A Dario Dumic header on 81 minutes was all that separated the sides and won all three points for Norwich in this rearranged match. The win moves Norwich up to third place in the FA Premier Academy League Group A at this late stage in the season. Norwich. with the advantage of the breeze. took the game to Southampton from the start, and gained an early corner on seven minutes after a Luke Daley cross was intercepted by Ben Reeves. From the corner kick taken by George Francomb, Dario Dumic climbed and headed just over the Saints crossbar. On twelve minutes Josh Dawkin crossed in field to pick out Tyree Clarke, who blasted the ball on target from around twenty yards, only to see the ball rebound from goalkeeper Andrej Pernecky’s chest. There then followed another test for the Saints goalkeeper as Tom Adeyemi forced him into a save, again from distance. On thirty minutes, with Norwich seeing lots of possession, the moment of the match as Korey Smith burst through from midfield with a rugged run that took him past defenders and into the penalty area, before shooting past Andrej Pernecky. The inside of the post came to the keeper’s rescue to deny the Norwich captain his first goal of the campaign at this level. Two minutes later another corner by George Francomb was met by Dario Dumic who this time rattled the woodwork. The ball broke inside the penalty areaand Luke Daley rifled in a shot which was again saved by Andrej Pernecky diving to his right. Saints tall defenders Ciaron Harper and Ryan Tafazoll were defending remarkable well despite Norwich constant pressure, but almost came undone minutes before half-time. Damon Lathrope’s deep cross into their penalty area allowed Danny Kelly a perfectly timed header. With the ball destined for goal inside a post, Andrej Pernecky managed to palm the ball away. Minutes into the second half and an accidental collision involving Declan Rudd and Saints forward Michael Dolinajec saw the latter stretchered off the park after a lengthy delay. Southampton started to rally and almost stole the lead on sixty four minutes when Jordan Keegan sent in a low cross and Garyn Preen stabbed the ball just past Declan Rudd’s left post. Sixty seven minutes and Declan Rudd had to be alert as this time Cullum McNish sent in a firm shot from all of thirty yards. Norwich midfielders Tom Adeyemi and Korey Smith were getting through a lot of hard work, especially in organising creative attacks, whilst in defence Dario Dumic and David Stephens were holding firm, under the watchful eye of Norwich manager Bryan Gunn. Josh Dawkin then produced a near post save from the substitute goalkeeper Liam Hogan, as the ball bobbled around inside the penalty area. On seventy three minutes Luke Daley played in Korey Smith who shot wide of the post on the run. On eighty one minutes Norwich finally broke the deadlock. Nick Davey, now on as a substitute, was felled well inside the Southampton half and from the resulting free kick the ball was swung in by George Francomb. There was Dario Dumic, the Danish U17 International, stooping low at the near post to glance a low header under the substitute goalkeeper Liam Hogan and into the net, for his first goal of the season. On eighty five minutes, a dreadful error by Ryan Tafazoll, let in Nick Davey, just outside the penalty area, but the opportunity was not capitalised upon. With almost nine minutes of stoppage time played, and with Norwich holding a slender lead, the nerves were relented as referee Mr Feerick finally gave a final blast of the whistle and signal the end of a pulsating match. City Line-Up: Steer, Francomb, Lathrope, Adeyemi, Dumic, Stephens, Clarke (66. Davey), Smith, Daley, Kelly, Dawkin (90. Omoregie). Sub not used: Steer, Brindley, Drmola. Top Canary: Korey Smith.

Under-18 Match Action

Match Report by Rob Maynard, photos courtesy of John Landamore.