A goal in either half from Bradley Johnson and Lewis Grabban gave Norwich City a 2-0 victory over Town in the East Anglian derby at Carrow Road. Johnson opened the scoring on 24 with a strike off the underside of the bar with Grabban adding the second in the 62nd minute.

Town boss Mick McCarthy handed Richard Chaplow his full Blues debut at the most advanced point of a midfield diamond ahead of Cole Skuse with Kevin Bru on the right and Jay Tabb on the left.

Paul Anderson and Jonny Parr dropped to the bench, while Teddy Bishop missed out with the ankle injury he suffered in training.

David McGoldrick (thigh), Darren Ambrose, Stephen Hunt (both hamstring), Noel Hunt and Luke Hyam (knee) had all previously been ruled out. Former Northgate High School pupil Hyam watched the game fro the away end.

Chris Wood, who signed on loan from Leicester on Friday, was on the bench alongside 17-year-old first-year scholar Kundai Benyu, who was in the matchday 18 for the first time.

The game started in a swirling wind with the home side threatening first in the third minute when Lewis Grabban was found on the right of the area, but Tyrone Mings got across to muscle him off the ball.

Norwich felt they ought to have been awarded a penalty in the seventh minute when Grabban was tackled by Tommy Smith. Referee Paul Tierney awarded a corner but replays suggested the Canaries might have had a case. From the second of two flag-kicks the ball was cleared to Jonny Howson, who volleyed well wide.

There was a scare for the Blues on 13 when Chaplow allowed Howson to send over a cross from the left after a corner from the right had been sent too deep. Norwich Johnson flicked a header which Berra blocked, then Murphy cleared the loose ball.

Skuse picked up the game’s first booking in the 16th minute for catching Johnson with a high boot as the home side broke on halfway.

The majority of the first 20 minutes had been played in the Norwich half but without the Blues having been able to create a chance. When in decent areas all too often a pass had been lacking at the crucial moment.

Much the same was the case in the 23rd minute when Chaplow won the ball on the right and broke into the area but failed to find Murphy with his cross.

A minute later the home side went in front. Wes Hoolahan fed Grabban on the right and the striker’s low cross caught Berra’s heel and found Johnson rushing into the area on the left, from where he smashed a shot into the net off the underside of the bar.

The Blues looked to hit straight back but Murphy failed to get anything on a shot from the edge of the box and Norwich keeper Ruddy claimed comfortably.

Town weren’t far away from an equaliser in the 31st minute when Bru won the ball midway inside the Blues’ half and sent Murphy away down the left. The Irishman crossed low to Sears, who touched the ball past his defender before shooting. However, the touch had allowed Ruddy time to come off his line and the keeper blocked.

Sears hit a 20-yard strike from the left which Ruddy saved to his left on 35, then three minutes later Hoolahan hit a looping effort from further out which Bartosz Bialkowski claimed.

Neither side threatened again before referee Tierney’s whistle signalled the half-time break.

Having gone in front the home side had largely been on top without particularly threatening to add to their lead. The well-worked goal was the one time they had cut through the Blues during the first half.

But Town were far form out of it, having continued to battle away in their usual manner and they might well have been on terms but for Ruddy’s impressive save from Sears.

Aside from that and Sears’s effort from distance soon after, Town hadn’t managed to test the home keeper on too many more occasions in a derby of few chances at either end.

Luke Varney replaced Chaplow at start of the second half and the Blues went close soon after the restart when Johnson inadvertently smashed Tabb’s freekick in from the left over his own crossbar.

On 53 Berra did well to cut out Grabban’s cross from the left, then from the corner Johnson headed wide. Two minutes later Grabban hit a low shot through to Bialkowski which failed to trouble the Polish keeper.

Sears saw a strike blocked on 58 with Town beginning to put the home side under a bit of pressure. Three minutes later, Norwich swapped Nathan Redmond for Cameron Jerome.

Within a minute of coming on the former Cardiff man inadvertently created the second goal for Grabban. Having been forced wide to the left by Berra, Jerome cut in and hit a shot which struck Mings, deflected off Grabban and trickled over the line.

As the Blues looked to get back into the game Ruddy saved from Sears from distance on 67, then two minutes later Parr replaced Bru in the Blues midfield.

