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A decent performance in front of a silent Norwich crowd sees the Tigers rewarded with an equaliser with the last kick of the game. |
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Last season we came up against a Canaries side at the top of their form and were put to the sword for most of the first 45 minutes, after a superb Cort header had given us the lead. This season was almost the reverse. We dominated this one, and yet when the egg timer went up to signal time added on at the end of the game, the sands were slipping away towards a 0-1 defeat and the same failure to ice our cake with any points. It is a measure of the spirit in the team, however, that heads were still up, and as the Norfolkians prepared to turn off the stove and hang up their aprons, we battered our way to an equaliser and a well deserved point. Beneath clear but darkening November skies, and in front of 24,129, we lined up: Myhill From the off we were on top. On 6 Forster received a delightful ball from Delaney, replacing the increasingly limited Dawson at left back, and ran at the Dublin-led defence but was forced off the ball. A minute later and Delaney played a delightful crossfield ball to Fagan, but his attempted cross was blocked. Despite this bright opening, on 7 we might have gone behind. Eagle played a quality ball from out wide left to Huckerby on the right, but his sweetly struck volley was pawed away for a corner by the alert and agile Myhill. Good pass, great shot and even better save. The corner came to nothing. Immediately, at the other end, Fagan played in Forster, whose low shot took a deflection that was enough to beat Gallacher but took it wide for a corner. The game went off the boil for a while, but on 16 a Coles long ball almost played Forster through, only for Shackell to put in a vital tackle as he steamed forward and Gallacher came out but failed to reach the ball. It broke to Fagan, who maybe had a split second to lob it goalwards, but was quickly closed down and the chance was gone. Norwich looked hesitant and clueless, hardly the dominant force we saw at home last season, whereas the Tigers were pressing and harrying off the ball, and attacking quickly when on it. Last season we encountered them on a bad night (for us), as they dominated the game. They didn't show anything like that form in this game (nor did they during the rest of last season and this, so their fans have told us), not did City allow them the time or space to settle into any rhythm. We weren’t dominating in a way that might have seen us bag a maximum points haul, but we were the better and more committed side. The trouble with the 4-5-1, as has been noted before, is that unless the wide players, Fagan and Elliott, commit themselves forward, Forster is left too isolated to make a great impression. He didn’t do too badly, but the tactics demand a Beast up front. On 23 we won a free kick on our left, which Marney swung dangerously into the box. Delaney beat his marker to the ball but put his header just wide. We were on top, and winning the midfield. It’s so pleasing to see Marney getting stuck in, winning the ball and picking out the wide and front men, and with his renewed confidence his free kicks now find men in the box, rather than men in the stands. With Livermore and Ashbee the more defensive minded of our central midfield three, you might have excused Marney for concentrating more on attack than defence. Not so our next midfield legend (to be), who really got stuck in. On 25 he put in a great tackle in the centre, won the ball and played it out to Fagan. Fagan took it down the wing, beat his man and crossed from the dead ball line, but just behind Forster. The ball deflected off one of theirs and behind for a corner. We were looking good. On 32 Elliott won a header from a diagonal ball. The ball dropped for Forster, who filleted Dublin before frying a left foot shot goalwards. Gallacher made a sharp save to his right, turning it behind for the first of three successive corners, the last of which resulted in a Turner header that went over. The Norfolksters forced their way back into it as the half progressed, pressing forward a bit more, and only a couple of offside decisions prevented them making an impact. But the Tigers were still doing well. On 40 Marney won another good tackle and played it through to Forster, who pressured Shackell into a hurried clearance. Then another crunching Marney tackle almost (and should have) produced the first goal. Unfortunately, this would have been for them. The ball broke from the tackle out wide to Eagle, whose cross evaded all but an unmarked Earnshaw, who found himself in enough space to park a truck, get out, measure the angles, control the ball and whack it past the exposed Myhill. For no particular reason, he chose to pass it gently into the hands of our grateful custodian. A let off. Three minutes of time added on, and enough time for Huckerby to underline his talents by spooning a good chance high and wide. Then excitement at our end, as Marney won another tackle; his shot was blocked but the ball fell between Fagan and one of theirs on the edge of the area. The attempt to clear battered Fagan full on the shin and ricocheted goalwards, beat the dive of Gallacher but poached the outside of the post to deny City a deserved half time lead. Into the second half and an amusing old lunatic in a Norwich scarf