Full-time: Paulton Rovers 0 Norwich City 7
Promising young England youth striker Chris Martin helped himself to four goals as Paulton Rovers' FA Cup adventure was brought to an end by Norwich City at Winterfield Road this afternoon.
Canaries boss Paul Lambert fielded a strong side to make certain that his team would not be on the end of what would have been a monumental FA Cup upset and was rewarded as the League One promotion-chasing outfit put themselves in the second round with little fuss.
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Paulton started the match brightly - defender James Tyrrell forcing goalkeeper Declan Rudd into an early save before striker Rob Claridge had a header cleared off the line - but Norwich eased any nerves they may have had by claiming three goals in the opening period.
Prolific marksman Grant Holt added to his 12-goal tally for this season by finding space between two defenders to nod home a Korey Smith cross at the far post to open the scoring on 15 minutes. That one-goal lead soon became two when Chris Martin produced a clinical finish from close-range after some good trickery by Wes Hoolahan to create the opening. Holt added a third and his second of the afternoon with a powerful header to convert a Simon Lappin corner two minutes before the break.
Paulton's chances suffered a further setback just minutes earlier when skipper Dan Cleverley, who started the game just three weeks after sustaining a fractured metatarsal, had to be withdrawn after feeling the effects of the injury.
Andy Jones' Zamaretto South & West Division One side managed to contain Norwich for the best part of half-an-hour after the break - thanks mainly to some superb saves from goalkeeper Kyle Phillips - and almost pulled a goal back themselves when only an instinctive stop by Rudd denied defender Ollie Price a headed goal at the back post.
Norwich, however, managed to add to their tally with a finally taken effort by Hoolahan on 75 minutes before Martin curled in a delicious free-kick to punish the tiring Paulton players even further. He claimed his hat-trick with a tap-in from as little as two yards outt with seven minutes remaining. To watch Martin head in his fourth and Norwich's seventh was a cruel way for Paulton to end a day that will nevertheless live long in the memories of everyone associated with the Somerset village side.
Paulton Rovers (4-4-2): Phillips; Ball, Price, Tyrrell, Rich; Lacey, Jeffries, Cleverley (Waters 38), Lane (Cousins 55); Claridge, Plummer (Burborough 75). Subs: Tovey, Burborough, Hemmings, Redwood.
Norwich City: (4-4-2): Rudd; Askou, Doherty, Nelson, Drury (Wiggins 56); Lappin (Tudur Jones 68), Russell, Smith, Hoolahan; Holt (McDonald 68), Martin. Subs: Theoklitos, Cureton, Adeyemi, McVeigh.











4 Comments
by Dave S, Bristol
Monday, November 09 2009, 12:04AM
“As a Mangotsfield Utd fan, rivals of Paulton in the same division, it seemed a bit surreal to see no less than 6 ex-Mangotsfield players (Ball, Burborough, Claridge, Cousins, Lane, Price) play their part in this match, as well as our former player-manager Paul Milsom being stood on the sidelines in the Paulton dugout. But well done to Paulton for a valiant effort. The publicity they've had through getting a Cup draw v a big name club like Norwich has been immeasurable to Paulton & everyone connected with the club will have enjoyed their day, despite the score. Let's hope that some of those locals who went yesterday (perhaps for the first time in a long while) will continue to follow their local club, as most non-league sides around Bristol could do with more support in these difficult times. Well done Paulton!”
by andy cappell, Ipswich
Sunday, November 08 2009, 7:41PM
“Rumour has it that ITV paid them £70k ... All in all they were hoping to make £150k on the day.”
by MKH, Bristol
Sunday, November 08 2009, 9:27AM
“I watched the match on telly and thought Paulton played really well. They had some great tackles and runs up the pitch, the keeper also made some fantastic saves. The whole team's work rate was fantastic seeing that they were up against full-time professionals. As the Paulton keeper said, Norwich had seven goals scored against them on the first day of the season - and that was by a team in the same division.
A really enjoyable game and on the back of this I really hope that the team, supporters and the village benefit in some way.
Andy Jones - top bloke!”
by Mark, Bristol
Saturday, November 07 2009, 5:41PM
“I see the report on Norwich, Bristol Rovers had lent Paulton worked then.”