Norwich City vs Luton Town FC (26th Jan 2013)

Report from an unbelievable day at Carrow Road

NORWICH 0** TOWN 1 **Rendell 80

The Hatters created history and earned a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup after a sensational, deserving 1-0 win over Premier League Norwich City thanks to a late Scott Rendell strike – the first time a non-league side had ever beaten a Premier League club.

A tireless, hard fought performance from the Hatters brought about its rewards as Rendell slammed home with ten minutes remaining to send the 4,000 travelling Hatters fans into unencumbered ecstasy.

Paul Buckle named just one change from the side that dumped Wolverhampton Wanderers out of the FA Cup in their third round giant-killing as Jake Howells replaces JJ O'Donnell, who returns from injury to seal a place amongst the substitutes. Andre Gray and Jon Shaw continue to ignite their partnership in attack as the Hatters looked to claim their second scalp on a magnificent FA Cup journey.

Chris Hughton made nine changes from the side that were comprehensively turned over by Liverpool at the weekend with former Hatter Leon Barnett coming into the heart of the Canaries defence. Declan Rudd kept goal for Hughton's men as Russell Martin skippered the side as club captain Grant Holt dropped to the subs bench.

The first corner of the game fell to the visitors as Mendy looked to release Gray away down the right flank but Barnett stepped across to clear the danger. Howells delivery was snubbed out of the front post and allowed Fox to clear the danger.

Norwich brought about a reply soon after as Harry Kane linked up with Jackson. Kane's flick on found Jackson who raced down the right touchline before drilling a cross back from the byline into the grateful grasps of Mark Tyler.

The Town pressed their Premier League opponents and won a second corner of the game after Greg Taylor's ambitious long range volley was deflected wide. Alex Lawless whipped the delivery front post for Ryan Bennett to nod out of the keepers hands and Mendy's looping effort back into the area bounced kindly for Rudd who shielded the ball out of play.

Clever, intricate play between Lawless and Gray nearly brought another sighting at goal for the Hatters on 16 minutes after Shaw bustled the ball away from the Norwich full back. Lawless, on the stretch, hooked the ball into the path of Gray who returned the favour to play in the Welshman. He then cut inside and swung in the cross which was nabbed out of danger from Jonny Howson who slammed it long to relieve the pressure.

Tyler was brought into action briefly before the half hour mark when Jackson scampered through on goal. Bringing the bouncing ball down early he hammered across Tyler who flung up a strong right glove to palm it to the feet of Surman. Closed down instantly, Surman's effort cannoned off the shins of Henry who hammered it clear to safety.

A second sighting at goal for the hosts just after the half hour mark as Garrido and Surman linked up well to give Kane the chance to break the deadlock. Kane dragged his shot and Taylor was on hand to deflect the ball wide.

Kane looked set to race away for Norwich five minutes before the interval after a long searching ball by Barnett. As Kane drove on, twisting and turning Rowe-Turner stood firm to hammer the ball out for a corner. The resulting set piece Martin rose highest as Tyler contested before Barnett deflected his header onto the post leaving Lawless to sweep the ball off the line.

Second later a long clearance from Shaw gave Gray the chance to run at Howson. Gray dropped the shoulder and swivelled into the box before tangling with Howson and falling to the floor. His and the 4,000 Luton followers roared Marriner on to point to the spot but to the disbelief of Gray, Buckle and the travelling fans he waved their appeals away.

The final chance of the half fell to the hosts as Martin's volley from close range dropped inches wide of the post. Strong build up from the hosts saw Howson and Surman connect before slipping the ball through to Jackson. Rowe-Turner again was the body in the way for the Canadian who lashed goal bound. The ball looped up onto the chest of Martin who's controlled effort had the home fans gasping.

Despite the change it was the Hatters who started the brightest with Howells latching onto a Lawless cross early on to remind the hosts of the threat posed. Tidy build up from the Hatters with Henry and Lawless exchanging passes before the latter swung an early cross in with Howells darting in front of the marker but failing to find the target.

Gray re-announced his arrival on 48 minutes as he tested Rudd from range. Shaw nipped in to steal the ball from Howson in the middle before setting it back to Taylor. The full back picked his head up and drilled a low pass into Gray who turned and lashed goal wards but Rudd was down early to stop the effort.

