Cromer Town 0, Norwich City Under-21s 4

Chris Wise Wednesday, March 6, 2013
11:45 PM

Norwich City will be represented in the Norfolk Senior Cup final for the first time since 1988 after their Under-21 side recorded an impressive victory at Cabbell Park.

The fleet-footed young Canaries made their class tell against game Anglian Combination opposition, with the final scoreline a fair reflection of their overall dominance.

An early strike from Jamar Loza and second half efforts from Josh Murphy, Loza again and substitute Cameron King earned the visitors a Carrow Road final against Wroxham on Monday, May 13.

Anglian Combination Premier Division champions Cromer gave a good account of themselves, with goalkeeper Andy Jackson outstanding, but never really threatened an upset in front of an estimated crowd of 350.

The Canaries should really have been out of sight in the first 20 minutes after totally dominating the early stages. They scored one but could have had four or five with only some poor finishing and some good saves from Jackson keeping the scoreline respectable.

Reece Hall-Johnson had already been denied in a one-on-one situation when Loza streaked through the middle in the sixth minute to slot the ball coolly past Jackson.

Josh Murphy and Olumide Durojaye were also denied by the excellent Jackson, the latter twice in quick succession as the Canaries ran the opposition ragged.

But, having escaped a mauling, the Crabs gradually got a foothold in the game and Craig Terrington went close to an equaliser after 25 minutes when his low shot from just outside the area flashed just wide.

The Canaries killed the tie as a contest, however, by scoring twice in the opening six minutes of the second period.

Josh Murphy gave them some breathing space on 48 minutes when he lashed the ball home from just inside the box after good work from Hall-Johnson.

And it was 3-0 soon afterwards when Loza bundled the ball home from close range after Durojaye’s fierce drive had come back off an upright.

Norwich continued to dominate after that but some excellent stops from Jackson kept them out until the 86th minute, when King was presented with an easy finish after the home keeper had bravely blocked from fellow substitute Carlton Morriss.

Cromer had their chances too with Dale Wilton missing the best of them when he lobbed just over.