Norwich City Women enjoyed a second successive home game on Tuesday night, emerging victorious over a resilient Cambridge City at The Nest.
It was a night for hats and gloves as an autumnal Nest played host to two sides at near-opposite ends of the Division One South East table.
Norwich have made a real habit in recent weeks of bursting out the blocks and starting fast, and it was much the same early on.
Three of the Canaries most in-form players combined for the opener on three minutes. Ellie Smith found Natasha Snelling down the right wing, who whipped in a faultless first-time cross to find Kathryn Stanley, unmarked at the back post for a free header.
Though Norwich enjoyed their usual spells of governing possession in the subsequent minutes, Cambridge City wasted no time in progressing the ball when given a sniff.
Just five minutes after taking the lead, Norwich were pegged back in their own box when a cross from point-blank range struck the arm of Ellie Smith. The referee took no time in gesturing towards the penalty spot, from which Cambridge would draw level inside ten minutes.
It’s predominantly been the forwards in yellow and green that have stolen the headlines so far this season, but on Tuesday it was defensive masterclass from which Norwich built their foundations upon.
Anna Larkins enjoyed her usual procession of chance-creating long balls forward, whilst Ceri Flye made more tackles, blocks, and interventions than one could keep track of.
Five minutes shy of the interval, Norwich were awarded a corner, and while delivery from set-pieces this season has been second-to-none, conversion has been an area of improvement.
Some say headers are like buses – you wait hours for one, and then two come in quick succession. This was exactly the case as Megan Todd fired home for City’s second after a surging run from just inside the penalty area to meet the header that was simply too hot to handle for Cambridge keeper, Sarah Hudson.
The second half saw Cambridge implement a low-block and operate on the counterattack, from which they had some joy. Ceri Flye was once again equal to all of their efforts, whilst last line of defence, Bryony Williams was her usual sharp self, making a phenomenal save from point-blank range just before hour mark.
Norwich limited Cambridge’s chances to few and far between, but this didn’t stop Ceri Flye from having to pull off a heroic goal line clearance to deny a certain equaliser with twelve minutes to play.
Despite the inevitable caginess of preserving a one-goal lead, the 248 attendees at the Nest were never in doubt as the referee blew for full time.
Norwich will next play on Sunday, October 16 in their rescheduled fixture away to Chesham.