The application of Norwich City's players impressed boss Andy Cook as the Canaries put the disappointment of their East Anglian derby defeat behind them by thrashing London Seaward 5-0 at The Nest.

City were beaten comfortably by Ipswich Town in the Women's National League Cup last week, but their start to the regular league season has been excellent, with maximum points recorded from their opening three games.

Freya Symonds' curling effort from the edge of the Seaward box was the pick of the goals as Cook's side entertained a 300-strong home crowd.

Also on the scoresheet were Hope Strauss, Holly Kennard and Natasha Snelling, with the latter netting a brace for the second successive weekend.

Providing his take on a comfortable day's work, Cook felt City's positive response to the derby loss was significant.

(Image: Richard S. Brown)

He said: "The talk before the game wasn't really about tactics. The two words I used were focus and attitude.

"They needed to focus on their game and their performance and have that right attitude, and if they got that, they were going to be absolutely sound.

"(I'm) really pleased with the way they played, they reacted. Five goals and a clean sheet, you can't ask for much more on a Sunday afternoon."

Having beaten Cambridge United to-nil seven days prior to this victory over Seaward, City now boast two clean sheets, which is only one fewer than they managed from their 22 league matches last term.

Their head coach believes they are going to need to deliver many more shutouts in order to achieve their promotion ambition this season.

"They're huge," Cook said. "It's obvious isn't it; the less goals you concede, the more chance of winning the league you have.

(Image: Richard S. Brown)
"The defensive record was a point in the interview process that we had with Flo (Allen) when we came in, and it's something that I'm really strong on.

"It starts really with Tash. It doesn't actually start with Quants (Sarah Quantrill) at the back, it starts at the front. They've got to set the tone for how we want to work and how we want to play, and then in the midfield they've got to fight and battle.

"It's absolutely crucial. I don't want to put a target (for the season) on it. We don't really have one, you've just got to make sure you're conceding as little as you can."

Cook also spoke of the selection dilemmas he is facing, with 19-year-old winger Kennard scoring after coming off the bench and other substitutes making a positive impression.

He stated: "We're almost three months into it, but they hopefully now understand that they can come to me and ask a question of why they might not be in (the team).

"Holly has given us a really good headache, and (was) unfortunate that she didn't start today.  Another one is Lauren Hailes. She probably could've started and would've played as well as anybody that did.

"That's the unfortunate part of my job that I can only start 11 of them. When the starting 11 score two goals, it's quite nice that they (the substitutes) can come on and go and play with that freedom."

A number of City's summer signings have featured heavily so far, including Ella Powell, who explained the interesting way in which her move from Loughborough Lightning materialised.

She said: "I graduated (from) university and I wanted to move up here with my partner. I knew Andy from previous, playing against him when he was at (Nottingham) Forest, so I knew his game and I wanted to be a part of his project.

"I knew a few players from last year that were here and they said to come along. I sent my video into Flo and then Flo asked me to come down.

"I'm loving it. I've been here a few weeks now and I'm getting to know the city. It's one big community - I'm loving all the shops (and) coffee shops."

Norwich City (4-3-3): Quantrill (c); Medd-Gill (Daviss 66), Flye, Strauss, Moore; Morran (Hailes 66), Powell (Densley 87), Smith; Shaw (Cook 75), Snelling, Symonds (Kennard 75).