Charlton dropped two precious points at Carrow Road and lost top spot in League One as Grant Holt’s injury-time header rescued Norwich in a 2-2 draw.
The big striker leapt to nod home Chris Martin’s deflected cross and complete a stirring fightback, although Charlton were convinced he had fouled goalkeeper Rob Eliot in the process of scoring.

The visitors had dominated the first half for long periods and looked to be heading towards a comfortable victory as they moved 2-0 ahead within 40 minutes.

The visitors took the lead after 18 minutes when poor defending from a corner allowed Deon Burton to send a diving header past goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

Phil Parkinson’s side doubled their advantage five minutes before the interval when winger Lloyd Sam weaved his way down the right flank before delivering a superb cross which was nodded home by youngster Jonjo Shelvey.

It looked as though Norwich were up against it at that stage, but they responded well to the setback and were back in it just before half-time when a quick throw from Holt caught the Charlton defence napping and Wes Hoolahan marked his return to the side by running through and firing home.

Norwich piled on the pressure after the break, with Elliot twice denying youngster Korey Smith, but Norwich got their reward in the end as Holt bundled home his sixth goal of the season.
Norwich striker Grant Holt heaped praise on his team-mate Wes Hoolahan after his goal in the Charlton draw.

The Irish midfielder looked set to move away in August, but new boss Paul Lambert has given him a fresh start.

Holt told BBC Radio Norfolk: “He played well. You put him in there and he’s a nuisance, he’s great on the ball and he’s a different option.

“Fair play to the manager, he put him in at the right time and it’s worked, we all know what Wes has got.”

Hoolahan scored in the 2-2 draw on Saturday from Holt’s quick throw, but the City skipper took no credit.

He said: “I heard the shout off Wes, I thought he was having a go at us, fortunately he got the ball and put it in.

“It was a great bit of awareness by Wes to see it was there and fortunately he put it in.”

“It shows that we’ve got the desire to win games, we never doubt the quality that we’ve got in the squad, we know we can score goals,” he said.

“Today it was a different style, we had to go for it, and we’ve done that and I think we’re unfortunate not to win the game.”

Frustration for City

The goals finally dried up at Carrow Road as Norwich were held to a goalless draw by a hard-working Walsall outfit.

City’s opening two league matches had produced an incredible tally of 15 goals, with a 7-1 home defeat by Colchester followed by a 5-2 victory over Wycombe.

There were no such thrills and spills this time around with the Saddlers turning in a determined defensive performance to return to the Midlands with a well-earned point.

Norwich, with two straight league wins behind them, thought they were heading for a third after 62 minutes when big defender Michael Nelson powered home a header from a Paul McVeigh corner.

But referee Russell Booth had spotted some pushing and awarded a free-kick, much to the disgust of new City boss Paul Lambert.

After a dull first half the home side had much the better of it after the break and had Walsall on the back foot for much of the time.

But although Simon Lappin and Cody McDonald went close they could find no way through with on-loan Manchester City defender Clayton McDonald absolutely outstanding.

At the other end, Walsall had their moments, mainly in the first half, and might have gone in at half time ahead had Darren Byfield not planted a free header wide after 35 minutes after a fine cross from his skipper Dwayne Mattis.

Chris Martin’s love affair with the Johnstone’s Paints Trophy continued last night as his 30th minute strike proved enough to see the Canaries through to the second round of the competition.

City could – and, probably, should – have won by rather more than the one goal against visitors Brentford after turning on the style for the game’s opening half-hour.

In the end, however, Martin’s classy strike on the half-hour mark proved the difference as the 20-year-old began to dream of a return to Wembley following last season’s 3-2 final triumph with Luton Town.

By coincidence, the Hatters likewise beat Brentford in the opening round…

“I really enjoyed it tonight,” said the 20-year-old striker, one of eight changes boss Paul Lambert made to the side that won 2-0 at Hartlepool at the weekend.

“It’s just nice to get a game and I thought we dug in well and came away with a win that we probably deserved in the end.”

The former England Under-19 striker also came away with the sponsors Man of the Match bubbly for his efforts against the Bees.

