93 minutes have passed since kick-off and the match is nearly finished, with the quiescent home support making a rare foray into the exciting world of noise creation, timidly requesting referee Gary Sutton to terminate the afternoon’s proceedings when suddenly a France flick found Barmby, whose cushioned pass found Michael Turner – seriously – unmarked in the Norwich area. He walloped the ball past the exposed Norwich goalkeeper to send the City fans capering in mad delight and give City a deserved draw.

This was the wholly unexpected but delightful conclusion to an afternoon of rather tepid, cautious football. Phil Parkinson has made a couple of changes, bringing David Livermore and Ian Ashbee back into the side at the expense of Andy Dawson and Jason Jarrett. It meant a shift to left-back for Damian Delaney while Nicky Forster continued in the lone striker’s role – the Tigers carding: Myhill; Ricketts, Coles, Turner, Delaney; Fagan, Marney, Ashbee (c), Livermore, Elliott; Forster. Stephen McPhee made his first appearance in a City squad since the trip to Plymouth fourteen months ago, accompanying Barmby, Welsh, France and Duke on the Tigers’ bench.

For the home side, Luke Chadwick was unavailable with a gashed knee and Gary Doherty was missing after picking up an injury in the Canaries’ 3-1 defeat at Ipswich last week.

It was a cool, breezy day in Norfolk – the early afternoon had seen torrential rain and gales and it left the Norwich greensward wet and slippery. The Tigers opened quite brightly, with pushing into the home side with Elliott and Fagan looking sprightly on the wings. However, with five minutes played and City in the ascendancy, the menace of Huckerby was demonstrated as his powerful volley required a smart save by Myhill, tipped the ball wide for a corner that was ultimately wasted.

Forster was the next to have a crack at goal, with his shot spinning wide after taking a deflection. The Tigers were now largely in control of the game, although without finding much of a cutting edge once the ball went to within 25 yards of the Norwich goal. A Livermore free kick caused home keeper Gallagher a moment of concern, with his clearing punch look more than a trifle anxious.

His day was not to improve when he was clattered into by a City player – probably Forster. He required treatment for a few minutes but played on. This did not help an already scrappy game, in which both side were struggling to find any rhythm thanks largely to a heavily-contested midfield.

Midway through the half, Delaney was the next to have an effort on goal, heading a Marney free-kick just wide – to the visiting supporters huddled together in a side stand, it looked extremely close and certainly had Gallagher in a flap.

A brace of corners followed before a long-range effort by Ricketts flew over as the Tigers continued to have the better of the match. We were being helped in no small part by an astonishingly supine effort by the Norwich supporters. Last season, they were quite boisterous and positive in the support from the stands and made for a good atmosphere. And while the neo-Nazi cretins who works as stewards at Carrow Road – “sit down! Shut up! No enjoying yourself!” – cannot help, and even allowing for the phenomenon in modern football that almost always sees away fans outsing their hosts, this really was puzzlingly poor. It can’t be easy playing in front of 24,000 completely silent people.

Elliott went down clutching his right leg after a heavy challenge by Dion Dublin, but he was patched up and able to soldier on. The match degenerated further, with the sides evidently trying to out-crap one another for the remainder of the half, although Norwich did assume the upper hand, with Huckerby and Earnshaw finally beginning to influence proceedings, with the latter wasting an excellent opportunity after good work on the wing by Eagle.

However, with the interval approaching, the Tigers nearly took the lead. A poor clearance by a home defender was charged down by Craig Fagan and flashed back towards goal, but fortunately for Norwich it struck the post.

Neither side made any changes at half-time, and the game continued to worsen. By now, the home fans were so disinterested in the proceedings that they collectively elected to explore the fascinating subject of creating negative decibels – one hopes they this vital research will be valuable to the scientific community. This really was a dire affair.

Marney had a couple of efforts that had a suspicious ring of frustration about them – one supposes that a professional footballer will be aware when they are contributing to a shabby spectacle, although his attempts to liven things up were sadly unsuccessful.

On we went. Earnshaw was being well marshalled by Turner, but he managed to squirm free to send another poor shot straight at Myhill after a neat work by McVeigh. Norwich had the better of the possession and territory now, but this frequently fizzled out with poor delivery allowing City to easily clear, both from set pieces and open play.

The Tigers seemed to have broadly settled for the point most of us would have accepted if questioned before kick-off, while Norwich increasingly had the air of a side that knew it wasn’t going to score.

So naturally, they scored. McVeigh was the first to a header on the edge of the area and it found Earnshaw, totally unmarked and with only Myhill to beat. He duly prodded the ball past our badly exposed keeper to give Norwich the lead with 20 minutes remaining. A bitter blow. Bah.

After ten minutes of rather feeble attempts to get back into the game, Phil Parkinson brought France on for Livermore, repositioning Fagan up front as the Tigers switched to a 4-4-2 formation – rejoice, exult and make merry, 4-4-2 at last!

Elliott nearly grabbed an equaliser with a glancing header from a Marney free-kick - he was unmarked and close to goal, and this was a bad miss. Barmby trotted on for the tired Forster, and Elliott nearly levelled for City when his shot from distance clipped the outside of the post.

City were pressing forward desperately, and received a useful fillip when the fourth official signalled the referee’s intention to play four minutes of injury time. And after three of them, with a soft defeat seemingly imminent, Barmby and Turner’s improbable combination rescued a point for the Tigers.

A curious affair, this one. City had the better of the first half, probably a greater number of the chances and snatched a desperately late equaliser that sparked off wild celebrations. We played reasonably well in patches, showed solid commitment and despite it being not being a fluent game, it had its moments.

Yet, once the euphoria of this of the final minute died down, there was a strange feeling among many of the Tiger Nation. Much of this is probably attributable to the sobering news that victories for the White Shite and Barnsley had dumped City down two places to 23rd, keeping the surely-doomed Southend company at the foot of the Championship.

Maybe it’s owing to the sheer disappointment of realising that this is no longer a poor start to a season, it is a poor season. 19 games in to 2006/7 and with only 17 points to our name, we cannot pretend that things are likely to suddenly magically improve and we will shoot up the table. We won’t. The quality of the football is erratic, despite the recent upturn in results. Perhaps we expected a little too much in the summer and failed to properly consider the effect that so much upheaval would have. However, this too is no longer a valid excuse – the manager has had plenty of time of establish himself, and so far his reign has been disappointing.

Not that his position ought to be considered under threat. We’re unbeaten in three away matches, which is just as well as the home form continues to be substandard. There are enough reasons to believe that City will eventually claw their way to safety.

The support remains admirably steadfast and positive. Discontent remains confined to its principal receptacles - pubs, internet message boards and radio phone-ins. Barring any major calamities, this is unlikely to alter substantially. At least we are certainly seeing a decent level of endeavour from the side after some of the horror shows of the autumn.

Yet, as the winter draws in and the cold dark months ahead appear offer yet more struggle, it’s difficult not to sigh and wish for just a little better. (AD)