Preston North End began the New Year with an emphatic 7-0 victory against League One side Colchester United in the FA Cup third round.

This was the Lilywhites biggest victory since 1966 as this explosive North End performance saw a hat trick by Jon Parkin and goals from Chris Brown, Chris Sedgwick, Darren Carter and an own goal by goalkeeper Ben Williams, meaning that temporary manager Robert Kelly's side powered into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

There were four changes for the Lilywhites this game with Eddie Nolan, Carter, Ross Wallace and Brown all coming into the side following the defeat at Brammall Lane on Monday.

It was one of these replacements who had the first meaningful effort on goal when Carter received the ball on the edge of the penalty area following a Parkin long throw. Carter's drilled shot then forced a smart save from Ben Williams who parried to Neill Collins, unfortunately though the defender was stood in an offside position.

North End were then beginning to probe United and it was the fresh faces to the line-up that helped to open the deadlock in the 12th minute.

Again it was a set piece that created the chance, this time it was a Wallace corner from the right hand side. Wallace whipped in the corner into a body of players inside the penalty area and it was Brown who rose the highest to fire Preston into the lead.

Brown's eighth goal of the season calmed any nerves the North End players may have had and following this goal, the Lilywhites' midfield began to dictate the game. This was evident in the 23rd minute when Kelly's men carved out another chance but Wallace's neat interchange of passing with Parkin ended with the strikers shot flying over the crossbar.

Not one for wanting to be outdone, Brown carved out the next goalscoring opportunity when a strong run allowed Preston's number nine space to unleash a left footed strike, but this effort just missed the target.

In the 26th minute, following a period of Preston dominance, North End doubled their lead but in bizarre circumstances. Brown capped off a powerful run by unselfishly laying the ball off to Sedgwick on the right hand side and his driven effort took a wicked deflection off of Colchester defender Paul Reid and looped over Williams and into the net.

This stroke of luck came at a decisive time as the continuous waves of North End pressure was rewarded with a two goal cushion by two players who were able to end their own personal goal droughts.

Sedgwick's goal then enabled Preston to further dictate the play and Wallace almost turned provider for the second time in the match in the 39th minute. Wallace, who was constantly on the lookout to create chances, threaded a ball through to Parkin who beat the offside trap but his left-footed shot was saved comfortably by Williams.

Two minutes before half time, Preston were almost celebrating a third when Collins' glancing header from another Wallace corner was cleared off of the Colchester goal line. It wasn't meant to be though and North End went into the break with a comfortable two goal lead.

If the first half began well, then the beginning of the second half was a dream start for a devastating North End front line when Parkin made it 3-0 to Preston in the 47th minute. Parkin found himself played through one-on-one with Williams and the striker slotted the ball underneath the Colchester goalkeeper to give Preston an unassailable lead.

Following this goal, Parkin then further extended the Lilywhites lead when he picked the ball up outside of the area and delicately lifted then ball over Williams who was then lobbed for the second time of the afternoon.

Deepdale was now buzzing and there was an enormous amount of self belief flowing through Kelly's men. However, nobody could have predicted how emphatic the start to this half would be and Preston managed to poor yet more misery on the visitors when they managed to score their fifth in the 51st minute.

Again Brown collected the ball on the edge of the area and the Preston striker saw his driven shot come off of the post and rebound in off of the unlucky Colchester goalkeeper. The goal went down as a Williams own goal to rub salt into the goalkeeper wounds who had just been beaten three times in the space of six minutes by a rampant North End frontline.

Colchester were now desperate to deny North End a clean sheet but Andy Lonergan remained alert at the back after he parried away Anthony Wordsworth's long range effort.
Despite this chance, North End looked like the only side who were going to score and they made it 6-0 in the 64th minute through Carter, another player who was brought into the side for the day.

Determination is the word to use for Carter's goal as the midfielder won the ball in the middle of the park and charged his way through the United defense. Carter then found himself inside the penalty area and coolly slotted the ball under Williams.

Things were just going from good to fantastic for Preston in the 72nd minute when they were awarded a penalty. Parkin was brought down in the area and as a gesture of goodwill, Captain Callum Davidson allowed Parkin to step up and take the spot kick. Parkin duly obliged and calmly stroked the ball in to complete his hat-trick and make it 7-0 to the Lilywhites.

This was the last involvement for Parkin who was then substituted along with Brown for Neil Mellor and Stephen Elliott.

Mellor was looking to get in on the act in the 84th minute when Wallace fed the ball through to the striker but he was unable to make it eight. Moments after this, fellow substitute Elliott had created space for the shot outside of the area but again he was unable to find the goal.

As well as the seven goals, these were extremely encouraging signs from the Preston front line as North End eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup.