Most of us would have taken a point if offered it pre-match but, as ever, City’s route to that point took us through the full gamut of emotions:
Agony inside a minute when Perez put the Toon ahead.
Ecstasy when Big Cam led the charge to put us 2-1 ahead.
More agony as City clung on via Ruddy, post and crossbar.
Heartbreak at the defences were finally breached by Lascelles.
Relief (and the ability to breathe again) following Andy Madley’s final whistle.
And in between every feeling possible that’s ever been induced by a football match.
It was thrilling, breathless stuff and upon the final countdown few could argue that Newcastle were worthy of at least a point. For most of the second-half it was all hands to the pump type stuff and, in truth, it took a ‘John Ruddy of old’ performance to see us hang on.
But hang on we did.
Of course it was an evening in which we lost ground on those in our sights – Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday both eking out 2-1 wins – and our chances of fifth or sixth narrowed slightly but with regard to forward momentum nothing has changed.
In terms of time on the ball, last night was one of the rare Championship occasions when we came off second best and for a spell in the second half as the back-four retreated deeper and deeper and as Mo Diame entered the fray it was the Alamo, with City being offered the meagrest of scraps to feed off.
But something has changed since that spell that’s still painful to even think about. Where once there was brittleness and half-heartedness, now there’s durability and fight. Belief too has been added to an armoury that was deficient in many things, and for all the technical difficulties that again revealed themselves in the centre of our back-four, there’s still heart.
And in the Championship that counts for a lot.
That Timm Klose’s playing the fool occasionally seeps from social media on to the green stuff is definitely a cause for concern however, and last night there was no burly six foot plus centre-forward to blame – not even Daryl Murphy.
Russell Martin too reminded us again why many have their doubts as to his long-term suitability to the centre-back role but both dug in, were brave, and put their bodies on the line when it counted.
Yet there’s much work to be done on the fields of Colney and to have to endure kamikaze defending on such a scale for the next 14 games will be almost too much to bear.
But enough of the negatives – there were plenty of positive aspects of the performance to focus on and it was encouraging that even with a squad riddled with injuries and changes (some enforced) there was no discernible change in intensity.
Cameron Jerome’s leading the line was a thing of brutal, lung-busting beauty and was him back to his best.
Following the second goal a River End comrade (nice one Rob) quipped that a month ago Cam would have missed from 10 centimetres 🙂 but to see him hit the net, lay on a tap-in for Jacob M and bully Messrs Clark and Lascelles all evening was the culmination of an almost perfect lone striker performance.
That one solitary Canary Caller deemed him ‘lazy’ was as incredulous as it comes. Fair play to Rob Butler and Greg Downes for putting him straight.
And given the unsettling news around Nelson Oliveira’s ankle injury, Cam’s return to his top form couldn’t be more timely.
Mitchell Dijks was another who thrived on the night and in tandem with a very ‘steady Eddie’ shift from Steven Whittaker the threat out wide from the Toon’s talented and expensively acquired wingers was kept to a minimum. But it was heading in a forward direction that the Dutchmen really excelled, especially in the first-half when City had a little more of the ball.
The sight of him twice doing to Matt Ritchie what the late, great Jonah Lomu did so famously to Tony Underwood in the 1995 Rugby World Cup was entertainment personified and was rounded off with him giving the Scot a clip round the ear when he tried to better Dijks with words rather than actions.
Unlike Yanic Wildschut, who again found the going tough, Dijks has hit the ground running and some. I suggest we make the most of his services over the next three months because, for obvious reasons, it’s hard to imagine him being here too much longer.
So, ground lost on the pack but as far as nail-biting entertainment goes last night was right up there. We’re naturally grateful for Ruddy’s brilliance for the point but it was another small step in the right direction and there’s once again an inescapable buzz about the place.
A win against Burton and it’s still all to play for.
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Finally, a quick reminder about the Norwich City Supporters Trust AGM tomorrow night, which will be followed by Chris Goreham, Rob Butler and Robin Sainty leading a debate entitled “The State of the Canary Nation”.
The AGM itself starts at 7.15 pm in the Norfolk Lounge at Carrow Road with the debate following at 7.45pm. Both are open to all with free entry (although only members can vote at the AGM).
Nice to see fans applauding our team off at the end – and thoroughly deserved – despite failing to hold on for the win.
How on earth could anyone criticise Jerome last night? A masterclass in centre-forward play and commitment – brought into even sharper focus, sadly, when Lafferty replaced him.
Great analogy between Dijks and Jonah Lomu! It wasn’t just Underwood who suffered that day in 1995. As one paper reported, Lomu’s behaviour was shocking: he ran over a Catt and didn’t even stop.
I thought it was a performance of great effort from the whole team. Newcastle, in my opinion, targeted our center halves which worked quite well for them. Despite the bad start I was delighted to see how we came back hard, the team pulled themselves together and responded. At half time we were the better team. By full time I was glad we held on because they battered us but despite that I think if we had lost it would have been harsh.
A corner has been turned, there is no doubt. I posted on this site that I could see no way Alex Neil could stay in post- more than once. I’m not completely there yet but right now I’m much happier.
Despite the improvement I regret we are still going to fall short of the playoffs. Although there are quite a few points left to play for other teams are looking very strong and we still look weak away from home. I really hope we sneak in, but I fear we’ve left it too late this time
OTBC
It was a great spectacle, even if our defending left something to be desired at times.
Credit to Newcastle though, they counter attack across the front line – and from out wide – with pace. Something that City struggle to do offensively and cope with defensively too. Hence our tendency to drop deeper in the second half!
Leaving the ground afterwards came with a sense of anticlimax when I heard all four teams above us had won. But I still believe 24 more points from 14 games will yield us a play off place.
This sounded like a thrilling game and sure value for money. Plus it was a point more than I predicted. So… bonus?
However, I’m going to be that guy. There are no ‘good points’ when the teams your chasing all win. I’m sure someone will argue this, but we’ve gone through this before in the Prem. All our ‘true fans’ were arguing the merits of “great draws” and in the end we were relegated (both times). We can applaud our way to failure, so we need to be careful.
Minor correction… It wasn’t Tony Underwood it was Mike Catt. Analogy still works though.
Oh do shut up Dave.
We’ve now leapt over a big hurdle. The others had far easier games last night, and still have Newcastle to play.
It’s not all-out win, and there’s still plenty of time to reel in the others when they have to play each other.
Whilst we still have problems in defence, I think a word of praise for one of our maligned “fringe” players in Steven Whittaker. I’ve never been one of his biggest fans, but thought that he played very well considering his lack of game time. OK, without Pinto we lack something going forward but his performance last night was very solid – and so nearly capped with a goal. Good to see both Ruddy and Jerome back to close to their bests, and Tettey was superb.
O T B C
I think we have a very good chance of finishing in the play-offs. We have all of the teams (bar Newcastle) above us to play. They all have some tricky games to navigate. It is all to play for and Leeds, Reading, Sheff Wed, and Huddersfield must all be looking over their shoulders and a little bit worried. Come on you Yellows.
1) Stewart, I think I’ve said before not to bother trying apply logic to some of what’s said on Canary Call. We all know there are certain players players who will be routinely criticised/praised whatever the quality of the performance.
4) I know what you’re saying, but this might be one of those occasions where we find the true value of that particular point further down the line. The team we’re rightly criticised earlier on this season for not digging in & scraping for a point. In the interests of balance, they deserve some sort of credit for doing so on this occasion even if we didn’t get the win.
7) I’m not Whittaker’s greatest fan either, but I could see the logic in keeping him on board this season & it’s clear we’re going to need him for the rest of the campaign.