Crystal Palace cruise past non-league Dover in Alan Pardew's bow

Alan Pardew's first game in charge of Crystal Palace saw them crush Dover Atheltic 4-0 at the Crabble in the FA Cup third round.

The Eagles new manager wasn’t expected to encounter much resistance in his first game in charge, and that prediction was proven true when Palace's 10 minutes of dominance from the kick-off was capped by Scott Dann’s volleyed opener.

Aside from a couple of fleeting spells of promise, Dover – featuring a handful of part-time players – were chasing shadows throughout and after Dann came close to netting a second from a corner, he headed home for real from another flag-kick moments later.

No hat-trick was forthcoming for a player who’d never before scored twice in the same game, but Dwight Gayle powered home the game-sealing third before great work by Barry Bannan freed sub Jerome Thomas on the left to cross low for fellow replacement Kevin Doyle to add an exclamation point three minutes from time.

[ALAN PARDEW'S WEIRD HALF-TIME ALTERCATION WITH CAMERAMAN]

1’ - CHANCE ALREADY! Palace come close to breaking the deadlock from the get-go as Murray powers a header from a diagonal cross toward goal, forcing Rafferty to keep it out on the line.

10’ - GOAL!Dover Athletic 0-1 Crystal Palace! It was coming. Dann remains up after the direct corner delivery does not yield a chance and is at the far post to volley home the eventual cross from the right.

33’ -Palace corner coming up. Last couple they've aimed for the 'D' area. It's the same routine and Ward sends it back in where Dann almost gets a second - keeper scrambles it before Oflu gets it clear for another corner!

34’ - GOAL!Dover Athletic 0-1 Crystal Palace! Dann does get his second! This time the corner goes into traditional far-post teritory and the defender powers a header home. He's on his hat-trick!

68’ - GOAL!Dover Athletic 0-3 Crystal Palace! Gayle with a good solo effort to find space inside the box before hammering home the match-sealer.

87’ - GOAL!Dover Athletic 0-4 Crystal Palace! Kevin Doyle converts Jerome Thomas's low cross from close range after great work by Barry Bannan.

Start as you mean to go on for Pardew? Well, keeping Palace in the top flight will be a considerably tougher task than beating a non-league side in the cup. But Pardew is well known for revitalising teams when he first walks through the door. Their longer-term future will be interesting, but four goals in his first game is the sort of pick-me-up the goal-shy strugglers needed ahead of the survival dogfight.

Scott Dann, Crystal Palace - Two well-taken goals for a defender got the favourites well on their way to avoiding an upset, and he had a few chances for a third as well in addition to keeping one of the most comfortable clean sheets he'll ever be a part of.

Dover Athletic: Rafferty 7; Bonner 5, Essam 6, Raggett 4, Deverdics 5, Murphy 5, Bellamy 6, Orlu 5, Cogan 5, Payne 5, Sterling 5. Subs: Wynter 5, Nanetti 6, Modeste n/a.

Crystal Palace: Hennessey 6, Ward 7, Dann 8, Delaney 6, Kelly 6, Bannan 8, Ledley 7, O'Keefe 7, Zaha 7, Gayle 7, Murray 6. Subs: Mariappa n/a, Thomas 5, Doyle 6.