Everton:
Martyn,
Hibbert
,
Unsworth, Stubbs, Naysmith,
McFadden, Gravesen, Carsley, Kilbane, Ferguson, Rooney.
Subs
: Simonsen, Yobo
(for Tommy 46 mins), Jeffers (for McFadden 64 mins), Radzinski &
Campbell.(for Ferguson 85m)
Referee
:
Matt (his Mrs walks all over him) Messias
'
I tord I thaw a puddy cat', was all I heard before the game, Lavo
reckoned we needed to frighten the Canaries, by kick-off I was 'thick'
of hearing it!
Moyesy had said in the morning papers how he had reminded the team
of last season's nightmare at Shrewsbury and how they needed to exorcise
the memory, how good is the Manager of The People's Club? He say's
exactly what we feel, no bullshit, straight to the jugular and gets
it right on the button every time - don't you just love him? There
was no doubt that this was a potential banana skin, Norwich flying
high at the top of Division One, just signed Darren Huckerby &
were the pundits favourite (along with Yeovil) for a Cup upset.
So here we were, up for the Cup, there is nothing like that 3rd round
feeling, the 'what if's' were flying all around the ale'ouse, the
dreams of Cardiff and whether or not it would be for one night or
two - yet another reason for an argument! Fuck me, what does it matter,
one night or two? Just get another bevvy down yer neck and get the
adrenalin pumping. And that's another fact, you seem to quaff more
because it's the Cup, you need that bit of Dutch courage so it's a
couple of large snifters with the last couple of Stella's, chest puffed
out, jacket zipped up, scarf on, check for tickets and off we go.
We knew that The Invisible Man was out with a chipped bone in his
foot, or was it pneumonia after wearing gloves and a short sleeved
shirt against Brum? We also knew that with the exception of Watto,
Pisto & Wrighty we had a fully fit squad. The back four would
pick itself but who would partner Tommy and Zinadine Kilbane in the
middle & who would be upfront? It was a surprise to see Wayne
given the nod over The Rad to partner Big Dunc and Moyesy clearly
wanted to win this one at the first go as Jamie Mc was back and Harry
Hill replaced Grace Jones.
This was to be our best first 45 mins of the season so far, the only
problem was that the scoreline did not truly reflect just how dominant
we were. We had chances aplenty with Big Dunc in particular getting
great service, surely he would nod one in before the end. Zinadine,
Tommy & The Duke were on fire as we frightened the shit out of
The Canaries, Tommy was everywhere and showing us just how good he
really can be - it's just frustrating that he doesn't do it every
week, having said that he is much more consistent of late. Chances
fell after each attack and Norwich were leading a charmed life, the
inevitable happened on 15 mins from a Tommy free-kick, with all eyes
on Big Dunc, Zinedine Kilbane stole in at the back to nod us in front
- happy days!
It didn't last long & could have got even worse! Norwich equalised
from a free-kick (we NEVER score from free-kicks) to send the 6,000
farmers in the Bullens wild, that was on 27 mins. Shortly after, from
a move involving the dangerous Huckerby, they had the ball in our
net again but it was ruled offside. How could this be? We were absolutely
slaughtering them it was 1-1 and they'd just had one disallowed!
Normal service was resumed from a Big Dunc penalty courtesy of a generous
ref, from a corner Wayne played in Stubbsy who appeared to be pulled
back, the big fella accepted the responsibility & smashed it in.
There was still time for Big Dunc and Wayne Rooney both to go close
so the lads went off to a standing ovation but with us wondering why
it wasn't more and what the second half would bring because we are
Toffeemen and we know that anything can happen!
HALF-TIME: Everton 2, Norwich 1.
Tommy didn't come out for the second half and amazingly Stubbsey was
pushed into midfield! Norwich came out all guns blazing, forcing 3
corners in quick succession, they could have and should have leveled
after a mix up between Unsey & Martyn but somehow Huckerby spurned
the chance.
Tony Hibbert gave away a free kick on the edge of the box & after
a delay in the ref fussily setting up the wall Nige pulled off a great
save.
It just wasn't working, it was all Norwich and we needed to sort this
out quickly before it was too late, was this the same team (bar Tommy)
that went off at half-time?
Totally against the run of play we went further ahead from another
penalty which again was won by Stubbsey. From a corner he was pulled
back by Roberts and the ref pointed to the spot, Big Dunc made no
mistake and eased the nerves of all the blueboys.
The ref was having a field day with his notebook, he was also making
some very strange decisions, trust us to get the Messias at Christmastime!
We weren't complaining too much as he missed Joey Yobo handling in
the box as the farmers went mental in the Bullens!!
Norwich brought all their subs on with 10 mins to go in a last ditch
attempt to salvage something, the game pretty much fizzled out after
the third goal, Norwich continued to give it a go but it was Everton
who now looked the more threatening. Franny Jeffers on for Macca was
trying his heart out, he's desperate to score that first goal but
it wouldn't come. In the end we ran out easy winners which was a relief
given the start of the second half, some sound performances, all the
defenders, Big Nige, young Wayne and Killa but the Blue Kipper Star
Man goes to Big Dunc who was our Sylvester - only he did bury the
Canaries. Cardiff here we come, let's hope we get Yeovil in the next
round - Come on you Blues!!!
