Canaries edge seven-goal thriller
GRAEME Murty praised the resilience of his Norwich City Under-18s side after they registered a late 4-3 win at West Ham United on Saturday.
The Canaries saw an early Louis McIntosh free-kick cancelled out by Grady Diangana, before goals from Benny Ashley-Seal and Bilal Kamal put the away side in control.
United's Diangana added two more for the hosts to complete his hat-trick and leave the score at 3-3 heading into injury-time, only for Ashley-Seal's second of the game to secure victory in the final seconds.
The Canaries saw an early Louis McIntosh free-kick cancelled out by Grady Diangana, before goals from Benny Ashley-Seal and Bilal Kamal put the away side in control.
United's Diangana added two more for the hosts to complete his hat-trick and leave the score at 3-3 heading into injury-time, only for Ashley-Seal's second of the game to secure victory in the final seconds.
Reflecting on the Barclays Under-18s Premier League triumph, Murty told canaries.co.uk: "I'm pleased for the players as they put a lot of work into the weekend.
"There was a time when we might not have come away with the result, which would have been harsh on them. We gave the players a game-plan having watched West Ham, and they executed it well.
"We scored three good goals and realistically could have scored two more. In the second half West Ham stepped up their game, which led to us stopping doing the things we'd done in the first half.
"Having conceded a 90th minute equaliser, it's a credit to the group they managed to find a winner. They showed great resilience, and I'm proud of that."
After a testing run of fixtures in recent weeks, Murty was particularly impressed with the character shown in response to United's late leveller.
"Nobody put their head down or moaned at all," the 41-year-old coach explained.
"There was a time when we might not have come away with the result, which would have been harsh on them. We gave the players a game-plan having watched West Ham, and they executed it well.
"We scored three good goals and realistically could have scored two more. In the second half West Ham stepped up their game, which led to us stopping doing the things we'd done in the first half.
"Having conceded a 90th minute equaliser, it's a credit to the group they managed to find a winner. They showed great resilience, and I'm proud of that."
After a testing run of fixtures in recent weeks, Murty was particularly impressed with the character shown in response to United's late leveller.
"Nobody put their head down or moaned at all," the 41-year-old coach explained.
"There was a definite determination to make something happen at the other end of the pitch. They were almost instantly rewarded for that, which was great to see.
"We were the better team and looked a threat when we went forwards. To score four times represented a fair return for the attacking intent we displayed.
"We're pleased to win even though results aren't everything as we're looking for players to develop and improve. It's about executing game-plans, and they did that effectively in the first half especially."
"We're pleased to win even though results aren't everything as we're looking for players to develop and improve. It's about executing game-plans, and they did that effectively in the first half especially."
NORWICH CITY: Oxborough; Syme, Lewis, Pollock (Boateng, 73), Wallis, Ellesley, Couzens, Sambu (Black, 60), Ashley-Seal, Kamal (Jaiyesimi, 63), McIntosh. Subs not used: Hale-Brown, Da Costa.