It might have been 3-0 in the 73rd minute when Jerome was threaded through on goal but Bialkowski came off his line quickly to save.

Despite the match appearing lost the Blues kept going and twice threatened in the 76th minute. After Ruddy had dropped a cross, the ball was returned into the box and Sears and then Parr both had shots blocked.

With 11 minutes left on the clock new signing Wood took over from 21-goal Championship top scorer Murphy.

Sears almost created a goal for Town in the 81st minute. Tabb took a quick freekick and the former Colchester man chipped a cross over Ruddy but Johnson headed off the line and Sebastian Bassong nodded over.

Three minutes later Mings was booked for a foul on Howson. From the freekick, Canaries skipper Russell Martin stabbed into the side-netting at the far post.

Wood flicked a header wide from a Parr cross after a Town freekick in the 86th minute with the Blues continuing to look for a goal which would never come.

Paul Tierney’s whistle signalled Norwich’s victory - their fourth derby in a row for the first time in their history - a result which sees the Canaries move up to third and the Blues remain in sixth.

While there wasn’t a huge amount in the game and Town had one or two chances, the home side played the more controlled football for the most part and took their best first-half chance, while the Blues failed to take theirs.

The somewhat flukey second goal came at a time when Town were starting to impose themselves on the game. The Blues kept pushing and carved out one or two half-chances but never really looked like getting back into the game once they had gone two goals behind.

Norwich: Ruddy, Whittaker, Martin (c), Bassong, Olsson, Tettey, Johnson, Redmond (Jerome 61 (Hooper 90)), Howson, Hoolahan (Dorrans 83), Grabban. Unused: Rudd, Turner, Hooper, Andreu, Garrido.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Mings, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Bru (Parr 69), Chaplow (Varney 46), Bru, Murphy, Sears. Unused: Gerken, Clarke, Anderson, Benyu. Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire). Attendance: 27,005.

Photo: Action Images

neillrumsey added 17:17 - Mar 1 I will try and put a positive spin on the team. Who would have imagined that such an ordinary bunch of players would be in the top six and within striking distance of automatic promotion. I for one didn't but like it or not we are there because we have points on the board. The brand of football is not to my liking but I'll take promotion if it comes. Tommy Smith had another poor game but he is a left sided player playing out of position and has no confidence. chambers another poor game great leader but uncomfortable on the ball, a centre back playing out of position. We have no width and no creativity in midfield. We have wingers at the club this does not included ANderson but Mm does not play them. Mings BIshop and MCG will all leave in the summer and will have successful careers. Our strikers and we now have some quality in this area have zero service other than a long ball to Murph. MM must change this midfield and sold. Bru did well and was subbed the rest were woeful. We must now focu on Leeds and 3 points. Sad day for town fans but Mm hasn't spent a penny and today it showed COYB

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midastouch added 17:18 - Mar 1 was like watching the damn six nations! :-(
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NoelTheDub added 17:18 - Mar 1 Football 2 Hoofball 0 If you cant pass a ball to each other what else do you expect.It makes no difference how many strikers you put on the pitch because we dont have any footballers in the middle of the park or pace out wide.Im not to bothered about any defeat or who its to its the way we play and it was awful today.Yes their squad is miles ahead of ours but the difference today was Hoolihan and the closest thing to him is young Teddy who was badly missed today and have me doubts if Mick would have started him anyway.We are going to win and lose games in this crazy league but Mick has to change this hoofball crap.

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Orraman added 17:20 - Mar 1 It will be so much sweeter when we beat them at Wembley in May
1

TimmyH added 17:20 - Mar 1 Yet ANOTHER poor afternoon against the budgies who really seem to be holding a hoodoo over us over recent years although has to be said no where near the marked difference between the sides as back in August. We had the better figures when it came to possession and territory and can't really fault the endeavour of some of our players...BUT I will keep saying this till' the cows come home we don't have the quality in midfield and this shows when we have that much possession/territory AND CAN'T score! - what player pulled the strings today in midfield? the answer no one! it was all about trying to close the budgies down in numbers and making them make mistakes. No point signing players like Wood/Varney if you don't have the quality in midfield. Nardge now and again (and not often) had a brief period of play where occasionally it showed (Hoolahan) and they profited from it. Most worrying stat for me since the New Year is that we have only kept 1 clean sheet and a record of W4 D1 L5 is hardly play-off form. More tough games ahead. Again very disappointed...but not really surprising.

