A crushing defeat left Stockport manager Sammy McIlroy facing up to "the hardest situation in my entire life." Bristol City could easily have had far more than their five goals and McIlroy said after the game that he needs new players urgently to stop the rot.
What particular annoyed him was the first three goals in the opening half-hour were all hit from more than 20 yards out. It was collective bad defending which started the rot and young keeper James Spencer has to shoulder part of the blame.
But for City this one-sided encounter showed they have now got their season back on track for new player-manager Brian Tinnion.
This was a third win in a row to put the bad memories of the start behind them.
County, who were outplayed in every phase of the game, knew after the early blitz that they were going to suffer a heavy defeat. The initial breakthrough for City came after just after 11 minutes when, after a second corner was only half-cleared, Tinnion side-footed home from 25 yards.
Spencer had the look of a man needing better protection but was to blame for the second goal 13 minutes later.
Christian Roberts' solo run turned John Hardiker inside out but his routine shot should have been dealt with by the Hatters keeper.
However, he went on to make some good saves, notably keeping a fierce drive from the Australian Luke Wilkshire out and then diving to block a shot from Scott Murray.
In the second half City were knocking the ball around with ease, leaving Stockport to reflect on their only scoring chance.
This came from a header by Warren Feeney which came down off the underside of the bar and was grabbed by keeper Steve Phillips.
However, the service to Stockport's attack was threadbare and although Luke Beckett, on his return to the side after injury, got the ball in the net late on, the offside flag was already up.
Teenager Leroy Lita, who had scored City's third goal on 31 minutes, was on target again with nine minutes left. After a strong run, his fierce long-range drive gave Spencer no chance.
But the goal that gave Tinnion most satisfaction was the last, converted by Paul Heffernan, the forward he bought in the summer from Notts County for £150,000.
Heffernan has had a lean time in the absence of a target figure to play off but after coming on as a late substitute he netted his first goal for the Robins.