A GOAL in each half and the first League One clean sheet of the season ensured a happy trek home for the 832 City fans who made the long journey to Hartlepool.
There was also a happy homecoming to Victoria Park for former Hartlepool defender Michael Nelson, who marked his return to the Norwich City first team fold with a spectacular bicycle kick to open the scoring in the 26th minute.
And after the break a dominant City doubled their advantage with a sweeping counter-attack move, which saw midfielder Stephen Hughes slide the ball home after good work from Paul McVeigh and Grant Holt on 64 minutes.
It was a solid win which moved an improving City side up to tenth in the early League One table.
Pleased City boss Paul Lambert told First News after the match: "I thought we started the game really well and I thought we deserved to win. This is a tough place to come and I thought the lads were terrific. Just going by experience in League One, sometimes you have to win the battle before you win anything and I thought the lads were great today."
Asked if he'd been working on defensive organisation going into the match, he said: "Not just the defence, the whole team. We just came in and gave them some stability. There's still a country mile to go before the lads are where you really want them but the response so far has been terrific.
"It's OK having good players at the Club, but you have to have a balance to your team. If you've got that balance then you are more difficult to beat."
