The Canaries claimed a dramatic late winner in their FAWNL season opener away to AFC Sudbury on Sunday, thanks to a 96th-minute free-kick from Freya Symonds.
Over 200 were in attendance at the Mel Group Stadium as Norwich City Women began their 2023/24 campaign travelling away to newly promoted AFC Sudbury on Sunday, August 20.
The hosts started the game with great confidence, taking the game to Norwich early on, with forwards Kate Edwards and Holly Kennard displaying their pace and eye for goal on the counterattack.
Despite absorbing waves of pressure in the opening 20 minutes, it was Norwich who struck first on the 22-minute mark, arguably against the run of play. Ceri Flye turned defence into attack, racing down the right wing, before finding an unmarked Kathryn Stanley in the box to poke the ball home.
Sudbury reacted well and continued to cause problems in the latter stages of the first half, but with neither side having any clear-cut chances, the Canaries would enter the break with a 1-0 lead.
The second half saw much of the same, as the hosts emerged from the tunnel all guns blazing. A handful of half-chances caused little trouble for Sarah Quantrill and her defensive line, but the waves of attack continued.
Just shy of the hour mark, Sudbury had their best chance of the game. A ball was swung in from the left and met by a Sudbury body. Quantrill met the effort with the sturdiest of gloves to claw away to safety before clambering back out of her own net to deny the follow-up opportunity on the line.
Despite her heroics, Sudbury finally got their deserved breakthrough 10 minutes later. Substitute Evie Creaton found herself in on goal after a lovely through-ball, nestling the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Momentum was now swinging fully in favour of the Suffolk side, who continued to push on. With two minutes of regulation time left to play, they were rewarded for their efforts in the form of a penalty. Creaton, who drew them level, looked to double her personal tally for the day from the spot but watched in agony as her effort flew high over the crossbar.
A number of injury-induced delays to the game saw close to 10 minutes of added time tallied on by the referee, setting the perfect stage for a dramatic finish – and that’s exactly what the away faithful were gifted.
In the 96th minute, Norwich were awarded a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area after a cynical foul to deny a one-on-one opportunity. A frustrated Freya Symonds stepped up and beautifully dispatched the set-piece to secure all three points in the sixth minute of additional time.
The Canaries will hit the road again on Sunday, August 27, when they face Cambridge United at Rowley Park, St Neots in the determining round of the League Cup.
Norwich City: Quantrill, Parker, Flye, Todd, Daviss (Shaw 76), Snelling (Cook 90), Stanley (Tomlinson 65), Knights (Lawrence 56), Harper (Larkins 46), Symonds, Strauss
Goals: Stanley (22), Symonds (90+6)
AFC Sudbury: Carter, Dodd (Harrison 75), Provan, Bezant, McHale, Lambe, Kennard (Harms 84), Frazzoni, Allen, Edwards (Creaton 65), Jeffery
Subs not used: Donley, Goodwin
HT: 0-1
FT: 1-2
Attendance: 203