By CCFC Sid
February 15 2004

Like every other pretender to the D1 top spot, Norwich came to Highfield Road and looked nowhere near a side with Premiership potential. And, had it not been for a player a lot of CCFC fans still say they would not take back, CCFC would have taken at least a point from this match.... CCFC were beaten by a nothing more than average D1 side, who recorded their first victory at Highfield Road for 22 years, mainly thanks to the lightening pace of one man - Darren Huckerby.

In Huckerby, Norwich have a priceless footballing commodity - a matchwinner. Yes, he might get caught offside an annoying amount of times, but when he gets it right, the outcome is usually positive for his team. He was the only difference between two sides thirteen places apart in the division. How CCFC could do with him now....

CCFC created and once again wasted (Yawn!) chances, as yet again CCFC insisted on trying to walk the ball into the net. And the decision to bring in the tenth possible left-back, rather than concentrate on bringing in a decent target man, once again makes management look as if they cannot see the same problems as the rest of us CCFC supporters (Not that I don't agree Grainger loks a worthy addition to the squad).

CCFC wasted over a dozen+ corners, and it was from of these that Norwich scored. A dismal Gudjonsson corner found a Norwich player, and yet again CCFC's paceless side was left trailing as Huckerby sprinted up the pitch, put in a dangerous cross, and CCFC were 1-0 down. Simple stuff - but not anything you're likely to see from the current CCFC squad.

Gudjonsson went on to repeat this error later on, that time without punishment, and also sent in a free-kick so poor in quality later on that it might be wise to let others have the responsibility next time (For instance, Grainger, before we destroy his dead-ball ability!).

Having been given what looked like a nasal spray seconds before setting up Norwich's opening goal, Gudjonsson was possibly ill - if this is the case he should have been withdrawn earlier. If he's not, on this performance, you have to wonder exactly what Pipe and Jorgensen have done wrong that BG is getting selected ahead of them....

The second half saw Suffo attempt to level the scores with a 49th minute effort, and another decent effort hitting the side netting five minutes later. A back heel to Doyle, saw the young Irishman send a quality cross into the area, with Pead heading just wide. Pead had recently stated that he thought he was worth a place in the CCFC side, but this could be his only appearance for a while unless he does better next time - should there be a next time....

McSheffrey and Barrett replaced Pead and Gudjonsson on 70 minutes, though this still left the average height of CCFC's midfield and attack at around 5'8" - which makes you wonder exactly why CCFC opted to play so much head tennis throught the match. A game CCFC will never win against anybody....

Minutes later, a decent McSheffrey delivery from a free-kick found the head of Konjic (Who had started this match on the bench, but replaced the injured Steve Staunton at half-time) in the area, with his effort just falling wide of the post. A Joachim cross set up Suffo soon after, but his effort had the sting taken out of it after a deflection off a Norwich defender.

A Whing error on 82 minutes almost saw Huckerby score what would possibly have been the solo effort of the season, then the game was finished as a contest three minutes later after More Huckerby damage saw Brennan smash the ball past Shearer for 2-0. This saw a massive surge towards the exits from CCFC supporters who knew this was game over (Though this had been obvious to me from the 46th minute, when CCFC missed a chance and the players heads dropped, as if resigned to defeat already).

Patrick Suffo seemed to get the vote for Man Of The Match from most (Though loan signing Martin Grainger put in a solid, if unspectacular debut performance), though his attitude that the ball must come to him, rather than him having to move (Even slightly) to get it is a constant source of annoyance (To me at least!!) - as is his reluctance to head the ball.

As for his dive late on, it was on a par with anything seen in the African Cup Of Nations tournament - embarrassing. The reality is, Suffo probably really does get hacked down, but makes such a meal of falling over that referees seem to be presuming he is cheating....

Those supporters who got in on the free tickets handed out to those unfortunates that suffered the Colcheter debacle will more than likely not be back....