Guest report - Fulham 1 - 0 Norwich, Saturday 18 October 2014

For some reason Geordie Al passed on the opportunity to see the mighty Canaries trip to west London with me. 

A glimpse of the Cottage

It seemed like a popular choice of away trip, we spotted many Canary colours as we walked from Putney train station over the bridge. It was the 4th pub we tried that had enough space for us to find somewhere to stand - the other three had a good smattering of yellow shirts.  

The walk to the ground through a park was a pleasant change from some walks to other grounds. Fulham had pyro dogs sniffing around the turnstiles, but didn't bother to search my bag which meant I held on to my bottle of water, good job too as the concourse was packed at half time. 

Where's the end of the queue?

I didn't hold out much hope for a win after reading the stats in the programme, with Norwich not having beaten Fulham since the 80s but with an average of 2 goals to Fulham and 1 to Norwich at least there would be action. 

Neither team looked in top form from the outset. I think there were more throw ins from misplaced passes than I've seen in any match before (and I've seen a lot of Barnsley matches). Even when they got a throw in Norwich managed two foul throws. I hope Adams has called them all into training today to do throw in practice. 

Norwich had a good first 10 minutes, but then Fulham started playing a bit and they somehow managed to manoeuvre into the penalty box and have a shot on goal, which went in. 

The Canaries were sent out early from half time and were much brighter in the second half, winning a slightly dodgy penalty just a few minutes into the half. It hit the crossbar. 

Penalty miss

The misplaced pass issue continued and it became increasingly obvious Bradley Johnson was having a nightmare. It seemed everyone could see it apart from the manager because Johnson stayed on the pitch to the very end. Hooperman was sent on towards the end of the half but it didn't feel like he did much except get in Cameron Jerome's way for a chance. 

There was a shot that hit the bar at one point but even though Norwich were pressurising it just didn't feel like they would score a goal. Why? Fulham's centre back number 33, Burn, just seemed to be on the end of everything. 

Afterwards me and the 3 OAPs I had in tow headed back to the pub to get a sit down. Why do away fans think it is big and clever to stand up for the whole match? I've paid for a SEAT.
 

We rounded off the day trip with some food at my local Italian. My pizza was probably the best bit of the whole day.