10

SailorBlue added 17:21 - Mar 1 No one seems to have missed Anderson today - but he leads the assists this season with 7 and alot of our previous goals from corners & free kicks have resulted from him. Def missed his delivery today, although a crying shame that no one else in the team can take a corner!! I'd have thought Mings would have been a better bet than Tabb.
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midastouch added 17:23 - Mar 1 i remember exskuse getting booked and i though oh dear, he's gonna be walking a tightrope. then i remember him touching the ball with around just 20 mins to go and suddenly thinking, he's still on the pitch, i had honestly forgotten he was still playing. that was the level of impact this poor exSkuse had on the match. if this was north korea exSkuse and Jay Scab would be off to the salt mines tonight and i don't think they'd be back again in time for supper! if mick mccarthy was on the ftse 100 his share price would have taken a very big hit today!

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julesbda added 17:24 - Mar 1 Whether we like it or not Norwich will go up and probably as champions . End of the day they scored twice and we didn't . They have a touch of class that we don't and that's the difference . They also have a very good midfield and we simply play " HOOOOFFFFFBALLLLL " all day long and we won't win much that way ...Best chance is top 6 and hope we are getting some luck in the playoffs ....

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bluefeast added 17:25 - Mar 1 Silk purse from a etc ,even their managers report is out befor MMs. Hes done alot of good ,but our reputation is in shatters in terms of being a football side ,he is suffocating in his desire to be hard to beat. But we are not now hard to beat , as this year shows. I dont want him to resign ,i want him to allow players to express themselves , and ffs stop playing tabb and bigging him up , chaplow cant make millwall team ,varney cant make blackburn and smith has not played at all for leicester ,how are these players improving us ,its an absolute joke. Get us off our seats Mick with excitement not boredom

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MickMillsTash added 17:28 - Mar 1 3 points dropped Was this too much different form the previous 3 performances? We are limited and generally make the most of what we have. Today we needed more quality and we do not have it, If we fail to go up i really think a big cause will be down to not getting a right back in the Jan Transfer window - Chambers - I love him and if you watch him he is often ahead of the midfield but he just cannot offer the quality of ball needed when he gets the opportunity. Any news on McGoldrick? Need him back in the mix ASAP or is that why we signed Wood? Get behind the team on Wednesday night please-'only £28 for the ticket' another 3 points!

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bazzer59 added 17:30 - Mar 1 Why is Mccarthy so arrogant the fans have been telling him for weeks get rid of Smith move Chambers into the middle Parr and Mings full backs or are they not teachers pets?
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bazzer59 added 17:30 - Mar 1 Why is Mccarthy so arrogant the fans have been telling him for weeks get rid of Smith move Chambers into the middle Parr and Mings full backs or are they not teachers pets?
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BlueMachines added 17:38 - Mar 1 When we pick the best team, we will stand a chance. Sorry but the Norwich fans were right. 2-0 to the football team. One thing I'm sure of, I'll never ever be green and yellow.
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bluelady added 17:43 - Mar 1 How can Skuse impose himself on the game when he has to support Tommy accident waiting to happen Smith - he has to play deep! The guy has a great pass in him but is unable to play that kind of football due to the square pegs in round holes at the back.... When a left footed right back is our super sub you kinda know it's not going to be our day!! Bru poor, Tabbs corners horrific - our best chance to score and he can't beat first man so ended up going short! Varney is awful, makes Samon look a player!! Actually didn't mind Chaplow but clearly not match fit. We looked like a bunch of misfits playing together for first time... Hoof hoof and hoof again

2

ShropshireBluenago09 added 17:47 - Mar 1 Naarwich game plan was better than ours - simple as. They stopped us playing and we reverted to hoof ball, unfortunately. Not much between the 2 sides overall. I wouldnt single out any player as bad, as they all gave 100% IMO. Could have done with McGoldrick to hold the ball up. Sears and Bru were our best players. Still not bothered too much, they can keep the bragging rights - As long as WE go up and THEY don't!... plenty of season left and loads of points to play for. COYB.

