Shaun Howes was ‘over the moon’ about the performance of his Norwich City players as they surged to a 7-0 win over Mulbarton in the Norfolk women’s county cup final.

The Canaries were firm favourites as they play three levels higher than their opponents in the Harrod Sports Women’s Cup final, and lived up to expectations.

City manager Howes said: “I’m over the moon. To score goals is good but we wanted to put a performance on, we wanted to showcase why these girls are at Norwich City Football Club and show what they can do.

“We’ve been working hard throughout the season, albeit a bit stop-start, but it was a performance that they deserved.”

Kathryn Stanley led the way with a hat-trick, after Megan Todd and Aimee Durrant had opened the scoring, with Kate Parsons also scoring a brace.

Asked who were his top performers, Howes continued: “You’ve got to look at Kate (Parsons), at the back, she’s unbelievable. She’s been doing it for years and years, and deserves this really.

“Kathryn (Stanley) as well I thought has been brilliant but Tash (Snelling) up front as well. She was the goal-scorer but now she’s asked to do a different role and her selflessness for the team, to allow others to create chances, has been brilliant.”

Howes also praised the efforts of underdogs Mulbarton, with 180 spectators in attendance at the FDC in Bowthorpe on Wednesday evening.

“They’ve done brilliantly to get to the final, a team that’s three divisions lower than us getting to the final is magnificent,” he added, speaking to the Norfolk FA.

“They gave it a go, they didn’t sit back, they made it difficult for us at times, it took 20 minutes for us to break them down, but fair play to them they made it hard throughout and didn’t stop.

“Some of the goals we scored show our quality but don’t take anything away from them, I thought they were magnificent as well.”

Norwich Evening News: It proved a memorable night for Norwich City as they beat Mulbarton in the Harrod Sports Norfolk Women's Cup finalIt proved a memorable night for Norwich City as they beat Mulbarton in the Harrod Sports Norfolk Women's Cup final (Image: Cyan Fullbrook)

Norwich: Quinn-Nichols, Larkins (Harper 67), Parsons, Durrant (Osbourne 55), Daviss (Gooding 70), Snelling (Harper 75), Todd (Cook 55), Stanley, Parker, Collins (Arnoup 67), Smith

Goals: Todd (6) Durrant (37), Stanley (43, 63, 75), Parsons (50, 83)

Mulbarton: Anderson, Meg Belsey (Cursons 70), Mel Belsey (Robathan 75), Mungham-Gray, McNorton, Smith, Hedtke (Devine 78), Jermy, Hunter (Smith 67), Knights (Anderson 45), Lake