City Beat Watford to Keep Hopes Alive

Before this pivotal game there was no room for error. It was a simple case of win or prepare for League One football. Which incidentally is a level Norwich haven't played at for 50 years. Fortunately, Norwich got the result they needed. There is still plenty of hard work in the final three games, but this is a start.

Bryan Gunn reverted to a more orthodox 4-4-2 system, but the big surprise was that Lee Croft was left on the bench. However, Norwich had plenty of attacking options with Lee, Mooney, Carney and Gow all starting the game.

Sure enough, it was the Canaries, who started the game the brighter. It was no real surprise when Norwich went into 15^th minute lead. It was good pressure from the impressive Otsemobor, leading to a spectacular own goal. It was just the slice of luck, Norwich needed.

Unfortunately, the Canaries didn't enjoy any fortune with referee decisions. Two stonewall penalties were turned down. One a blatant handball and the second was a clear tug on Mooney, which prevented the Irishman from scoring. At half-time Norwich lead 1-0.

Early in the second half, Watford had their little period. Fortunately, Norwich came out of it with their lead intact. It wasn't long before Norwich was back on top and creating chances for fun. However, it started to look like things weren't going Norwich's way, because the second goal just wouldn't go in.

Alan Lee saw one goal harshly disallowed, and then another effort came back off the post Sammy Clingan also went close. The longer this went on the bigger the fear that Watford may just nick one. Therefore, everyone connected with Norwich City was hugely relieved when Gary Doherty finished Watford off in the 85th minute.

Where does this leave Norwich City?

It's clear Norwich simply had to win against Watford. What's required over the following three games is less clear. Obviously, the best situation would be three wins, which would certainly keep Norwich up.

Knowing Norwich, as we do survival will be a bit more complicated than that. There are three teams in trouble, and two of them are likely to survive. For now, I would prefer to look at it one game at a time.

Of course, next up for Norwich is the East Anglian Derby. A game Norwich will always want to win and that dream looks possible. Ipswich has won just once since the New Year. If Norwich can win that game, they will be within touching distance of championship survival.