As well as the sharpest of strikes for the game’s winning goal, Martin saw a big, far post header fall just wide after the interval as he continued to flourish in a wide-left role.

He could, equally, have opened the scoring as early as the eighth minute as he latched onto a horror back-pass from his full-back only to badly lose his bearings as Bees keeper Lewis Price advanced.

“I think that left-hand role favours me in that I like coming in and shooting on my right foot,” said Martin, as he filled a hole vacated by Wes Hoolahan who – along with club skipper Gary Doherty – spent most of yesterday and the weekend sat in a shop window.

“But if you ask most right-footed players, they’ll say that they like coming in off the left-hand side and shooting,” added Martin, well aware that one had gone AWOL early on.

“It was sloppy by me,” he admitted, honestly. “I should have just come onto it and placed it into the far corner. But I was happy to make up for it with the goal that I got.”

It was a sweet strike; pinging in off the base of Price’s left-hand upright from some 22-yards distant.

“I was pleased with it, but its just nice to go through to the next round.”

Interestingly, the City Academy product admitted that there was still plenty more to come; that his lack of match practice was still evident in his game; the sharpness wasn’t quite there yet.

Whether he will get another opportunity at home to Walsall on Saturday is the next question for Lambert to answer. He can either recall Hoolahan to his thinking or restore Adam Drury to left-back and push the man of the moment – last night’s skipper Simon Lappin – up into that wide-left role.

Or else reward Martin for his efforts with a second successive start.

“I’m probably not as sharp as I would like to be, but obviously every 90 minutes helps,” he said. “Hopefully I can keep on playing and obviously that will get me sharper.”

The fact that Lambert had made the eight changes – including first starts for both striker Goran Maric and midfielder Darel Russell – ensured that everyone is getting their chance to shine; to prove their worth to the new man at the helm.

“That’s what a lot of the boys tonight had a chance to do,” he said. “Obviously, there was a few of us that haven’t played and this was a chance for them to show the manager what they can do and basically give him a headache for selection on Saturday.”

Like Lambert, Martin also paid tribute to the Canary supporters who again turned out in their thousands for last night’s game – in their twelve and a half thousands, to be precise.

The next highest attendance for a JPT first round tie was 4,000.

“We’re going to get great support every game here – even in the Johnstone’s Paints Trophy,” he said.

“12,500 is a hell of a lot of fans – the next was 4,000. So credit to the supporters. And it’s nice to give them a win to cheer us on.”

It ought to tee everything up nicely for Saturday’s return to league duty; back-to-back wins and two clean sheets to boot, Lambert’s star is still on the rise; the honeymoon has a few more days to go…

“We were conceding goals,” said Martin. “But its nice to tighten things up with two clean sheets in a row and, hopefully, we can keep working defensively on the training pitch as a unit and keep getting more and more clean sheets.”

Article from Myfooballwriter

Norwich midfielder Darel Russell is set for a first appearance of the season in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy clash with Brentford.

Russell had expressed a desire to play at a higher level but has held clear-the-air talks with manager Paul Lambert and is set to return to the fold.

Goran Maric should also make his debut for the Canaries after being frozen out under Lambert but midfielders Matt Gill and Owain Tudur Jones are both out.

Gill could be out for as long as two months after limping off against Brentford several weeks ago while Tudur Jones has suffered a calf problem.

Lambert is set to make changes with the likes of David Stephens, Luke Daley and Chris Martin coming into contention while goalkeeper Declan Rudd could be handed a debut.

Michael Spillane is available after a one-match ban but goalkeeper Ben Alnwick (facial) is joined on the sidelines by Rhoys Wiggins (knee), Kris Renton (foot) and Damon Lathrope (broken arm).

HARTLEPOOL United paid the price for a collective off-day, as former defender Micky Nelson haunted his former club.

After exiting Victoria Park this summer for Norwich City, Nelson put his new side in front with a spectacular overhead kick in the first-half.

And he was rarely troubled all day as his side eased to victory.

It was only Nelson’s second appearance of the season. After making his debut in the opening day 7-1 humbling he has been forced to look on from the sidelines.

But he won’t have many more comfortable afternoons than this.

And the result means that Pool have now lost four games in front of their own fans this season.

