Canaries columnist Jon Punt hopes Lady Luck can smile on Norwich City at the crucial times this season after earning three very important points against the stubborn Bluebirds.

Football matches, seasons and tournaments are often decided by the very finest of margins.

Rewind back to the Britpop summer of 1996. Had Paul Gascoigne's big toe been a centimetre longer the world of English football would, in all likelihood, be very different. Thirty years of hurt disappearing quickly, football would have finally come home with Baddiel and Skinner reverberating around Wembley in one glorious nation defining evening.

Fast forward to heartache which is fresher in the memory, Norwich's relegation campaign of last year.

On a late September day at West Ham the Canaries managed to snatch, then give away, points in the dying embers of the game. Cheikhou Kouyate's stoppage time equaliser was as disappointing as it was avoidable. Norwich went onto to manage one win from the next nine Premier League matches. Would that really have happened had they managed to cling to victory on their last visit to the Upton Park?

More recently you can turn to events at Portman Road during the first of this season's East Anglian derbies. If Steven Whittaker's left foot shot had been an inch inside the post, instead of striking it, then everyone's favourite scapegoat just may have been written into Canary folklore forever.

Previous errors would have been forgiven in an instant, the Scot quickly becoming the toast of Tombland on a Saturday night (ok, maybe I'm using poetic license with this one…..)

However, the magnitude of these moments should not be underestimated, they can change things forever.

In a much lesser way, the visit of Cardiff on Saturday was no different. Ricky Lambert's deadline day arrival in Wales meant the away side posed an aerial threat Norwich had reason to be wary of. Had the former Southampton and Liverpool striker managed to find the net with his two golden opportunities either side of the interval the match takes on a very different complexion.

At 1-1 it's probable Cardiff would have attempted to shut up shop, happy with an away point to take back west. Norwich have at times this season struggled to break teams down and it's quite conceivable Paul Trollope's men would have been successful in grinding out the draw.

Luckily for City, this didn't happen and quite conversely Josh Murphy went onto have his own defining moment with a terrific curling finish from distance.

This effectively glossed over a stop-start performance. Winning is a habit and was sorely needed after the doom and gloom spreading through the ranks following a disappointing end to the transfer window for some.

Norwich will need more of this luck throughout some of the challenges to come. Promotion is often based on hard work, endeavour, talent and fortune.

Let's just hope lady luck shines on Carrow Road during 2016-17, never mind the danger.