Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy was able to celebrate victory for the first time since September as Conference North side Northwich became the first team to lose to the Black Cats in 15 attempts.
Goals from defender Neill Collins - his first for the club in his first appearance of the season - and Dean Whitehead before the break laid the foundation for a routine win for the Premiership strugglers with Anthony Le Tallec making it 3-0 on 70 minutes, and they could have triumphed even more handsomely as the visitors struggled to cope.
Victory over a side lying 97 places below them in the league ladder in front of a crowd of just 19,323, boosted by around 4,000 travelling supporters may not count for very much.
But a win - just their third of the campaign in all competitions - is a win and will at least send McCarthy's players into next weekend's league clash with reigning champions Chelsea with a little more confidence.
The only thing missing for the Wearsiders was a first goal in a red and white shirt for striker Jon Stead, who made two for his team-mates and hit the post as a series of other opportunities, including one from two or three yards out, went begging.
Having seen derby rivals Newcastle struggle to overcome League Two Mansfield and Middlesbrough return from non-league Nuneaton Borough facing a replay yesterday, the Black Cats were prepared not to have things all their own way.
But if counterparts Graeme Souness and Steve McClaren had endured uncomfortable afternoons 24 hours earlier, McCarthy was for once able to enjoy a relatively untroubled 90 minutes as his side overwhelmed their opponents.
The gulf in class was apparent as they repeatedly tore Northwich open with midfielder quartet Julio Arca, Dean Whitehead, Liam Lawrence and Tommy Miller simply having too much for their opposite numbers and Stead bamboozling the men at the back.
Stead is yet to score for his new club, but he should have netted in the 33rd minute when he fired against an upright after goalkeeper Kris Rogers had beaten away Arca's initial shot.
However, the Wearsiders were already in the lead by that point after Collins drilled home off the underside of the crossbar with just six minutes gone to mark his first appearance of the season for the club after returning from a loan spell at Hartlepool with his first goal in English football.
Whitehead doubled his side's advantage four minutes before the break when he sidefooted home from close-range after the selfless Stead had provided him with the simplest of opportunities, and although Kelvin Davis had earlier saved well from Danny Mayman's audacious flick and Jonny Allan called the keeper into action again two minutes before half-time, the traffic was largely one-way.
Stead's luck continued to desert him as he planted a firm header wide and then fired over in the 67th minute, but he proved his worth again three minutes later when he set up the goal which ended Northwich's resistance.
His cross eventually reached Lawrence at the far post, and when the midfielder's shot was saved by Rogers, Le Tallec converted the rebound to make sure of the win.