End to end stuff to start the second period as Barnett's long diagonal found Holt. The substitute glanced the ball onto Jackson in the area who tried a spectacular over head kick but his acrobatic effort found only the torso of Tyler.

The first set-piece action of the second half was for the hosts as Elliot Bennett asked the question of both Taylor and Howells down the left. Racing away, turning in and out the wide man was finally stopped by Howells who took no chances in belting the ball into touch. The resulting corner however was dealt with by Kovacs who headed clear.

Chances began to appear for City who nearly found their breakthrough on 54 minutes. Jackson wanted the ball off of Surman who duly obliged sliding him into the channel before digging out a cross to find the unmarked Holt at the far post. His header was saved emphatically at point blank range by Tyler before Rowe-Turner volleyed clear with half the ground preparing to celebrate.

Martin continued to get forward from the right back slot as his driven cross was nearly deflected into his own net by Kovacs as the home side finally found their voice.

The pressure was mounting on the Hatters but their response was swift as Shaw's blockbuster volley was muffled by Barnett. Again brilliant build up between Henry and Lawless allowed the cross to be dug out from the byline and Shaw's sweet connection found Barnett preventing a headline stealer.

Shaw was buoyant from his earlier effort and after a mix-up between the Canaries midfield pairing allowed him to collect the ball from deep he had them back peddling. Head down and determined Shaw struck a left footed effort just over Rudd's crossbar.

67 minutes and it was time for a change, JJ O'Donnell was brought on to re-ignite the Hatters engine with Mendy being replaced. O'Donnell then slotted in wide left allowing Howells to join the Town engine room with Smith.

Lawless drew the foul from Garrido just inside the Norwich half allowing Hatters bodies to flood forward. Hoisted into the area Bennett and Barnett challenged for the same ball which allowed Gray to pounce and fling an effort over his shoulder towards goal. The ball sailed over the crossbar with Rudd barking orders at his back line for allowing the chance.

73 minutes gone and Norwich rung the changes. Hughton introduced Pilkington and Hoolahan for Surman Elliot Bennett. Two changes for the Canaries but a slight suspicion of a dismissal for captain Holt who seemed to catch Kovacs with a careless arm but avoided detection.

As time winded down the Hatters announced a double change of their own as Gray and Shaw ended their tireless running to be replaced by top scorer Stuart Fleetwood and Scott Rendell.

77 minutes on the clock and Norwich began to throw caution to the wind as Pilkington headed over in a congested penalty area. Hoolahan picked up the ball from deep and jinked between Town bodies who threw their bodies in for the cause but the ball popped out to Garrido.

The fairytale nearly had its dream ending as Rendell looped a pass over the defensive four for Lawless to pounce on. The Welshman watched the ball all the way onto his foot and volleyed inches wide with Rudd standing motionless.

The hosts had a disgruntled home support to answer too and when Pilkington found Martin at the far post time stood still. His looping header evaded the charge of Holt and dropped millimetres wide with the home fans less than pleased with their sides showing.

Hoolahan continued to worry the Town fans as time winded down ever so slowly. An early cross in was headed out by Taylor but only as far as Fox who adjusted his body early to volley goal-wards. Hoolahan nipped in behind to clip the ball up and over Tyler, and over the bar with the Town players appealing frantically for an offside flag.

Three added minutes were announced with the home fans belting out their feelings onto the field as Holt was upended by Kovacs. Fox stood over the delivery and swung a teasing cross into the area but Tyler, yet again, punched clear to ease the pressure.

Norwich began to grasp at straws as a frivolous appeal for a penalty against Rowe-Turner was adamantly waved away by Andre Marriner.

All eyes on the watch as the Hatters hero's wound down the clock. Marriner glanced, the Town fans glared, Marriner blew, the Town fans wept. A triumph unexpected, a triumph deserved, a giant-killing beyond belief and the Hatters march on to the FIFTH round of the FA Cup.

BOSS ON EPIC CUP VICTORY

Town boss Paul Buckle hailed a magnificent day in the club's history after his side became the first non-league club to knock a Premier League team out of the FA Cup. Scott Rendell's goal 10 minutes from time allied with a superb rearguard action wrote the Hatters into the history books in front of 4,000 delirious supporters in the away end.

