Yorke leads Villa stroll

DWIGHT YORKE restored to his preferred striking role delivered a double strike which was enough to brush aside local rivals West Bromwich Albion and send Aston Villa through to the last sixteen of the FA Cup.

Albion remained in the contest for more than an hour as Simon Grayson's goal was the only tangible difference between the teams. But then Yorke struck twice in three minutes and the tension that has been gripping Villa Park after recent performances was lifted from the terraces.

Albion huffed and puffed and showed the determination expected of a side going into a match where local pride was at stake but Villa keeper Mark Bosnich had only one save of note to make in the entire 90 minutes.

Villa. in contrast, always looked menacing and, just as importantly, contained the necessary hunger and desire which has not always been evident in recent games.

Yorke and Collymore were a threat throughout and Staunton was impressive at the back and when venturing forward before having to make a premature exit through injury.

Villa were given the dream start they had been looking for after last weekend's debacle with an explosive goal from Grayson. Lee Hendrie had a shot blocked after Collymore flicked on a corner from Mark Draper but Grayson made no mistake with a rising effort from 15 yards out which flew past Albion keeper Alan Miller.

Albion had a fair share of the play territorially but there was a lack of penetration and their only on-target effort in the opening 45 minutes from Richard Sneekes was comfortably saved by Bosnich.

Indeed, Albion started the second half in more positive vein and Bosnich was fully tested for the first time when he tipped over a powerful Hughes effort following a mistake by Gareth Southgate.

But Villa gradually regained the upper hand and they effectively ended the game as a contest with two goals from Yorke in three minutes. In the 61st minute Yorke beat the offside trap to seize onto a long pass from Gary Charles and kept his composure to flick the ball wide of the exposed Miller.

Then another long pass out of defence found its way to Yorke who was able to turn past Shaun Murphy before planting a left-footed effort into the roof of the net.

Villa were now rampant and in the 72nd minute it was Collymore's turn to get on the score-sheet. He had acres of space on the left and was able to cut Into the area before planting a shot past Miller from a narrow angle for his fifth goal since his £7 million summer move from Liverpool.