Norwich Away Drew 1 – 1
Those who were rotated for the Plymouth clash were available at Norwich, notably Downes back in for Charles and Walker-Peters in an advanced role as Stephens lined up at right back. They were soon in control with home fans wondering whether their favourites would ever get a touch in enemy territory, but again the right pass to break the deadlock was eluding Saints. They had to do without the services of Edozie after 27 minutes, the player attempting to continue after a bad foul by Stacey, but eventually succumbing to what might be a serious injury. Just before the break, Stephens had, for him, a rare shot at goal and was unlucky to see his effort strike the bar. The full back was back in the middle of defence when the teams lined up for the second half after Bednarek had been forced off by a knock – Adams came on and Walker-Peters was put back into a more familiar position as part of a 4-4-2 formation. The team continued to dominate but still failed to create anything decisive until as late as the 70th minute when Walker-Peters got away on the right wing; his cross may well have spun in anyway off defender Hanley but Adam Armstrong was on hand to force it home. With due respect to Stephens, we were missing Bednarek and his absence may be why the lead lasted for less than ten minutes. Somewhat inevitably given the amount of possession they managed, City’s equaliser came on the break when substitute Sargent, on the way back from injury, got behind Stephens and away from the covering Walker-Peters and managed to shoot home off the inside of the post. Forced substitutions had limited Southampton’s options to change things but Manager Martin did his best in the remaining time, bringing on Charles (maybe a few minutes too late), Smallbone and finally Alcaraz but really the game could have gone either way in the last few minutes. It’s always disappointing not to see out a match after scoring first, and in this case the disappointment was heightened by the amount of ball, and territory, that the team enjoyed.
LSSC Man of the Match – three players for you to choose from.
3. Ryan Manning. He gets a lot of criticism, but much of it is based on past errors rather than current performance.
9. Adam Armstrong. A goal, of course, but also plenty of endeavour.
21. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, although not tested until later in the game.
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