"It's an amazing day, magnificent," said Buckle, beaming to the masses of media afterwards." After the Lincoln game was postponed we got straight down to work in preparing for Norwich. "We came here fully focused, with the plan of playing with two banks of four and one striker dropping in. We needed to stop a Premier League team from scoring and we've done that.

"Sometimes in the dugout you can't see the whole game but I thought it was a great game to watch and we played our part. We weren't going to come here and sit back, there's no point. We denied them space and let their centre-halves have the ball. But we couldn't have done it today without the supporters. When we came out for the warm-up they were singing and getting behind us.

"Then, mid-way through the second half, I think they could sense that we could do something - and we have. It's a wonderful day for this football club."

Buckle introduced goal hero Rendell with 15 minutes left with fellow striker Stuart Fleetwood and the manager paid tribute to the squad for earning their fifth round place.

"Andre and Jon Shaw were a bit leggy and both Stuart and Scott were desperate to get on. They are experienced players and on a good surface I fancied them to do something. I brought JJ on too as Arnaud Mendy has run himself into the ground, and he set the goal up and, as far as changes go, we got it right.

"The fact the three substitutes combined for the winner shows what unity we have in the squad; and today epitomised our team spirit."

After a result of such magnitude, Buckle was keen to emphasise the bigger picture.

"We need to use today," he said. "There's been so much disappointment for such a long time but we shouldn't dwell on the recent past. We've got to keep believing and use this success to push us on. Getting promoted is the aim, that is massive for us.”

"We know we can get Luton Town back to the Football League. It will happen, and it won't be long before we're back playing at more places like Carrow Road.

"It's been a great day but we deserve it. The players deserve all the plaudits because it was an unbelievable performance that will go down in history."

LONDON: After the torment, the triumph. Luton Town, still reeling from three successive relegations and their infamous 30-point deduction in 2008, fashioned the greatest upset in the FA Cup for 24 years on Saturday. Not since Sutton United vanquished Coventry City in 1989 had a non-league club toppled top-flight opponents in this competition, but Scott Rendell's strike 10 minutes from time was sufficient to depose English Premier League Norwich and send Luton's 4000 travelling fans into raptures.

For the disciples of Bedfordshire's biggest club, it was a result almost too momentous to absorb. Chairman Nick Owen, figurehead of the consortium that rescued Luton from financial oblivion, was on a Caribbean cruise 3000 miles away but raising a glass of something tropical to toast Rendell and the club's improbable heroes.

Never, upon their fall through the Football League trapdoor a little under four years ago, could Luton have imagined savouring a day such as this. They harboured sepia memories of their achievements here at Carrow Road in 1959, when they held Norwich to a 1-1 draw en route to a two-legged semi-final victory. Then, though, they had been proud tenants of the First Division, not relative obscurities seeking to topple a club ranked four divisions higher.

At the final whistle, the contrast between the delirious hordes in orange and white and the silent, chastened Norwich majority could scarcely have been more marked. The noise came bowling down the tiers of the away end in a cascade, as the staff in Luton's chaotic technical area threw their clipboards in the air.

The one who kept some measure of composure was manager Paul Buckle. He has been a friend of his opposite number, Chris Hughton, since their playing days at Brentford in the early '90s. One might have expected him to look ecstatic; instead he just seemed bewildered.

''It hasn't quite sunk in, this was an incredible performance,'' he said. ''The club has had some really bad times. But we embrace its history - we are very aware of our heritage, and we're keen to add to it. Here, we did.''

One suspects this result will be spoken of breathlessly for generations. For whichever way you turned, romantic subplots abounded. There was Mark Tyler, Luton's defiant goalkeeper and a player released at the age of 15 by, of course, Norwich. Then, of course, there was Rendell, a 26-year-old only brought on in the dying minutes as Buckle looked to galvanise the attack.

Rendell's finish was expert, seizing on fine build-up work by Stuart Fleetwood and JJ O'Donnell, and as he wheeled away in celebration, Carrow Road stewards struggled to contain Luton's dancing throng in the stands. Norwich, try as they might, could not muster a response as their lowly adversaries teased them in the final minutes.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/football/lowly-luton-stun-norwich-in-biggest-upset-for-24-years-20130127-2deto.html#ixzz2JCeUA2gP

New York Times:

J.J. O’Donnell, a little-known player who created a goal that made history in the English F.A. Cup on Saturday, uses this opening line on his Twitter account: “I do today what I always dreamt of doing as a kid.”

