Canaries hold on for win

04 December 2010 18:00
Norwich leapfrogged Derby to move up to fourth in the npower Championship as they edged an entertaining clash 2-1 at Pride Park. The Rams, seeking a seventh straight home win, surrendered their impressive record in front of their own fans as they were breached twice in the first 13 minutes by Chris Martin and an own goal from Shaun Barker. And despite a goalscoring return to the side for Kris Commons that saw the Scotland international take his tally for the season to 11, County could not battle back. It was a combination of bad luck and a goalkeeping gaffe that gifted the Canaries the lead after 11 minutes. A slick passing move involving Henri Lansbury, Wes Hoolahan and David Fox stretched the home defence, working space for the latter to shoot at goal. Fox's piledriver nicked off the boot of Barker on its way through, but goalkeeper Frank Fielding still should have done better as he failed to get his body positioned properly and the ball slipped through his grasp and into the net. If there was a degree of good luck about that opener, there was certainly nothing fortunate about the visitors' second goal two minutes later. More slick passing opened up the Rams rearguard, setting Simon Lappin free on the overlap. He burst toward the byline and clipped a pass into the area, where Martin was on hand to head home his sixth goal of the season. Derby's proud home record was wobbling, but they made the perfect response after 17 minutes when Commons ran off the shoulder of his marker to latch on to Luke Moore's flick and steer the ball into the corner.

Source: PA