It seemed as though Stoke's incisive tackling and astute positionalplay had seen them through to the break unscathed but Villa, to their credit, ploughed on and were rewarded.
But Norton-Knight was singled-out for his disappointing debut as his kicking game and positionalplay left the Blues exposed as the reigning EDF Energy Trophy winners and Heineken Cup semi-finalists failed to live up to their impressive performances of last season.