, Dos Santos finding the net in fortunate circumstances when his shot deflected off Elliott and floated over Brown.
Pack could have pulled one back for his side as the board went up to indicate three minutes added time.
He met Goulding's ball from the right cleanly enough, but the former Portsmouth man's volley flew into the amazing Cheltenham supporters housed in the South Stand.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-2): Cudicini; Livermore, Dawson (c) (Carroll 89), Bassong, Rose; Lennon (Bostock 82), Pienaar, Kranjcar, Dos Santos; Pavlyuchenko, Defoe (Falque 77). Subs not used: Gomes (Gk), Kaboul, van der Vaart, Parrett.

CHELTENHAM TOWN (4-5-1): Brown; Jombati, Elliott, Bennett, Garbutt; Low (Smikle 58), Penn (Goulding 77), Pack, Summerfield, Mohamed; Spencer (Duffy 63). Subs not used: Book (Gk), Lowe, Andrew, Graham.

REFEREE: L Mason

ATTENDANCE: 35,672

Murry Toms at White Hart Lane