Brave County Edge Closer To Relegation

A brave performance by County at Carrow Road was not enough to prevent another defeat and shove Gary Ablett’s men to within just one more defeat of confirmed relegation this season.

The pasting that many of us believed we were going to receive at the hands of Paul Lambert’s table-topping Canaries looked to be underway after just two minutes when County fell behind.

Gary Ablett received a boost before-hand when David Perkins declared himself fit to start in midfield, but it was his partner in the middle Jamie Vincent who gifted the men in yellow the lead.

He dallied on the ball just shy of the centre-circle, and he was quickly robbed by Chris Martin, who was taking time off from being the lead-singer of Coldplay to thread a neat ball through for Anthony McNamee, who was deputising in midfield for the injured Wes Hoolahan.

McNamee steadied himself before coolly lifting the ball into fon Williams’ top right-hand corner.

That was with two minutes and thirty-five seconds on the clock, and Gary Ablett slunk back into his seat in the dugout while Paul Lambert (spit) jumped up and down like the hyperactive leprechaun we all remember so well from the play-offs two years back.

That was it for me anyway, being the ever-optimistic soul that I am. Radio off, Gillette Soccer Special on as I waited for the inevitable flow of Norwich goal after goal being filed through on the vidiprinter.

‘There’s been another goal at Carrow Road’ announced the presenter, with me putting my head in my hands and waiting for the description of another County player picking the ball up and putting it on a Norwich striker’s foot to kick into the net while fon Williams kindly steps out of the way.

OK, maybe a bit exaggerated but you can imagine my surprise when the commentator bursts into a description of how Jabo Ibehre turned his man on the edge of the City box before curling a low effort into deputy ‘keeper Declan Rudd’s far corner at a silenced Carrow Road.

Ibehre had equalised and had Gary Ablett up on his feet applauding the desire from the team that he’s asked for for so long.

Lambert looked concerned but once County slipped back into our usual routine of making errors and gifting goals, he needn’t have been.

It wasn’t long before Grant Holt was taking his tally to 30 for the season, as he basically found himself completely unmarked before rolling the ball underneath Wiliams’ sprawling body. Way to mark the league’s leading scorer out of the game lads.

County pushed and pushed and tried taking the game to our higher-profile opponents but the difference in class showed through – the Norwich defence, despite missing the experienced Gary Doherty through injury, was holding firm while County’s back for constantly looked uneasy.

There was time for the bone-idle Oli Johnson to actually get off the bench and move around a bit, as he was brought on in place of a bemused Chris Martin and instantly curled a shot just past fon Williams’ post. To a chorus of jeers from the travelling County fans.

There was a much warmer reception for Michael Rose, an unused substitute for the Canaries, as he warmed up. He may well find himself returning to County in the close-season as Norwich look to gain promotion ASAP and strengthen their squad for the Championship.

In between fon Williams’ running up to the other end for the odd corner and Greg Tansey curling a super effort just into the side-netting, that was all she wrote and County are now just one more defeat away from certain relegation and League Two football next season. Well, we HOPE.

And meanwhile the Canaries future looks brighter, with Paul Lambert at the helm and moving on up back to the Championship.

The win would not have pleased the City fans in truth, County battled hard and made more of a fist of it than perhaps first thought. Of course, that all changes nothing eh Mr Lambert?