ACADEMY Manager Ricky Martin was left frustrated by his side's lack of ruthlessness in front of goal as they suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Premier League side Aston Villa on Saturday.
After getting off to a good start at the Bodymoor Heath training ground, an early change by Villa made the difference and goals by Durrell Berry (2), Kofi Poyser, Ryan Simmonds and Jason Lampkin resulted in David Nwaogu's late penalty for City being nothing more than a consolation for the young Canaries.
A bright start by the visitors had seen them settle into some good passing moves, which created chances for Josh Dawkin, Danny Kelly and Patrick Drmola. But none were taken and instead of finding themselves ahead at half-time, the hosts grabbed a hold of the game against the run of play, with Berry scoring twice in five minutes to give Villa a two-goal advantage at the break.
With Martin looking for a reaction from his side early in the second half, City again looked bright but were lacking a cutting edge in front of goal - two consecutive corners providing chances which weren't converted. Unfortunately for Norwich the home side weren't having the same problem and on the hour-mark they added to their lead.
City looked to freshen things up, Drmola being replaced by Nwaogu. But it was Villa who were full of confidence and they scored again after 67 minutes to make it 4-0.
The 82nd minute saw the Canaries finally get on to the scoresheet - a clumsy tackle on Johnbull Osemwegie resulted in the referee pointing to the sport and substitute Nwaogu slotted home.
A late chance for Nwaogu again in the final minute summed up City's day - an excellent opportunity one-on-one with the Villa 'keeper saw his effort saved rather than nestling in the back of the net.
And Villa made sure of their unbeaten start to the season, finishing on a high with a fifth goal with just seconds of the match to go.
Final score: Aston Villa 5 Norwich City 1
City: Hewitt, Brindley, Gordon, Osemwegie, Dumic, Francomb, Clarke (A. Stephens 75), Ball, D.Kelly, Drmola (Nwaogu 60), Dawkin. Subs not used: S.Kelly, Jones.
Commenting on the game, City manager Ricky Martin said: "The result wasn't a total reflection of the whole 90 minutes. I'm certainly disappointed with the way we allowed Villa to score their goals but positive and encouraged by the opening 30 minutes.
"Our finishing needs to be more ruthless and clinical to reward ourselves for our play, which is frustrating. We'll be looking to bounce back on Saturday when we're back at home against Chelsea, where we'll look to react to this defeat."
