PENALTY hero John Ruddy was understandably delighted yesterday, as the Canaries went from potential defeat to a dramatic 2-0 victory over Swansea at Carrow Road.
The City 'keeper thought he might have given the Swans the victory as he gave away a penalty for a foul on Scott Sinclair inside the area just seven minutes from time, but the summer signing recovered to save well from David Cotterill's spot kick and spark a tremendous final ten minutes for Norwich.
And Ruddy's relief was evident as he admitted his error in giving the penalty away, saying: "Once he went down I think I knew," Ruddy told First News, "To be fair I shouldn't have given it away and should've been in a better starting position, but unfortunately he has got there before me.
"But in terms of getting sent off for it, I think the referee made the correct decision because the ball was just kicked out for a goal kick and he was never going to get there."
His eventual stop from David Cotterill brought rapturous scenes from the Barclay behind him, who chanted his name as he kept the Canaries' chances of victory alive.
And it was a moment Ruddy relished after a challenging start to his Norwich career having joined from Everton in July.
"It meant a lot. I think you can see that from my reaction, not just from the penalty save but when we scored and it was a very good moment for me. But like I said I shouldn't have given it away in the first place.
"Then again, if I don't give it away and then save it perhaps we don't go and win 2-0, so I'll take it!"
City's 2-0 victory over Swansea also makes it two clean sheets on the bounce for the Canaries' defensive line, who have bounced back well from the lapses that saw them concede three goals to Watford in their opening Championship game.
And Ruddy saved particular praise for his back four who remained firm to deny a talented Swansea side, saying: "I think Elliott Ward got the man of the match today and rightfully so he has been fantastic since I have joined the club.
"We look a solid unit at the back and look very good going forward as well," explained Ruddy, "We have been fortunate to have had a full pre-season under our belts and we've had time to get to know each other.
"Elliott and Nelson are fantastic defenders and Russell (Martin) and Adam (Drury) are two of the best athletes at the club, so defensively we are a solid unit and we are hard to break down like we showed today against a very good footballing side.
"The threat going forward is massive also, so as long as we can keep the ball out of our net we will always have the chance to score like we have seen today."
