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| Norwich Promoted to EPL |
Promotion and the
£120million jackpot belongs to Norwich and for their manager Alex Neil a season
which started in front of a crowd of 730 ends with a glorious Wembley
celebration.
Cameron Jerome and
Nathan Redmond struck early, with two goals inside three first-half minutes to
stun Middlesbrough who never fully recovered, and secure a return to the
Barclays Premier League a year after relegation.
It closes a 12-month
crop circle for the Norfolk club and it completes an incredible personal
journey for Neil, their young manager who hails from Bellshill, the same North
Lanarkshire town as Sir Matt Busby.
A year ago to the
day, the 33-year-old Scot was leading Hamilton Academical into Scotland’s
top-flight with victory in the play-offs against Hibernian.
His first game of
this season was in front of a crowd of under a thousand in the Scottish League
Cup first round against Arbroath but by the time he left in January, Hamilton
were second in the Scottish Premiership.
Norwich were seventh
in the Championship, but Neil quickly made them upwardly mobile, finishing
third and negotiating a two-legged victory against East Anglian rivals Ipswich
which ensured the club’s first trip to Wembley for 30 years.
Promotion was
completed against Middlesbrough, who have never won at Wembley.
Aitor Karanka’s team
turned up late after their bus was stuck in traffic and started too slowly in a
breathless opening passage of play, when the woodwork was soon shaking at
either end by thunderous volleys.
There were nine
minutes gone when Steven Whittaker’s cross from the right was missed by Jerome
and poorly cleared by Dean Whitehead.
It dropped on the
edge of the penalty box to Bradley Johnson, who controlled a splendid left-foot
volley which flashed past Dimitios Konstantopoulos and crashed into the bar.
In the blink of an
eye, Norwich centre-half Sebastien Bassong was almost punished for attempting a
clearance with a casual back-heel.
Jelle Vossen took the
bouncing ball on his chest and volleyed it sweetly with his right foot. John
Ruddy was beaten and relieved when the effort hit the bar and bounced clear.
It was as close as
Boro would come, and Norwich were soon ahead, when Jerome hustled and
dispossessed Daniel Ayala off the ball, turned, carried it towards goal and
rolled a simple goal past Konstantopoulos at his near post.
Norwich celebrated
Jerome’s 21th goal of the season and Boro reflected on a sequence of defensive
errors which let him in.
Ayala was not strong
enough under the robust but fair challenge from Jerome and then failed to
pursue him, preferring to appeal for a foul. Ben Gibson was unable to apply
cover on his defensive partner and the goalkeeper was beaten far too easily.
Alex Neil started the
season as manager of Hamilton, hosting Arbroath in the League Cup back in
August. Only 730 hardy souls watched that, a far cry from the 85,000 who packed
into Wembley to watch the Scot lead Norwich to the Premier League, having taken
over just four months ago.
Perhaps they were
still shaken by the self-destruction when Norwich struck again, three minutes
later.
This time, Redmond
was left in space as he moved unobstructed onto a pass from Whittaker,
accelerated into the penalty area and cut a low drive past Konstantopoulos.
It was a classy and
clinical piece of finishing from Redmond, an exciting talent who has not
performed consistently in the Championship but has been influential in the
play-offs.
He scored in the
second leg of the semi-final against Ipswich and this goal game Norwich some
degree of comfort against a team that had beaten them home and away in the
regular season.
Boro were stunned and
their response was slow, but by half-time they were into some sort of rhythm.
Vossen glanced a
header wide but Patrick Bamford, the 19-goal top scorer and the Championship’s
Player of the Year, was subdued. Nearly an hour had passed before he worked
Ruddy, with a shot on the spin.
Bamford is without a
goal for more than a month and has carried an ankle problem through the final
weeks of the season. He was doubtful for Wembley but Karanka needed his threat.
Middlesbrough
improved after the break with Albert Adomah warming to the task on the right
and jinking past full-back Martin Olsson.
Ayala headed over
from a corner and Vossen was booked for diving as he tried to win a penalty but
Karanka’s team were increasing the pressure.
Norwich were briefly
unsettled but they resisted well, and eventually made it over the line quite
comfortably. Premier League, let’s be having you, as Delia might say.
Source:dailymailsport.co.uk
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