To say that yesterday was a bizarre day in the life of SAFC is putting it mildly. I was very disappointed that Alex Neil moved on as I'd hoped that he'd continue to take us to further success after lifting us up from what had been the worst ever period in the club's history.
However, I'm not one to cry over spilt milk so we have to look to the immediate future and I'd be happy to have Sean Dyche in asap as he did a great job with Burnley. Big Sam would be fine with me too. It remains to be seen how yesterday's carry-on will affect the team in what will be our most difficult encounter yet against the perennial yo-yo side that is Norwich City. Will the players, who were clearly fond of Neil, be badly affected by his departure or will they be doing their best to impress the new manager? Hopefully the latter of course but I don't know. Norwich have lost two games already but their form has picked up over the last three matches. I've been pleased with our performance so far this season and I think we'll get another result today. We could even end up in the top two... I'll be watching the match in my favourite bar just off Oxford Street and my match prediction is 2-2.
I got to the pub just before noon and the manager soon emerged from downstairs to open up for me. I checked the starting line-up and saw that Neil and Evans were in for Matete and Embleton. Matete wasn’t even on the bench. The only Norwich player I recognised was Krul. There was only one other bloke in the bar when 12.30. The sun was shining at the SoL and there seemed to be another big crowd as we kicked off.
We did all the early pressing and Simms had a header that went wide in the third minute. Next thing we were lucky when Patterson took too long to clear a back-pass and Sargent nearly beat him to it. We were awarded a free-kick in a good position on the left in the seventh minute but Pritchard hit it way too hard and it went straight for a goal-kick. Clarke had a long-distance effort that Krul held easily then we put together a great move that resulted in a Stewart header on target. Norwich got a free-kick just to the left of our box but it rebounded for a throw but the replay appeared to show O’Nien bundling one of their players to the ground in the box. No penalty was given anyway.
Patterson made a great diving save and next thing we conceded the first corner of the match. We managed to clear it and soon won our own first corner. Norwich were forced to make a change when Gibbs went off injured to be replaced by Byram. We won another corner from which O’Nien headed wide of the right post and the opening twenty minutes had gone well for us by and large. Norwich were looking dangerous on the break, though, and Sargent was clearly the man to watch out for. It was a physical game and Cirkin was the first player to be yellow-carded in the twenty-fifth minute. Just after the half-hour mark we were awarded a free-kick right on the left edge of their box and when Pritchard took it, it was flipped over the bar for a corner that Norwich cleared. O’Nien was booked for a push on the half-way line as Norwich broke quickly.
As half-time approached we won two corners in a row, from the second of which an Evans drive was well-blocked by Krul. Norwich won a corner in the final minute but the whistle went for a foul against us. Deep in stoppage-time we won another two corners and Norwich must’ve been happy to get to the whistle with it still at 0-0. We’d done well and with better finishing would’ve been ahead but Norwich had still threatened on the break and looked dangerous, especially down our left side.
As we kicked off again it was looking like one goal would nick it. We started again pretty much as we’d left off and were spraying some good long-distance passes around. Nunez had a powerful shot on target but Patterson handled it comfortably. O’Nien conceded a corner in the fifty-fifth minute following which Patterson made a great save from a stinging Nunez shot. Next thing a Stewart effort hit the bar and a follow-up shot by Pritchard was blocked. Norwich made a triple switch on the hour but we didn’t seem in a hurry to make any changes. With twenty minutes to go we still hadn’t made any subs and both sides were pressing forward at every opportunity.
Norwich had been enjoying a good period of pressure before taking the lead in the seventy-sixth minute when Sargent ran on to a low cross from Ramsey on the left and beat Patterson with a close-range shot. We immediately brought on Embleton for Pritchard and there was plenty of time to get a draw. We replaced Evans with Roberts with a few minutes on the clock but Norwich were looking solid at the back. We kept at it but despite four minutes of stoppage-time it ended 0-1.
We could’ve won this but failed to take our chances whereas Norwich capitalised on their best attack. Still there was by no means the collapse that some fans were predicting.
