Match Reports

Nationwide League Division 1

26 Aug 2002: Stoke City 1 Norwich City 1 Att: 13,931

CITY DESERVE ALL THE POINTS AS CANARIES ARE CAGED by AndyP

As I approached the Britannia Stadium on this fine sunny Bank Holiday Monday, I must admit that I wasn't feeling particularly optimistic about this game. I had seen plenty at Preston to be worried about, and in high flying Norwich I felt we had opponents that could give us a bit of a going over. However, by the end of 90 minutes we had limited the Canaries to ONE shot on target, and Stoke largely dominated this match and deserved to take all three points.

Steve Cotterill stuck with the side that battled back at Preston in vain, but Iwelumo was back on the bench to give another option in attack. This meant Goodfellow and Cooke upfront again, and it was Goodfellow who was involved very early on when a nice build up from Clarke, Goodfellow, and Commons earned a corner in the first minute. Sadly the set piece came to nothing.

In the early exchanges both sides passed the ball about probing each other, yet failing to make any telling inroads on goal. After 12 minutes Henry's run on the right was ended by a foul, and the subsequent free kick from Commons eluded any Stoke players in the box. Four minutes later Norwich won their first corner, which was powerfully headed out for a throw by Cooke at the near post. On 22 minutes Stoke produced their best move of the half so far, when a Commons ball down the left wing released Goodfellow to run at the defence. He turned and beat his marker well, and put in a good cross to pick out O'Connor who hit his shot straight at the keeper from just inside the area.

After 30 minutes Norwich had their first effort of the game when a cross from the right found Roberts slipping his marker for the only time in the game, but he headed tamely wide from about 6 yards when he should have done better. Two minutes later at the other end a quick free kick by Clarke found Goddfellow and his cross was clipped over by Cooke on the turn. Gunnarsson then tried his luck from long range but it went well wide. Moments later Shtaniuk found his way into the book after a strong challenge, the only blot on a very good display. Shortly afterwards Cooke was clambered on and from the free kick Commons put in an excellent cross which was headed behind for a corner with Shtaniuk waiting to pounce.

The lads left the field to deserved applause as they had easily matched Norwich, and for a little more attacking finesse might have gone in with a few goals. Norwich meanwhile had passed the ball around well, but had only managed one effort all half and that wasn't on target!

Stoke managed to throw away all this good work almost immediately as the second half started. They appeared to come out half asleep while Norwich had no doubt been geed up by their half time lecture. After a minute Norwich broke down the right, Clarke was beaten for pace, and a low cross was scrambled away in the 6 yard box, before being thumped clear by Gunnarsson. Seconds later Stoke found themselves a goal down. Some slick passing around the edge of the area picked opened up the defence and they failed to pick up Drury running in, allowing him to drive a low shot into the corner from about 12 yards.

At this point Stoke looked a little shaken and Norwich threatened to put the game beyond us. On 51 minutes a Norwich shot was actually blocked by the referee, and a minute later Stoke nearly committed suicide. A misunderstanding at the back meant that Cutler had to race well out his area to clear, but his effort dropped to a Norwich player and luckily his lob from 35 yards out dropped wide of the unguarded net.

Stoke looked a little devoid of ideas during this spell, and were not getting much creativity from the midfield, leaving the attack lacking decent service. Cotterill seemed to sense this, and made an astute tactical substitution, taking off Henry and replacing him with Gudjonsson. Stoke immediately stepped up a gear and won a corner. Commons whipped in the cross and Shtaniuk headed just wide.

The switch seemed to help Stoke, and roared on by the crowd they began to take the game to Norwich again. The visitors began to look a little rattled, and a silly foul on Goodfellow gave Stoke a free kick out wide near the corner flag. Commons whipped in the cross but the keeper clung on despite pressure from Stoke forwards. On 70 minutes a long-range shot from Clarke was deliberately redirected by Goodfellow, and this effort just crept wide from 15 yards, with the keeper completely wrong footed. Two minutes later constant Stoke pressure produced another corner, and Handyside's header down was hacked clear before a Stoke man could react to it in the box.

Finally on 74 minutes Stoke got their reward with a goal of sheer class. Commons picked up the ball on the left just inside the Norwich half. He then sped inside, exchanged a fine one-two with Goodfellow near the edge of the box, raced into the area, skipped round the last defender, and smote the ball in off the post past the despairing dive of the keeper. Once the incredible Boothen End "mental" died down a section of the crowd serenaded Commons with "Are you Gascoigne in disguise?"!!

The goal was no more than Stoke deserved, and for the last period of the game Norwich were rocking, trying to hang on to what they had while Stoke pressed for a winner. A series of corners and free kicks near the box lacked the final decisive touch to snatch the three points. Perhaps aware that we lacked an aerial threat, Cotterill replaced Goodfellow with Iwelumo for the last 5 minutes. Stoke finished the game with a free kick on the edge of the box after Clarke had been held. Commons curled a 23 yard effort over and the ref blew for fulltime.

Team Marks:

GK Cutler (7) Had nothing to do but pick the ball out the net from Norwich's one shot on target!

RB Thomas (7) Got forward well, put in some good tackles. A fault for the goal?

LB Clarke (7) Played well for most of the game. Handled the Norwich winger pretty well but lost him once. Pushed forward to assist attacking play.

CB Shtaniuk (8) Back to his best after dodgy display at Preston. Roberts did not have a sniff with Shtaniuk around. Won all the key headers. Only blot, a booking.

CB Handyside (6) Not at his best. Maybe at fault for the gaol, and I think was involved in the one moment of madness that nearly saw Cutler lobbed!

RM Henry (5) Again did not look at home on the right. Needed far too long on the ball so lost out some key challenges. Often seemed to get the ball stuck under his feet. We looked more creative when he went off.

CM O'Connor (6) Ran after everything as usual. However gave the ball away in very dangerous situations on too many occasions. Might have done better with his first half shot.

CM Gunnarsson (6) Again looked out of sorts and not up with the pace at times. Made a few good tackles and a couple of decent passes. However he gave the ball away and wasn't the creative force we need him to be.

LM Commons (8) Once again involved in most of our creative attacking play. The goal was an absolute stunner. (STARMAN)

CF Goodfellow (7) A much better display. Still fairly hopeless in the physical battles, but he put himself around a bit more, and worried Norwich with his pace. Excellent lay off for Commons' goal.

CF Cooke (8) As usual a hardworking display, and despite lacking the pace to cause too many worries, the Norwich defence knew they had been in a battle with him about.

SUBS

Gudjonsson (7) An excellent last half hour. Provided us with more attacking flair, and we began to create chances as soon as he came on. Even chased back into our half, won the tackle, and started an attack all in one movement! We need to start with him in right midfield really.

Iwelumo (6) Came on too late to make an effect. Could have done with him earlier when the corners were swinging in!

Conclusion

This was a very entertaining game to watch with both sides playing some good football. Stoke limited a highly rated Norwich side to one shot on target all game (typically from which they scored!) Stoke overall deserved three points, but lacked enough attacking prowess to get the necessary goals. The one we did score was a real moment of magic which will be talked about for some years to come!

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