Norwich City Women 7 Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers Women 0

Norwich City began their defence of the Norfolk Women’s County Cup with a comfortable victory at The Nest.

It took the Canaries less than 10 minutes to fire themselves in front against their tier six opponents, with Rachel Lawrence beating visiting goalkeeper Tula Cole from range. However, a number of impressive stops followed from Cole to keep Rovers in the contest heading into the second half.

City performed below their usual high level before the break, but did improve after half-time, and doubled their lead when Megan Todd poked home from close range. They then all but confirmed their place in the semi-finals on the hour, with Lawrence grabbing her second of the day and centre-back Hope Strauss finishing coolly from the penalty spot after Ellie Smith was fouled inside the area.

The cup tie looked to have fizzled out as the 90th minute arrived, but City notched three more goals in stoppage time, with Eloise Morran and Holly Kennard both providing neat finishes before Strauss scored again from 12 yards.

Norwich City: Quantrill, Flye, Strauss, Parker, Todd (c), Knights, Hailes, Kennard, Smith, Snelling, Lawrence. Subs: Larkins, Symonds, Morran, Tomlinson, Shaw.