It’s not Rudyard Kipling, but it captures the essence of a cup competition that was up and running by the time the famous writer was a scholar.

Jonathan O’Donnell came on as a substitute on Luton Town’s left wing during a fourth-round F.A. Cup game Saturday at Norwich City of the Premier League. He is a 21-year-old whose fresh energy and desire drove him down the field. When he turned to cross the ball, it was met at the near post by his fellow sub, Scott Rendell.

One crisp touch by Rendell, and the game was won. Luton of the Football Conference, four leagues and 85 places below Norwich in the soccer pyramid, won the game, 1-0. It is the first time since the Premier League was formed in 1992, and only the seventh time since World War II, that a team outside the four-tier professional ladder in England knocked out a top-echelon club to reach the fifth stage of the tournament.

Two factors compounded this slice of sports history: The match was played on Norwich soil, with home comforts for the team from the top league, and a huge income gap separated the two opponents. Every side in the Premiership gets at least £50 million, or $79 million, per season, far more than other clubs even dream about.

O’Donnell’s previous encounter in the F.A. Cup, against the Wolverhampton Wanderers on Jan. 5, ended in a hospital after his nose was bloodied and broken in an accidental collision.

That time, and this, the youth discovered that top players of today are not as bad as publicity sometimes paints them. The Wolves’ opponent took the trouble to follow up on O’Donnell’s welfare, and Saturday the Norwich staff and players sought out the Luton players to properly congratulate them on their victory.

Norwich, while it also started the contest with some reserves, had pretty much its full league side on the field by the end. It wasn’t enough, partly because Norwich has lost confidence after a string of poor results in the Premiership, culminating in a 5-0 thrashing at Liverpool a week ago.

And it was not enough because Luton is no average “nonleague” club.

Luton operates outside the top strata because it was dumped there after falling into debt.

The league overlords, led by a politician a few years back, sought to make an example of Luton by hammering it with fines and heavy points penalties for failing to observe proper bookkeeping.

Luton’s crimes were no worse than others’. It is the malaise of teams attempting to live beyond their means, which has prevailed at Leeds United and two-thirds of the Spanish league. But down Luton went, and down it remains — though local people still support it with attendance in the thousands, and local businessmen still pump in cash to try to get the club back to a decent level.

The Cup days are not simply the dream of youth on the wing. They are a portent to what was, and what might be again.

FA Cup surprises as non-league side Luton Town knocks out Norwich City

Non-league club Luton Town clinched passage into the Fifth Round of English FA Cup after beating Norwich City 1-0.

Luton made history as one of the FA Cup's shocks this season.

Luton Town became the first non-league team to knock out a Premier League opposition after the erstwhile Division One has been renamed as Premier League.

The enormity of the task achieved by Luton can be encapsulated in these facts:

They are the seventh non-league team to reach 5th round of an FA Cup competition after the World War II. They are the first non-league side to reach the 5th round after 24 years, when Sutton won against Coventry in 1989. At that time, Liverpool were top dogs in England, Manchester United had not won a league title in 22 years running, and Hillsbourgh were just waiting for miracles to happen.

The Hatters, as they are lovingly called by their fans, produced a gritty display at the Carrow road, thwarting the Canaries attack with a rigid 4-4-2 formation, never allowing them to have a clear goal scoring chance. In one of their rare forays into the Norwich half, a winger JJ O’Donnell cross found Scott Rendell's position at the near post with neat precision.

His near post header beat the Norwich defence much to the joy of the 4,000 travelling supporters, who came to watch their team with a belief that they will provide them some moments of ecstasy like this one.

What followed this glorious goal was history in making. Luton Town continued to defend like they did for the first 80 minutes, moving closer to this historic win minute by minute.

Many teams would have been shocked when they go from a position where they had nothing to lose, to one where they have everything to gain. However, the Hatters kept their proverbial sensible hat still on their heads as they went to record one of the biggest upsets in the history of FA Cup.