sauntered through the police segregation and wandered past the City support, goading us with his walking stick and his ridiculous tartan hat. Ten minutes in and Delaney went on a run before playing it across to Fagan, who played it on to Elliott, who found Forster, but his cross was cleared. This was the pattern of much of the second half, with City playing a lot of balls out wide, from where sadly the crosses were appalling. It was frustrating to have so much of the ball and to get into so many attacking positions, only for the delivery to hit the first man or fly tamely into the stands. Fagan was the culprit on most occasions, although France did the same when he came on. This was the most frustrating thing about the City performance. You have to sympathise with Forster, who might have become a Tiger hero if any of the balls in had gone anywhere near him. It’s really not good enough, and blunts the effect of our 4-5-1. On 64 Delaney won an excellent tackle against the tricky Thorne as he steamed into the box, denying the home side a goal scoring opportunity. Overall it was a fine performance from our versatile No. 16, who admirably dealt with the threat of Huckerby before he swapped wings, and showed composure and a decent range of passing going forward. Delaney has previously struggled at left full back (remember the howler of an OG at Rushden?), but this was a performance he can be very happy with. Abruptly, there was a stop in play. A hard red spherical object had entered the field of play. Was it something thrown by the hooligan element? On closer examination it was identified as the first ball Steve Harmison bowled at the Gabba on Thursday, having passed second slip and continued on its journey before coming to rest on the damp Carrow Road turf. Referee Sutton removed it and the game was restarted. And then from pretty much nowhere, Norwich scored. On 71 their second chance of the game also fell to Earnshaw, who was quickest to react to a knock down from a free kick, beating Myhill’s rush out and flicking it into the net unguarded. He treated us to a forward flip, and the Norwich support, silent up to this point, woke up for a moment and cheered. The old geezer returned and waved his walking stick at us. 0-1. For the next 10 we left things as they were, surprising as nothing much was happening for us, and we appeared to be ladling to defeat. Livermore was replaced by France, and Fagan moved up to make it a more conventional 4-4-2. On 80 a Huckerby cross found Earnshaw, but his header looped onto the roof of the net. Not done yet. Elliott wins a free kick high up the pitch, and Marney, roasts one to the back post where Elliott (I believe it was, for it was he who held his head in his hands afterwards) puts a header wide. A great chance. Two minutes later, and he almost atones. Barmby, just on to replace Forster, wins it and plays it quickly to Fagan in the middle, who strokes it across to Elliott on the left. Elliott roasts a shot that fizzes goalwards, only to strike the angle of post and crossbar with Gallacher well beaten. It just didn't look to be our day. A fine performance away from home was to be rewarded with nothing. Suddenly, the Norwich fans found their voice. For the entire game up to now, but for the odd gurgle, the place was as quiet as a library, which seems the vogue in East Anglian football grounds these days. Not even Delia could whip up a song. Very little to choose between the Suffolk lot and the Norfolk lot, apart from the fact that the Suffolk lot tonked the Norfolk lot last week. The Norwich fans poked fun at their Anglian rivals, perhaps not realising that their neighbourly humiliation was last weekend. We were in blue, after all. Last few minutes and a great move involving Marney (again) winning the ball, a pass to Fagan and a pass to France. Whereupon France, having learnt from watching the game evolve before him, screwed it into the stands. Yack! Into four minutes of time added on, and Marney decorated an otherwise finely baked performance by spooning a pass into the advertising hoardings. We looked to be dismounting the canary unfulfilled. But wait! Elliott has it down the left in space. Where is the defence? Nowhere. A high cross to the back post. France knocks it down. Still no defence. A flick on, past more non-existent defenders, into the path of an unmarked and onrushing Turner, who steadies himself and hammers it past the exposed Gallacher. 1-1 and Total Tiger Mayhem. A well deserved point is ours. We were the better team, and had we been at the other end of the table, a little more adventurous in formation and a little less wasteful with the final ball, we might have pressed home the advantage and poached more than a point. But we can be satisfied that solid, determined performances like this one will see us bag a few points away from home this season. |
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HULL CITY (4-5-1): Myhill; Ricketts, Turner, Coles, Delaney; Fagan, Ashbee, Marney, Livermore, Elliott; Forster. Subs: France (for Livermore, 79), Barmby (for Forster, 83), McPhee, Welsh, Duke. Goals: Turner 90 Booked: None Sent Off: None
NORWICH CITY: Gallacher, Drury, Shackell, Dublin, Colin, McVeigh, Etuhu, Robinson, Eagle, Huckerby, Earnshaw. Subs: Thorne (for Eagle, 58), Hughes (for McVeigh, 74), Camp, Safri, Jarvis. Goals: Earnshaw 72 Booked: None Sent Off: None
REFEREE: G Sutton ATTENDANCE: 24,129 |
Last revised: December 03, 2006