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craig76 added 17:47 - Mar 1 when will mm learn playing a centre half at right back who huffs the ball past the midfield hoping for a foward to get it is absurd a midfield who is not good enough playing out of position going sideways and backwards is not football we sign good players warming the bench im sorry to say a mid table side at best
2

BlueMachines added 17:48 - Mar 1 Come on MM lovers. Please defend that. Again.
2

kidsurello added 17:51 - Mar 1 No one can complain, they have something we don't, a very creative midfielder in wes hoolahan, we are too basic with 4-4-2, you simply can't play any good football because there's no one in any space between the opposition lines because we are always matched up against like in 2 banks of 4 and 2 strikers. With that you can only play wide but with Chaplow and Tabb there's no point as they have no pace. It's not hard, just feel MM is playing tactics from 10 years ago

4

sir_george_burley added 17:56 - Mar 1 The game was not rubbish. It had plenty of interest. Town had a lot of possession and some good flow of moves. Certainly there was, as usual, too much lumping of the high ball from defence and from midfield. But Norwich have an expensive and very talented squad, and the new manager is on a roll with them — six wins in a row, so we were up against it today good and proper. We have to be realistic about the task and I think Town did just as the people on Sky said — gave a good account but Norwich had that bit of extra flair on a few occasions, enough to get the points. MIngs wasn't dreadful but showed a lot of talent at times (pretty good for an inexperienced youngster replacing our previous best player). Tabb certainly wasn't dreadful and was at the heart of most of what went well; corners weren't good today but the high wind was a significant factor. How can some people damn Varney and Chaplow as hopeless signings on the basis of part of one game? That's just disappointment speaking, I think. I share others' surprise that Parr isn't trusted with more of a regular role — and that might include the right side where we were once again weak when coming forwards.

5

compton added 17:59 - Mar 1 what do varney and chaplow have to offer?.jack shte
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warktheline added 18:01 - Mar 1 @ Timmy, agree about defence stats, why Parr hasn't secured the right back position is beyond me. Bored of this.....Chambers is a CB, fill in full back at best. People hammering Mings, get off his back, what did you expect over a season from a young lad! If you sit down and work out your best midfield, you cant! We do have some decent midfield players, but the combinations just don't fit. I mentioned before we need two Parr's. Up top, we have enough now, to do damage. On the plus side....3pts of second. On the negative side.....extremely hard run of fixtures ahead. Certainly not willing to comment on Norwich...why should I, when their manager omits us! As for rest chasing top six, most probably will turn into a lottery, which with all things considered, may aid us! Wouldn't be surprised if we beat Leeds midweek, this bunch of lads may not be the most talented, but one thing they are, is resilient. For that I salute them, keep going lads.

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essexboy added 18:05 - Mar 1 Here we go again,as soon as we loose the fickle supporters post on here knocking the club.What MM has done without any help from the owner is fantastic.It's not MM you blame it should be M.E.we don't have a midfield as we are.Wide men are required now we have big target men up front.Yes I agree Chambers should not play at right back.Smith in my opinion should be rested Wednesday and Parr retuned to the defence.we have to find room for Woods,Sears and Murphy.But please don't knock the Team or Manager,we are still in with a shout and only 5 points off top spot.Yes I'm as p....d of as the rest of us but had it not been Norwich we lost to would we have still be p......d of.Lets all look forward to Wednesday.

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hancockingoal added 18:05 - Mar 1 Those so called fans who criticise the lack of effort are complete morons! If games were decided on effort only we would have won it by Christmas. The fact is we are not good enough, we lack quality in critical areas. Possibly Mr Evans is not prepared to sign the cheque or the players are just not available? Top 6 if it is achieved will be a magnificent achievement

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bomber21 added 18:06 - Mar 1 This result and performance was always on the cards from this bunch of misfits and a manager who does it his way only,one consolation i had 50 quid on a norwich win and 50 quid at 5-1 to win the league on saturday,they are now 3-1.HAPPY DAYS.
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Toronto_Tractor added 18:07 - Mar 1 Fair assessments all round. I was hopeful pre-game that we could nick something, but we were on the wrong side of the fine margins. The difference between us and yeh .... MIDFIELD!!!!! Tabby, bless his cotton socks, is of very little use at all. Skuse is too slow and not positive enough, Bru had a bad day. We have so so little creativity in the team. We may yet sneak up through the playoffs though. COYB!

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