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Sat just two strides from the touchline and with wooden hoardings behind the two rows it was reminiscent of Burnley Cricket Club of some years ago but the view was not as bad as was first feared at a Carrow Road ground that was full apart from the unsold Burnley allocation of tickets.
Stan was able to name an unchanged team from the one that won at Stoke with the only change coming on the bench where the fit again Lee Roche predictably replaced Matt O’Neill.
The Clarets were forced to change out of their Claret & Blue (obviously a clash with the home side’s yellow and green) and played in the all grey kit and it was soon obvious that we were not going to have another Stoke performance as Norwich attacked us from the start.
Peter Crouch won a couple of headers but that is hardly surprising but it was the other two new Norwich signings who were troubling us most. Darren Huckerby’s pace was causing a problem whilst Kevin Harper was involved in much of Norwich’s forward play and was being allowed far too much room to play in down the right wing.
Crouch should certainly have given Norwich the lead although he somehow missed the target with an easy header from point blank range and as Norwich continued to press forward nothing was being seen of the Clarets (sorry, the Greys) in terms of attack.
When we did get possession it all seemed to fall down and we were lacking any penetration down either flank. Luke Chadwick was struggling to get into the game and Branchy was not having the best of games. It all seemed to get bogged down and the Norwich defence were not being put under any pressure at all.
Norwich created a couple more decent chances whilst all Burnley could offer was a weak effort over the bar from Delroy Facey but we were able to hang on to 0-0 until half time. It could have been even better, just before the interval it looked as though we could have had a penalty as Luke Chadwick went down under a challenge.
It was difficult to see from the sun lounge but the reaction of the Burnley players suggested that referee Clive Penton had got it wrong.
Penton in fact had had a quiet first forty five minutes but he more than made up for it in the second half with a series of yellow cards but it was difficult to find anything to complain about with any of them to be fair. Tony Grant, Lee Roche (on for the injured Dean West at half time), Mo Camara and Luke Chadwick were the Burnley players to see yellow and it was following Roche’s booking that we fell behind.
They took the free kick and Andy Todd, who had another good game, allowed the ball to run through to Peter Crouch who rolled his shot into the bottom corner. He completely scuffed his shot otherwise he probably wouldn’t have scored.
Jensen, he’d already made two very good saves in the second half, had no chance and it was fair to say that Norwich were worth their lead.
Ian Moore came on for Branch with Blake taking the captain’s armband but he didn’t go up front but took Chadwick’s place on the right hand side with Chadwick moving over into the left of midfield. Having had a quiet first half Chadwick was coming into the game on the right and it did seem a strange decision to move him.
There is no doubt that the Clarets got more into the game and should definitely have had a penalty when Facey was held by Gary Holt. The Scottish midfielder though went down pretending to be injured and in doing so was able to con both the referee and his assistant, neither of whom were very far away.
Somehow though we never gave the impression that we might equalise and it is difficult to remember Norwich keeper Robert Green having a real save to make. There was a lot of intricate passing but nobody seemingly wanting to have a shot at goal.
That was never summed up better than two minutes into stoppage time when a move down the right appeared to have Norwich in knots. Chadwick should surely have got a shot in, so should Blake but in the end nobody did and Norwich got the ball clear down their left. Within seconds it was 2-0 as substitute Iwan Roberts turned in a Huckerby cross.
That was it and we can really have no cause for complaint. Norwich on the day were better than us, were more direct and but for Brian Jensen would certainly have had more goals whilst Green had only routine work to contend with.
There were impressive performances again and the two central defenders played well generally against tough opponents in the impressive Darren Huckerby and the rather strange Peter Crouch. And Gareth Farrelly again looked the part in midfield.
The tendency to want to walk the ball in is still with us though and against the Norwich defence this afternoon that was never going to work. Not every defence is like Stoke’s.
The teams were,
Norwich: Robert Green, Marc Edworthy, Malky Mackay, Adam Drury, Kevin Harper (Alex Notman 70), Damien Francis, Gary Holt, Clint Easton (Paul McVeigh 62), Darren Huckerby, Peter Crouch (Iwan Roberts 70). Subs not used: Paul Crichton, Phil Mulryne.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Dean West (Lee Roche 45), Andy Todd, David May, Mo Camara, Luke Chadwick, Tony Grant, Gareth Farrelly, Graham Branch (Ian Moore 64), Robbie Blake, Delroy Facey.
Referee: Clive Penton (Sussex).
Attendance: 16,407.