City full-back Jon Otsemobor admitted today that his wonder-strike in Saturday's 5-1 drubbing of Championship whipping boys Colchester had been a long time coming.
A driving run and powerful shot past U's keeper Dean Gerkin was Otsemobor's first for the Canaries since his Bosman move from Crewe last summer and boy was it worth waiting for.
It set City on the road to a much-needed success over the Essex boys and the former Liverpool trainee revealed it was a very special feeling to claim his first strike in the yellow and green ? even if he did take a little bit of stick in the dressing room afterwards.
“It was very enjoyable, especially afterwards with the lads and everything,” said Otsemobor ? speaking to the media before today's Easter autograph signing session in the City.
“It was a long time coming. I've always said that I fancy myself in front of goal. It was a nice goal to be fair ? especially for my first one.
“When I got closer and closer to the penalty box I was thinking about playing Rusty (Darel Russell) in. I saw him making a run in earlier but I realised I was in a better position to shoot and once I got in the box there was only one thing on my mind.
“It was my first for the club and regardless of how you score it, you are just glad to get it out of the way.”
The 25-year-old – who had an extra reason to celebrate his birthday on Sunday – was certainly at the heart of all things good for the Canaries on Saturday.
He has come in for some criticism from City boss Glenn Roeder in recent weeks ? especially after his defensive lapse allowed Stephen McPhee to score the opener in Blackpool's 2-1 win at Carrow Road at the start of the month.
But in the aftermath of the weekend's resounding derby success, Roeder revealed the thought process behind his comments. According to the Canary chief, there is one hell of a player there. But from time to time, he just needs to be reminded of certain things.
With his laid-back style, it is easy to imagine why Roeder may want to give Otsemobor a gentle prod now and again. And the player himself had no problem with a little bit of constructive criticism.
If it helps him add a little bit more consistency to his game, then he's all for it?
“The biggest part of my game is to keep the levels of consistency up,” Otsemobor added. “Obviously on the back of that performance, I need to go on and take that into the game this weekend and carry on that way for the remainder of the season.
“It is constructive criticism to be fair. It's not name calling or what not. I can take it ? whether it's off the Gaffer, Clarky (Lee Clark) or Stevo (Paul Stephenson).”
One thing is for sure, the 5-1 thumping of League One-bound United was a huge result for everyone of yellow and green persuasion.
Having slipped dangerously close to the dreaded drop-zone, the morale-boosting success goes some way to allaying any relegation fears in Norfolk.
One, maybe two, more wins should secure their Championship status and Otsemobor agreed that it was a must-win encounter against the U's.
And after their recent 'flat patch', there were a lot of relieved faces amongst supporters and players alike.
With only two goals in their previous five games, the Canaries goalscoring prowess, or lack of it, was a real worry. And to be fair to the City squad, they pulled out all the stops when it really mattered.
It was a day when everything ? bar Jason Shackell's mistimed header which let in Kevin Lisbie for the U's goal ? just clicked nicely into place. More of the same will be the order of the day as far as Roeder and Co are concerned.
“Before the game the lads knew how important the result was and what it meant to us. We took that into the game and showed our true colours I thought.
“I think we've been creating a lot of chances over the last few games and we've just not been putting them away. It was a matter of time before a lot of them went in and thankfully on Saturday they did.
“It's important that the goals don't just come from Jamie, Dion or whoever else plays up front as well.
“The midfielders ? Rusty, Foz (Mark Fotheringham) etc ? need to get forward and score as much as they can as well and as a team, I thought we did that well at the weekend.”
Tom Haylett
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