David Cuffley Skipper Grant Holt made no excuses for Norwich City's early FA Cup exit when he admitted: 'We got what we deserved.' Holt's 16th goal of the season was of little consolation as the Canaries crashed out of the competition with a 3-1 second round defeat at Carlisle, his home town.

David Cuffley

Skipper Grant Holt made no excuses for Norwich City's early FA Cup exit when he admitted: “We got what we deserved.”

Holt's 16th goal of the season was of little consolation as the Canaries crashed out of the competition with a 3-1 second round defeat at Carlisle, his home town.

It is the first time for half a century that City will not appear in the third round - but they could have no complaints after a below-par display brought only their second defeat in 15 matches in all competitions.

A crowd of below 4,000 was at foggy Brunton Park to see Carlisle avenge their 1-0 reverse in the league fixture on the same ground, seven weeks earlier.

While Carlisle were handed a third round trip to Everton in yesterday's draw, Paul Lambert's men were back in training in preparation for tomorrow night's League One trip to Southend.

Said Holt: “We didn't play particularly well, we didn't start off well and we got what we deserved in the end.

“It's disappointing - we don't want to go anywhere and get beaten. It doesn't matter whether it's my home town or whatever.

“We're in the business at this football club of winning games. We want to win every one we're involved in. It hurts a bit more that we're here but we'll have to live and learn and move on to Tuesday.

“The league is the most important thing. It gives us a chance now to focus on the league. Southend is another hard test, very similar to Carlisle, and we've got to show more than we did here.”

Vincent Pericard's remarkable 12th-minute goal gave Carlisle the lead before Holt headed a 26th-minute equaliser from Wes Hoolahan's cross.

“It was a good goal. We did well down the left, getting a couple of passes in and I was thankful to see it go in,” said Holt. “It took us a while to get into it but we played well towards the end of the half.”

However, Kevan Hurst restored Carlisle's lead less than 15 seconds after the restart and defender Richard Keogh headed the third goal after 72 minutes.

“To come out in the second half and give a goal away that early on was disappointing when we'd worked so hard to get back in the game, but we never performed,” said Holt. “We know that. We were off the ball, and it's something we'll sort out by Tuesday. It's disappointing but we'll move on.”

The last time City failed to appear in the FA Cup third round was in 1959-60, when they lost in a first round replay at Reading, but went on to win promotion from the former Division Three at the end of the season.

The Canaries' early exit means they will play a League One fixture at Wycombe on third round day, January 2. Wycombe went out of the FA Cup in a first round replay, losing 2-0 at Brighton.