Nathan Ellington inspired the biggest shock so far of the FA Cup third round weekend as he netted a hat-trick to dump Premiership side Derby out at Pride Park.

Ellington scored all his side's goals as Third Division Bristol Rovers overwhelmed their more illustrious opponents in front of a sparse 18,549 crowd - of which about 7,000 had travelled from Bristol.

Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli eventually grabbed a consolation goal for Derby but it was too late to spoil Rovers' party.

Derby had been boosted by the return of Italian striker Benito Carbone, although defender Chris Riggott and midfielders Darryl Powell and Pierre Ducrocq all failed to recover from injuries.

Rovers, who have risen to 19th in Division Three following the replacement of Gerry Francis with Garry Thompson, were without suspended Latvian Vitalijs Astafjevs.

Adam Bolder's short corner to Carbone saw the Italian turn as Derby pressed the early advantage but his cross was easily cleared.

Rams skipper Ravanelli tried with two free-kicks but the first was deflected for a corner and the second curled just wide of Scott Howie's left-hand post.

Rovers took a shock 15th-minute lead when indecision in the Derby defence allowed Ellington to jump for Howie's long kick from his hands and he looped a header over the advancing Mart Poom.

The visitors could have further extended their advantage when Sergio Ommel shot wide across goal after Ellington had worked the opening through the middle and slipped the pass through.

Derby were then stunned as Ellington netted his second goal, showing a real touch of class.

He beat Youl Mawene and Francois Grenet on the left side of the area and his low shot to Poom's right could only be deflected into the goal by the diving goalkeeper.

Ellington continued to cause further problems and Derby's best efforts to try to get back into the game saw Carbone miss with two headers and defender Danny Higginbotham shoot wide across goal.

Mark Foran flashed his header just wide of the post from a corner as Rovers began the second half the brighter of the two sides.

Derby's Luciano Zavagno did well to get down the left but his low cross was ballooned over by Carbone.

Derby opted to switch from five at the back to four, and put on an extra striker when Lee Morris replaced Mawene five minutes into the second half.

The home side were spurred into life but Zavagno's next cross was behind Ravanelli as the Rams failed to break down a determined defence.

Carbone brought a save out of Howie with a 25-yard shot but it was at the other end that the next goal seemed more likely to come.

Ellington appeared to have won another battle with the Derby defence but the advancing Poom did enough to make him shoot wide from close range.

But Ellington completed his hat-trick on the hour when he took a pass from Che Wilson on his chest.

With his back to goal Ellington swivelled and hit a right-foot volley to Poom's right to complete his hat-trick.

Howie kept the three-goal lead intact when he got down to save Malcolm Christie's shot from the edge of the area.

And when Ravanelli hit a free-kick straight at the wall and Carbone put the rebound over it summed up Derby's day.

Carbone tried a speculative 25-yard shot but it was straight at Howie and he beat the ball away.

Christie then wasted another chance with a long-range effort and the same Derby player's 18-yard shot then forced Howie into another save.

Ravanelli struck the crossbar with a late effort and Carbone also forced Howie into another save but there was no way back for Derby.

Rovers' second-half substitute Mark Walters hit the post with a shot right at the death but Ravanelli did finally grab a consolation goal for County with just two minutes left, his looping header curling into the back of the net.

Teams

Derby: Poom, Grenet, Mawene (Morris 52), Carbonari, Higginbotham, Zavagno, Bolder, Carbone, Boertien, Christie, Ravanelli.

Subs Not Used: Grant, Elliott, Burton, Murray.

Booked: Zavagno.

Goals: Ravanelli 88.

Bristol Rovers: Howie, Wilson, Foran, Smith, Challis, Gall (Walters 71), Hogg, Plummer, Hillier, Ellington, Ommel.

Subs Not Used: Clarke, Jones, Cameron, Bubb.

Booked: Challis, Ommel, Plummer.

Goals: Ellington 14, 40, 62.

Att: 18,549

Ref: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).