A hat-trick from Bristol Rovers' Nathan Ellington condemned Derby County to an early exit from the FA Cup at Pride Park this afternoon. Third Division Rovers, currently 19th in their league, have being going through somewhat of a resurgence following Gerry Francis' departure and they fully deserved their victory over their more illustrious opponents today.
Rovers took the lead in just the 15th minute when Ellington headed the ball home after some slack defending from Derby and he increased their advantage with his second strike after beating Mawene and Francois Grenet on the left before his effort was deflected into the net by the diving Mart Poom.
He completed his hat-trick on a memorable afternoon for the visitors on the hour mark when he took a pass from Che Wilson on his chest with his back to goal before swivelling around to fire home a right-footed volley. Derby County did get pull one back two minutes from time through Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli but it was scant consolation for the Premiership club.
Afterwards, new Bristol Rovers boss Garry Thompson was full of praise for this star striker who inspired the team to victory. "Nathan can go all the way, he's got a lot of desire. All he does is think football, you can't get him off the training pitch," he said. "He had an injury early in the season and that set him back a little bit but he's a great lad." Derby boss Colin Todd could take nothing away from Rovers' victory. "Give them credit, I can't say any more than they deserved to win it," he said.
Meanwhile, in another of today's FA Cup third round clashes, Third Division side Cheltenham dumped Oldham out of the FA Cup with a double strike from Tony Naylor. Naylor gave his side a 25th minute lead but David Eyres equalised for the Second Division side just before half-time. However, Naylor popped up again on the hour mark to give his side victory with a header from close-range.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
