Rob Butcher of Northern Canaries fame summed up the night perfectly: "When Nicky Howell came over to the Norwich fans waving his City shirt high above his head after he had fired Sammy Morgan's young charges into the lead at Old Trafford and I looked up to the scoreboard as it flashed Manchester United 0 Norwich City 1 and I thought "this ranks as a top 10 moment following City"". Rob and the rest of the Northern Canaries were amongst a strong contingent of several hundred City fans who sang their hearts out all night and despite the disappointment of defeat, they still stayed on at the end of the game [memories of The San Siro] to give the lads a rousing reception. Naturally Sammy Morgan was disappointed about the result, but he admitted after the game that the lads gave everything they had and he could not have asked more than that. On another day if Ryan Jarvis had been available, or the own goal hadn't gone in, or if the referee hadn't been the only one in the stadium who thought that it was a penalty then maybe, just maybe ...... As far as the game was concerned City weathered the early storm that United threw at them and went onto silence the home crowd on 15 minutes when they opened the scoring. Lee Blackburn and City's Man of The Match Andrew Fisk set Nicky Howell racing clear for the City winger to round the keeper and calmly slot the ball home.

Nicky Howell, who put Norwich ahead at Old Trafford

Although the home side had most of the possession, it seemed as we approached the break that The Canaries would go in a goal to the good. However the game was about to swing in United's favour when under no pressure Matthew Halliday, who has looked so solid of late, somehow headed a harmless looking cross past Joe Lewis. United had their tails up as the second half got underway and took the lead on 50 minutes, Mark Howard heading home a free kick. The score remained at 2-1 until the final 10 minutes when United extended their lead again with another header from a free kick, this time Paul McShane doing the damage. Five minutes later came the penalty decision as Danny Crow was penalised for what was clear to most people as a foul on him. Nevertheless Ramon Calliste scored from the spot. City were not prepared to roll over and they finished on a high when Adam Smith, who had an outstanding second half when he was pushed up into his normal midfield role, fired in a 20 yard shot. There was no disgrace in this defeat, indeed not only will it live long in the memories of Sammy's Young Guns but it will also be long remembered by those City fans who were there. City Line-Up: Lewis, Willis, Smith, Osborne, Halliday, Fisk, Howell [Muddel 90], Blackburn, Howlett [Cave-Brown 57], Crow, Eagle [Watts 57] Subs Not Used: Herbert, Djhansouzi. Top Canary: Andrew Fisk

Report courtesy of John Landamore