STAND-IN skipper Jamie Cureton made it an afternoon to remember for him, with his first half volley enough to claim all three points against Barnsley at Carrow Road.
Cureton, handed the captain's armband in the absence of usual skipper Mark Fotheringham, struck on 26 minutes to give City a much-needed win.
But after that the victory owed much to Norwich's excellent defence, with debutante Alex Pearce deservedly picking up the man of the match champagne after putting in a classy display alongside Gary Doherty.
The Canaries saw chances to extend their lead go begging, with Lee Croft and Ched Evans also going close.
And Barnsley too had their moments, with Marshall producing an excellent one-handed save from De Silva as the Tykes pressed for an equaliser.
But City held on to record a hard-fought win, pushing them up into the top half of the Championship table to boot.
True to his word, City boss Glenn Roeder restored Darren Huckerby to the Canaries line-up for the visit of FA Cup giant-killers Barnsley.
Huckerby looked set to take-up his trademark position on the left of midfield, with Lee Croft operating on the opposite flank. With first choice central midfielders Mark Fotheringham and Darel Russell both suspended, Matthew Pattison and on-loan Arsenal youngster Kieran Gibbs were handed the responsibility in the engine room.
On-loan Reading youngster Alex Pearce was handed his Canaries' debut in defence, with Jason Shackell the casualty following the 4-0 loss at Leicester last weekend.
Shackell dropped to the bench and was joined by recent signing Juan Velasco and James Henry, with Robert Eagle also brought in from the cold.
The visitors kept faith with young 'keeper Luke Steele in goal after his heroics at Anfield last weekend, with former Canaries' 'keeper Tony Warner not even earning a place on the bench as boss Simon Davey opted for five outfield substitutes.
Brian Howard, who scored the winning goal in the 2-1 win at Liverpool, led the attack.
There was a huge round of applause when Huckerby's name was announced over the public address system, with the home fans clearly approving of the winger's first start since the cup defeat at Bury last month.
And Huckerby was into his stride as early as the third minute, pole-axed by Kozluk as he looked to break free down the left after being found by Marshall's long throw out.
Two minutes later and the winger nutmegged De Silva a few yards outside the penalty box only to be blocked off by the Barnsley defender. And while referee Grant Hegley waved play-on, it was yet another sign that Huckerby was relishing being back in the thick of things again.
Pearce in particular was showing few signs of nerves on his debut, winning some big headers inside the opening 10 minutes of the match and also demonstrating a cool head with his distribution.
Indeed, it was his pass out to Bertrand which began a move that ended with the on-loan Chelsea man finding Evans with a delightful cross to the far post, only for the Welshman to head wide under pressure.
But on 17 minutes it took a goal-line clearance from Otsemobor to prevent the visitors from taking the lead.
A long punt from the back deceived the City back-line, with Marshall slow to come off his line. Nardiello was quickest to react, lobbing the ball past the City stopper and towards the unguarded net. But Otsemobor had read the danger, with his pace helping him reach the ball before it could cross the line and hook it to safety.
It was proving to be a ropey couple of minutes for the Canaries, with Marshall soon forced into his first save of the game, blocking a Howard shot from close range after Pattison's tackle had inadvertently put the visiting captain in the clear.
City's best chance of the game so far came on 22 minutes. Evans was found in space in the area, but his turn and shot was weak, with the ball apparently going out for a goal-kick.
But defender Kozluk got his angles all wrong and stuck out a leg, merely diverting the ball into the path of Croft just 10 yards out. Unfortunately the winger's low effort was too close to Kozluk, allowing him to atone for his mistake.
But on 26 minutes City were presented with another chance - and this time they took it.
Croft battled well to win possession back wide on the right, and he fired in a low cross which Dennis Souza could only turn into the path of Cureton, lurking just inside the area.
And the striker - who was handed the captain's armband for the afternoon - lashed in a first time right-foot volley which swerved past Steele and into bottom left corner of the net.
It was an excellent finish, belying the fact that Cureton had not hit the net since the 1-1 draw with Wolves on December 29.
The goal seemed to settle Norwich somewhat, with Pattison and Gibbs battling away well in the makeshift midfield, the latter firing an ambitious effort over the bar from 30 yards on 38 minutes.
In the build-up to that move Barnsley man Anderson De Silva seemed to twist his knee, and after some brief treatment he left the field on a stretcher, with Marciano Van Homoet brought on to replace him.
With the game entering injury time Kozluk ended an indifferent half with a booking after blatantly blocking Evans as he looked to go past him on the right and into the box.
Some of the crowd were calling for a red card, but with other Barnsley bodies back defending, that was never going to be the case.
Evans took the resulting free kick, but he struck the wall, with the ball bouncing up and into the hands of Steele.
It had been a solid half by the Canaries, with the home side deservedly going into the break a goal to the good.
Half time: Norwich City 1-0 Barnsley
There were no changes for either side as they reappeared for the second half, with City looking to get back to winning ways at Carrow Road and well on their way thanks to Cureton's excellent opener.
And the Canaries began the half well, with Pearce seeing a header from six-yards deflected over for a corner after meeting Huckerby's free kick from the left.
There had been few chances in the second spell, but as the game approached the hour mark City twice came close to extending their advantage. First Evans flashed a shot into the side netting after a neat move down the right, with the same player flashing a shot wide after a great run and cross by Otsemobor, who was beginning to see more of the ball in the attacking third.
With City on top, Davey opted for a double change, replacing Nardiello and Leon with Kayode Odejayi and Jon Macken. And within a minute it needed a great stop by Marshall to keep City ahead.
There was chaos in the Norwich box as City failed to deal with the danger, and when Souza reacted quickest, Marshall got down low to block one-handed.
Huckerby had been having a quiet game since the opening 10 minutes of the match, but on 70 minutes he produced a burst of pace which took him past two Barnsley challenges before playing a squad ball to Croft 20-yards out. He had little time to think with defenders closing him down, but he still got his shot away, which flew just over the angle.
With 10 minutes of the game left, City's advantage remained a precarious one with just the one goal in it.
The hard-working Evans' game soon came to an end, with James Henry replacing him as Roeder tried to give a little more presence to a midfield that was beginning to find itself out-muscled by the visitors somewhat.
Norwich, while not quite hanging on by their fingernails, were really struggling to see the game out, with Martin Devaney seeing a shot deflected just wide of Marshall's near post after Otsemobor was guilty of going to ground too soon.
And as the board showed three minutes of stoppage time, City wasted a chance to make the points safe.
Huckerby broke clear down the left before pulling the ball back to Croft on the edge of the area. His curling effort seemed destined to the far corner, but Steele got across well to palm the ball away.
Velasco was given his debut in stoppage time at the expense of Pattison, with Norwich desperate to secure another important three points.
Full time: Norwich City 1-0 Barnsley
GOLDEN GOAL TIME: 25:45
Norwich City: Marshall, Otsemobor, Doherty, Pearce, Bertrand, Croft, Gibbs, Pattison (Velasco 90), Huckerby, Evans (Henry 81), Cureton (c). Subs not used: Gilks, Shackell, Eagle.
Barnsley: Steele, Hassell, Kozluk, Howard (c), Nardiello (Odejayi 59), Ferenczi, De Silva (Van Homoet 41), Foster, Souza, Devaney, Leon (Macken 59). Subs not used: Nyatanga, Campbell-Ryce.
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