THE CANARIES slipped to the cruellest of defeats at Ashton Gate after dominating the game against promotion-chasing Bristol City.

A wonderful strike from Darren Huckerby in the 70th minute cancelled out Dele Adebola's first-half strike and looked to have been enough to earn them the point which was the very least their efforts deserved.

But in the dying seconds of second-half injury time the Norwich defence failed to clear a deep free-kick to the edge of their box and substitute Brooker pounced to grab three priceless points for his side.

Before the game City boss Glenn Roeder made two changes to the squad which powered past strugglers Colchester United 5-1 at Carrow Road last Saturday.

Alex Pearce replaced the injured Gary Doherty in the heart of the Norwich defence, with sub goalkeeper Matthew Gilks returning to the bench. Lee Croft, Maceo Rigters, Kieran Gibbs and Ched Evans completed a very attacking substitute line-up.

Fireworks greeted the arrival of the teams with Bristol desperate to end a run of five games without a win which has left the automatic promotion contenders peering anxiously over their shoulders at the play-off pack behind them.

The home side had the first chance as McAllister hit a long-range shot straight into the midriff of Marshall in the fourth minute but Norwich responded with a good chance for Dublin which the veteran just underhit, allowing Brazilian 'keeper Basso to save comfortably.

With ten minutes gone a good advantage from referee Andy D'Urso allowed Fotheringham to get a cross in which Pattison headed wide from a good position. In the next attack Otsemobor swept in another good cross which Russell met with a diving header - but unfortunately it lacked the power to trouble Basso.

In the 17th minute Norwich 'keeper Marshall appeared to be caught slightly by surprise by a speculative effort from Orr which he scrambled away in unconvincing fashion.

All in all despite the lack of goals so far the first 20 minutes featured some enterprising play from two sides committed to bringing the ball down and trying to play attractive football. Both sets of full-backs were getting forward, with Otsemobor and Bertrand playing their full part in a number of promising moves from the Canaries.

With 24 minutes gone a foul on Fotheringham just outside the left-hand edge of the Bristol box gave the Norwich skipper the chance to try his luck with a free-kick, but his well-struck shot was too close to Basso and he made an easy save.

A couple of minutes later the visitors were a whisker away from taking the lead. Fotheringham whipped in an excellent cross and veteran Dublin met it with a powerful header which thumped against the bar with Basso beaten.

The Canaries were stepping up a gear - and when Cureton robbed Robins skipper Carey and fed Huckerby in the next attack Basso had to be at his best to pull off a superb save to keep out a stinging shot from the Norwich wing wizard.

Ryan Bertrand picked up the game's first booking for a foul on the half-hour and from the resulting free-kick Pearce was forced to concede a corner under pressure from Adebola. Fortunately from a green and yellow perspective the flag-kick from McIndoe failed to yield a chance for the home side.

Norwich responded with a corner of their own - their first of the game - won by Pattison at the other end. The home defence struggled to clear a mis-hit kick from Huckerby and Otsemobor had a half-chance with a shot from outside the box which flew well over the bar.

The visitors had enjoyed the better of exchanges to date but were given sudden warning of Bristol's threat on 39 minutes when McCombe cut inside Fotheringham before unleashing a fierce curling drive which bounced off the inside of the post before eventually being scrambled away.

It was a warning they failed to heed and within a minute the home side had punished them with the opening goal of the game. Marshall parried a header from McIndoe but no Norwich defender reacted quickly enough to get to the rebound - and big striker Dele Adebola had the easiest of chances to fire the Robins into the lead with the suspicion that he may have been offside gaining no sympathy from the officials.

It was rough justice on the Canaries after they had edged play to date - but that mattered not a jot to the Bristol City fans celebrating a crucial goal for their club.

Half-time: Bristol City 1, Norwich City 0

Both sides made changes to their midfields at half-time, with Carle replacing Johnson for the home side and Lee Croft on for the possibly injured Darel Russell for Norwich. The change saw Huckerby revert to his customary role wide on the left with Croft on the right flank.

With barely a minute of the second half gone Pattison nearly grabbed a stunning equaliser with a long-range effort which flew a couple of feet wide of the angle of post and bar.

In the 51st minute livewire Croft fed Cureton from the right and the former Bristol Rovers striker nearly made himself even less popular with the home fans with a good shot which was narrowly off target.

A minute later a blistering 75-yard run from Otsemobor left Bristol defenders trailing in his wake - but unfortunately he was too quick for his team-mates as well and his useful low ball across the six-yard box was too far in front of the nearest Norwich attacker.

A neat interchange between Huckerby and Dublin in the 56th minute allowed the veteran striker to try his luck with a snapshot from the edge of the area which was only inches over the crossbar. It was Dublin's last contribution as he was replaced by Roeder, on-loan forward Maceo Rigters coming on as fans of both sides applauded Dublin off the pitch.

The game's second yellow card arrived on 62 minutes, Robins skipper Carey the offender after a foul on Jamie Cureton.

As in the first half it was Norwich who were controlling the majority of possession and showing the neater approach play - but turning their superiority into goals remained the challenge.

Further illustration of this frustrating story of the match so far came in the 68th minute when excellent work from Lee Croft saw the ball fed to Cureton just a few yards out - but the ball somehow squirted wide, with the striker's claims that he was illegally pulled back in the process cutting no ice with Andy D'Urso.

But at last with 70 minutes gone the Canaries gained the reward they fully deserved thanks to a wonderful strike from Darren Huckerby. The back-pedalling Bristol defence had been riding their luck for some time but their luck ran out as the Norwich winger robbed Orr, cut in to the left-hand corner of the box and curled home a strike of classic Huckerby vintage to send the 1,293 travelling fans into ecstasy.

Four minutes later Maceo Rigters set up Lee Croft for a shot which McAllister dived in to block superbly. Unfortunately in the next attack Rigters pulled up with pain etched on his face with a leg injury and was swiftly replaced by another loan striker in the shape of Ched Evans.

Bristol boss Gary Johnson made his last change of the afternoon in the 78th minute as Northern Ireland international Sproule came on for Noble to try and eke out a win for a very nervous-looking home side.

Sproule tried his best and in the 86th minute drilled a dangerous ball across the Norwich goal which fortunately for the visitors was just too far in front of his fellow sub Brooker as he raced towards the visitors' goal.

As Bristol upped their game in the dying minutes of the game Jason Shackell made a fantastic saving tackle to deny Murray as he threatened to break clear and have a clear shot on goal.

Deep in injury time a Norwich counter-attack saw Fotheringham release Ched Evans and he did well with a shot which Basso saved well. In a carbon copy attack less than a minute later Evans again tested Basso - and again the Brazilian pulled off a great save.

Then with Norwich probably disappointed to be only coming away from Ashton Gate with a point they were denied even that reward for their efforts by a desperately cruel winner for Bristol City at the death.

A free-kick was punted forward to the edge of the packed Norwich box by McAllister and nodded on by McCombe - and there was substitute Steve Brooker, in the right place to head home a precious winner for his team.

Final score: Bristol City 2, Norwich City 1

BRISTOL CITY: Basso, Orr, Carey (C), McCombe, McAllister, Murray, Johnson (Carle 45), Skuse, McIndoe, Noble (Sproule 78), Adebola (Brooker 70). Subs not used:  Fontaine, Weale.  

NORWICH CITY: Marshall, Otsemobor, Shackell, Pearce, Bertrand, Huckerby, Fotheringham (C), Russell (Croft 45), Pattison, Cureton, Dublin (Rigters 59) ((Evans 75)). Subs not used: Gilks, Gibbs.