King's Lynn Town 0-3 Stevenage: Luke Norris grabs double as Linnets bow out of FA Cup

Stevenage scored three goals in a ruthless five-minute second-half spell as they dashed National League North side King's Lynn's hopes of reaching the FA Cup third round.

A tight, intriguing first half saw both sides go close and have decent shouts for penalties waved away.

But the League Two high flyers proved their quality after the interval, seizing control from the moment Luke Morris side-footed in the opener following Jamie Reid's classy turn and cut-back.

Norris swiftly made it 2-0 with simple close-range header and, with the Linnets still reeling, the excellent Reid curled home a delicious third to effectively settle the match.

• Saturday's FA Cup second-round action

Unbeaten at home in the league this season, Lynn's chances of extending that impressive form on a crisp sunny day, and teeing up a potential glamour tie against top-flight opposition, looked good as they more than held their own before the interval, with Josh Barrett the standout attacking player.

The former Reading striker caused countless problems with his pace and direct running and had three attempts on goal - albeit all off target - in front of a 4,203 crowd and live TV audience.

But Stevenage, resurgent and second in the fourth tier under much-travelled boss Steve Evans, who twice guided former club Crawley to the fifth round of the competition, showed glimpses of their quality with some slick moves.

And they created the best opportunity when Reid, their biggest threat, did well to cut inside and get a decent strike away which keeper Paul Jones somehow flicked over the bar with his outstretched left leg as he was diving the other way.

The Linnets, conquerors of Doncaster Rovers in the first round, had won 14 of their 23 games in all competitions this season, but were blown away after the break.

It was no surprise that Reid was the creator of the 49th-minute opener, turning his man and slipping the ball across the box for Norris to calmly find the bottom corner.

Norris struck again within two minutes, powering in a header from six yards from a perfect Luther James-Wildin cross.

And Reid then got the goal his performance deserved, breaking free on the left, shifting the ball onto his right foot and curling it with pace into the far corner.

The animated figured of King's Lynn boss Tommy Widdrington could not inspire his side to an unlikely comeback as the visitors eased to 24th win in 37 games under Evans and progressed beyond round two for the third time in six seasons.

Strictly Come Dancing's Kai Widdrington (right) was among the crowd at The Walks to watch father Tommy's King's Lynn side

King's Lynn manager Tommy Widdrington:

"It's a bittersweet moment isn't it? The occasion's been fantastic and I'm delighted my lads have experienced that.

"We were excellent first half, we contained them. I genuinely feel we had a penalty in the first half and they probably did as well, to be fair.

"I heard Steve Evans at half-time and he was absolutely tearing the wallpaper off. He was obviously concerned.

"It's not the result we wanted, but it's probably the result everyone expected. I wish them all the best and hope they get the plum draw they want."

Stevenage boss Steve Evans told BBC One:

"King's Lynn were tremendous in the first half. We were poor first half, it was a proper cup tie.

"What I said at half-time can't be repeated on the BBC, I wasn't throwing tea cups but I was strong, and for 15 minutes at the start of the second half we stepped up how we can play and we could have won by more.

"When the first one went in, they were shell-shocked and away we went and we won comfortably.

"We need to do better than we did today, especially in the first half, against better opposition."