A STOPPAGE-time Grant Holt goal earned the Canaries the points at Glanford Park in dramatic fashion, as City secured a 1-0 victory over Scunthorpe United and their first npower Championship win of the season.

After an even first half, City stepped up a gear in the second period as they piled on the pressure against a steely Iron defence.

Chances came and went for Chris Martin and Wes Hoolahan, who almost broke the deadlock, but it took until the first minute of stoppage time for the Canaries to strike the killer blow as Holt shrugged off his marker to head home a glorious Simon Lappin cross from the right and seal the victory for City.

Paul Lambert was delighted with his team's performance and the result and said: "I thought we deserved to win the game. We defended very well today and I thought the whole team were excellent.

"The front two were a handful and Wes did what he does best in there behind them."

Lambert praised central defender Michael Nelson for a superb block to deny Jonathan Forte in the closing stages, saying: "It was a brilliant tackle and I've told him that in the dressing room after the game. That was Michael back to his best and him and Ward are getting stronger."

After the match City skipper Holt told First News: "I'm really pleased for all the lads. Scunthorpe is a tough place to come to, they came at us and were in our faces but we worked very well together as a team and in the end we got what we deserved. We can all take positives from it and we have got that first win under our belts and now we can carry on.

"I'm pleased for the back four who worked really hard today to get the clean sheet and for John Ruddy. He was really good, claimed eveything and made some great saves when he had to."

Lambert made two changes from the Canaries' 4-1 victory over Gillingham in the Carling Cup, drafting in Andrew Crofts following his international appearance with Wales and Andrew Surman who had recovered from a minor knock, at the expense of Simon Lappin and David Fox.

Holt continued to partner Chris Martin up front following their four-goal haul in midweek and the pair combined to bring City's first real chance of the game in an evenly-matched first half. Holt flicked on a teasing Hoolahan cross to Chris Martin, who looked to be brought down in the area whilst looking to shoot, only to see appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Chris Sarginson.

The Canaries had started well and continued to test the Iron's backline in the opening ten minutes as the home side looked to find their feet in the game.

Scunthorpe came back into it and won a series of corners but nothing more for the Iron and the Canaries responded with a superb piece of play just short of 20 minutes. Chris Martin and Hoolahan combined to thread through Holt on the right hand side. The City Captain put a teasing low cross into the six yard box, only to be quickly cut out by Scunthorpe stopper Joe Murphy with Martin lurking.

But the 21-year old continued to pose a threat as he picked up a Hoolahan cross from the left just three minutes later, glancing the ball towards goal from six yards, only to see it go just wide of the near post.

It was a further wake-up call for Scunthorpe who responded with the best chance of the game so far. Jonathan Forte met a deep cross at the far post with his head, only to be denied by a superb save from Ruddy at close range before City went straight down the other end with Chris Martin's low shot.

Scunthorpe again responded just after the half-hour mark, as Martyn Woolford brought a comfortable save from Ruddy. But it was not long until the Iron were knocking on the door once again, as new signing Chris Dagnall was put through into the box and looked destined to score, only to see his shot slip past the near post.

Scunthorpe were providing some concerted pressure on the Canaries as the game edged towards the break, and they again missed a golden chance to take the lead with five minutes to go as Forte wildly shot over the bar inside the penalty box, having picked up a cross from the right.

The Iron were camped on the edge of City's penalty area, but the Canaries managed to survive until the break as they went in on level terms.

Half time: Scunthorpe United 0-0 Norwich City

The break looked to have revitalised the Canaries attack as Chris Martin instantly carved out City's best chance of the game so far. Skipping past defenders in the box, Martin created a golden chance to score only to see his left-footed effort go just inches wide.

Martin was again involved as he stole the ball from Rob Jones in the Iron's penalty area, but could only cross at the tight angle with no-one there to convert in the six yard area.

Scunthorpe's pressure at the end of the first half had been forgotten as Korey Smith provided Hoolahan with the chance to shoot just short of the hour mark, with only a slight Rob Jones deflection stopping the ball from flying into the back of the net.

The pair combined again ten minutes later as Wes again found space to shoot at goal, but this time the ball did not need a deflection to slip wide of the far post. City's pressure worried the home side, who brought on Andrew Wright and Michael Collins to try and turn the tide.

It made little immediate impact as the Canaries found the back of the net just two minutes later, only to see Holt's headed effort ruled out for offside. With City now enjoying the momentum, Michael Nelson was next to test the Iron's resolve but he could only head tamely into the arms of Murphy from a Surman corner.

With the game approaching its final ten minutes, just a goal was needed to take maximum points from Glanford Park; Simeon Jackson was introduced to the proceedings in place of Chris Martin to find that elusive winner.

There was still little sign of that for either side with just five minutes left on the clock, but the Canaries remained the more likely of the two. But the turning point came in stoppage time as Michael Nelson made a last-ditch tackle on Jonathan Forte to prevent the Iron taking the win.

From that excellent intervention, the Canaries' goal finally came as Grant Holt headed home substitute Simon Lappin's superb cross to give City the lead and ultimately victory with only seconds of stoppage time remaining.

The Iron had little time to respond as the referee sounded his full-time whistle and confirmed the victory for Norwich, who would go back to Norfolk delighted with the last-minute winner.

Full time: Scunthorpe United 0, Norwich City 1

CITY: Ruddy, R.Martin, Drury, Nelson, Crofts, Holt, Surman (Askou 90), Hoolahan (Lappin 88), C.Martin (Jackson 80), Smith, Ward. Subs not used: Rudd, Fox, Johnson, McNamee.

SCUNTHORPE: Murphy, McNulty, Jones, Woolford, O'Connor (Collins 65), Dagnall, Thompson, Forte, Mirfin, J, Wright (A. Wright 65), Nolan. Subs not used: Slocombe, Byrne, Raynes, Grant, Canavan.

CELEBRATIONS: Grant Holt celebrates his winning goal
with team-mates in front of the travelling Yellow Army