Holders Colts cruised through to the last four of the FA Cup and gave plucky Commercial League side Onions a footballing lesson in the process.

The underdogs started brightly but when they ran out of steam, Colts' superior fitness and skill level gave them the upper hand.

Three goals in seven minutes midway through the first-half, by Clevon Hill, Shannon Burgess and Marvin Belboda knocked the stuffing out of Onions.

And although Onions' top scorer Billy Spencer pulled one back before the interval with a penalty, Colts completed the rout with three more second-half goals, two from Aljame Zuill and one from Tito Smith.

Onions started like a team possessed, closing Colts down rapidly and playing some neat football of their own.

The minnows looked the more threatening side for the opening 10 minutes and Duncan Ashworth twice went close.

First Ashworth's shot on the turn was fumbled by Colts goalkeeper Troy Hall and cleared off the line and then the midfielder's inswinging corner was desperately clawed away by Hall from under his own bar.

Colts settled down and Belboda had a goal ruled out in the 13th minute for handball after he charged down a clearance by Onions goalkeeper Andy Jekyll.

Then came Colts' quickfire triple salvo. Hill nodded in from a Smith corner in the 20th minute and Burgess rifled home after a Belboda free-kick was deflected to him three minutes later.

And when Belboda hammered a sweet, 25-yard drive into the top right-hand corner to make it 3-0 in the 27th minute, the tie was effectively over as a contest.

Onions staged a brief revival in the run-up to half-time and reduced the deficit after Spencer was upended when cutting into the right-hand side of the box to win a penalty. Spencer got up and converted the spot kick himself to claim his 15th goal of the season.

Onions' hopes of a fightback were dashed just two minutes into the second half, when Zuill went down under challenge from Ashworth and referee Steve Wakeland pointed to the spot. Zuill converted easily and it was 4-1.

Zuill also grabbed the fifth in the 67th minute, when Belboda cashed in a defensive mix-up to win possession and set up a simple chance for his striking partner.

Smith rounded off the scoring 10 minutes later, firing home a low drive from 10 yards, after Belboda had latched onto a short corner and pulled back an inviting cross.

Onions had a few chances and Spencer hit the crossbar with the best of them with a dipping drive 10 minutes from time and a shot just wide after a penetrating cross-field ball by Ashworth.

Colts: T.Hall, J.Belboda, S.Burgess, M.Hollis (R.Hollis 81 mins), J.Simmons, J.Samuels, G.Trott, T.Smith, C.Hill, A.Zuill, M.Belboda.

Onions: A.Jekyll, G.Barnett, C.Fleming, G.Rodrigues, S.Ludgate, G.Knight, A.Robinson (G.Dunne 70 mins), D.Ashworth (N.Briges 73 mins), M.Ford (M.Deary 58 mins), B.Spencer, K.Donald.

Men of the match: Marvin Belboda (Colts); Steve Ludgate (Onions) Referee: Steve Wakeland