Waddock was forced into more changes than he would have liked to have made after the draw with Derby on Saturday. Jones was in goal behind Bignot, Shittu, Santos and Milanese. Ainsworth, Lomas, Bailey and Cook were in midfield behind Furlong and Nygaard. There was a first place on the bench for teenage centre back Jon Munday.

The game got off to a quiet start with both sides shifting the ball in midfield but not really creating anything clear cut. The sides exchanged half chances in the opening quarter of an hour. The hilariously named Mickey Spillane had a shot easily held by Jones before Nygaard nodded a cross from Ainsworth wide of the target.

The Carrow Road crowd were not exactly doing much to rouse their players either and they were deathly quiet for long periods. The R’s fans on the other hand were enjoying themselves and there was an end of term atmosphere amongst them.

Both sides had chances to hit the target from direct free kicks but both efforts were poor. Firstly Rob Earnshaw sent a weak effort wide of the post before Cook saw an effort deflected off of the Norwich wall and out for a corner. Earnshaw was trying to use his pace to unsettle Santos and Shittu but was having some problems with the lino’s flag. Santos was in his laid back unflappable mode and was cruising about mopping up any danger with the minimum of fuss.

Norwich had another chance to test Jones from a freekick but Huckerby blazed a wild shot into the Norwich fans behind the goal. Just before the break Rangers hit them with a sucker punch and took the lead. Rangers worked the ball along the edge of the area with Furlong and Lomas involved before the latter slipped the ball wide into Ainsworth’s path. He took aim and belted a low effort past Scottish keeper Paul Gallacher and into the net.

The half time whistle went moments later and the Norwich players left the field to a chorus of boos. You could sense that the tension wasn’t very far from the surface and now it exploded. “We want Worthy out” could be heard as the teams headed down the tunnel. Rangers’ midfield pair of Bailey and Lomas had been well in control with the former carrying on where he left off against Derby at the weekend. He is going a long way to cementing a permanent starting role for next season.

Norwich missed a brilliant chance minutes after the start of the second half when Earnshaw was set free by a perfect through ball. He went one on one with Welsh team mate Jones but missed the target by a mile as he tried to flick it past him.

Rangers thought they had scored soon after when a Cook corner was met with a firm header at the far post by Nygaard. Gallacher flew across his goal and as he saved the ball seemed to bounce down very close to the line. Furlong then flew in and the ball looked as though it was in before it was hacked away. From my vantage point it looked as though both efforts had gone in but there was no signal from either the ref or the lino.

Jones saved well from Huckerby at the other end before Rangers rattled the woodwork thanks to some seriously shaky goalkeeping. A corner from Cook flew in at Gallacher and the keeper tried to punch it clear. It smashed off the head of Doherty and bounced off of the bar and out for another corner, or not as it turned out. Referee Curson continued his general home bias on the day by somehow awarding a goal kick. 

Within a minute Rangers deservedly doubled their lead. Cook picked up the ball just inside the Norwich half and set off toward goal. He jinked past Hughes and then mugged Doherty before sending the ball past Gallacher from the edge of the box. The home fans were steaming now and the anti Worthington protests grew ever louder.

Cook forced a simple save from Gallacher with another freekick before Jones had to produce an excellent save from an awful back header from Ainsworth. A corner into the box fell to the winger and instead of clearing it he tried to be clever and nod it back to Jones. The Welsh international was forced to retreat at a rate of knots and tip the ball over the top. The clattered into the post as he did so and I have to wonder what effect this had on him as seconds later he gifted Norwich a lifeline.

Another ball into the box headed in Jones’ direction and he tried to punch it clear but got hardly anything on it. The ball bounced high in front of Huckerby and he sent a looping header over Jones into the net. It was game on now and the deathly quiet Carrow Road faithful stirred themselves into life.

The combative Bailey got in the middle of a flair up when Huckerby hurled himself to the deck under his challenge at the teenage battler told him what he thought of him. Etuhu piled in but Bailey wasn’t for backing down and both he and Etuhu were cautioned for their part. It was typical of the battling display Bailey turned in and the fact that he can back it up with a decent pass bodes well for the future.

Rangers kept coming forward to try and get the third and had two great chances to do so. Milanese steamed into the area only to see his shot deflected behind for a corner. From the resulting kick Shittu planted a firm downward header on target only for Gallacher to make a staggering save to turn it over the bar. All very Gordon Banks!

Norwich gathered themselves quickly and hit Rangers on the break to draw level. The ball was delivered from the Norwich right and found its way to Earnshaw six yards out and he made no mistake to ram it into the net. It had been coming as Rangers had seemed to run out of steam with about twenty minutes left and the bench was hardly full of options for Waddock to use. It wasn’t the time for chucking a youngster in and Bircham is hardly the calming influence the situation required.

Rangers still came forward though to try and win it and only another unbelievable save from Gallacher prevented them from doing so. The ball was worked wide for Ainsworth and for once he looked up and measured a cross into the box for Furlong to meet on the volley. He was on the stretch so he couldn’t generate power but the direction was perfect. It looked to be flying into the corner before Gallacher appeared again to deny him with a fantastic save low to his right.

Norwich went up the other end and won a corner in the final minute. It was worked short between Huckerby and McVeigh and the ball to the back stick was met by the head of Doherty. It was just our luck that this was the only thing the useless lump managed to get right all afternoon as his knock down found Earnshaw and he bundled it in from close range.

It was a kick in the teeth for Rangers who had created more than enough chances to sew this one up long before the late double salvo from Norwich. It has been the story of our season that time and again we have failed to punish teams when we have been on top. We must learn to be ruthless and we must find a striker that will get in where it hurts and take the chances when presented. The problem we have is that Earnie cost Norwich £3m and that is pie in the sky for our board.

A dodgy header and a dodgy punch seemed to set Rangers into a wash and rinse and they never managed to recover. To their credit they kept coming forward but I am sure that if we had had the personnel then Waddock would have tried to shut up shop. Furs and Nygaard were beat and couldn’t get close enough to shut off the easy ball into midfield. This meant that Lomas and Bailey were on double time in there and it had to give at some point.

I was furious when I left the ground but I am more philosophical about it now. It was one of those crazy games that you hope you are never involved in. The players will be as gutted as the fans but for seventy minutes we showed that we could outplay one of the sides that are likely to be in the play off hunt next season. With some tweaks to the squad I think we will definitely be in a position to bloody a few noses next year.

simon@qprnet.com