“It was a poor game from start to finish,” said Turner.

“Both sides struggled to pass and play positive football.

“They took advantage of a mistake for Nelson to score and the second came from our own set piece.

“Everything that was good on Tuesday was poor today. Our back four and keeper kept up their standards, but the midfield and forwards didn’t.

“The two best players on the park were Grant Holt and Stephen Hughes. We couldn’t handle them.

“Norwich City took their chances well and will finish in the top six this season.”
Pools’ passing was out of sorts from the off, as they gifted possession to the visitors in the early stages.

It set the tone for a flat afternoon from Turner’s charges.

The opening goal came when Paul McVeigh peeled off to take possession from a short free-kick.

He worked into the penalty area and fed Jamie Cureton.

Keeper Scott Flinders saved his shot, and the home fans must have thought the chance was gone when the ball fell to Nelson with his back to goal.

But he took off to spectacularly volley into the net, in front of the Town End fans who used to laud him.

Pools only chance came when goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who Norwich signed on loan from Newcastle on Friday, pushed out an Antony Sweeney shot.

The ball fell into the path of James Brown, but the substitute turned and could only fire into the crowd.

That aside, it was a quiet day for Forster, who played at Victoria Park only two weeks ago for Bristol Rovers.

But Pool then went two down. From a Ritchie Jones corner, defender Jens Berthel Askou powerfully headed away to set up a classic counter attack.

Three passes later and the outstanding Stephen Hughes was on hand to sweep the ball into the net from 16 yards.

“We have had a hard month, a hard start to the season, but we move on from it,” said Turner.

“Everything that went wrong in terms of selections and decisions went wrong today.

“Our bench is looking a lot stronger and we prepare for Oldham on Friday straight away.

“We take the plaudits from how we played against Burnley last week and we take the downside from this performance as well.

“Now it’s about how we react on the training ground.

“We have honest lads here who are disappointed and they will pick up.”

Doncaster and chairman Roger Munby stood down from their posts at Carrow Road last week in the wake of the club’s relegation to League One.

In urging fans to get behind the board and manager Bryan Gunn, Doncaster made a farewell plea.

He said: “Please do not assume that grass is greener on the other side, that there are queues of wealthy non-supporters desperate to ‘invest’ in the club. Such people simply do not exist. Or, if they do, they always, always want something valuable in return.

“There really is no such thing as a free lunch. It may well be possible for an owner to make a profit out of a football club - that, ultimately is what ‘investment’ means. But that profit would, in all likelihood, come at a huge cost to the club itself.

“There are many examples of where this has happened, despite the best efforts of the football authorities. Norwich City’s most likely route to a secure financial future is, quite simply, wealthy supporters and local businesses using their resources to back the club that they love.

“This, in combination with continuing efforts to drive further money out of off-field activities, is the way forward. It may be unglamorous. It may sound hackneyed. But I believe it to be fundamentally true.”

Doncaster paid tribute to City’s staff, supporters, volunteers and fund-raisers - and had special thanks for the board.

He said: “I would like to thank Delia, Michael and Michael Foulger for all that they did to support me personally and for all of their ongoing financial support of Norwich City.

“There seems to be a perception in some quarters that those directors earn money from the club, or take cash out in some other way, or are involved for some other personal gain. The truth could not be more different. Andrew and Sharon Turner, Delia, Michael and the Foulger family - all have simply given over their hard-earned cash to try to buy on-field success for the club they love.”

Leaving, he said, had been a difficult decision.

He said: “Stepping down from any company is a difficult thing to do. When that company happens to be an iconic football club, to which you have given nearly 13 years of your life, the decision to stand down is one that can only be taken after a great deal of thought and soul searching.

“Roger Munby and I want only for the best for Norwich City and, in circumstances where change is so much in demand, we felt that stepping down was simply necessary for the club to be able to move forward in harmony.

“Ordinarily, to lose four senior people in such a short space of time would be hugely destabilising for any company. But the recent departures of Andrew Cullen, Shaun O’Hara, Roger Munby and myself have created opportunities for the club’s talented senior managers to step up and fill the void and for new people with fresh ideas to come in. “

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