Norwich City 2 Bolton Wanderers 1
In the battle of the two 'Neils' at Carrow Road last night, it was Adams who came out on top of his namesake Lennon in the Championship Halloween entertainment, but Norwich City had to endure a late 'scare' before claiming the three points against Bolton. Norwich had gone into the game knowing that a three goal winning margin would return them to the top of the league, but despite looking to be well on the way to achieving that margin when two goals to the good midway through the second- half, were in the end relieved to hold on for a much deserved and required victory after Bolton had pulled a late consolation goal back.
Norwich went into Friday's match on the back of a five match winless league run, that had seen them plummet from the summit to sixth, yet despite that poor run were still within touching distance of the automatic promotion positions, which must surely be their target this season. Bolton started the game third from bottom with only Birmingham and bottom club Blackpool below them. New manager, Neil Lennon (the former Celtic boss) was only three games into his tenure at the club but had already instigated a change of fortunes with two much needed victories.
The Canaries had striker Cameron Jerome to thank for the win as he netted twice and was a physical presence throughout, with a goal in each half.
His first on 12 minutes followed neat interplay between himself and Jonny Howson that set him clear of the Bolton defence and he calmly prodded the ball right footed past the keeper. The second was just after the hour mark when he headed in from a Gary O'Neil corner, shortly after the ever dangerous Nathan Redmond had seen his effort turned on to the post by Andy Lonergan.
Despite looking well beaten by then, Bolton almost managed to find a way back into the game when Max Clayton missed the target when through on goal. They did pull one back on 86 minutes though when a defensive mix up allowed Lee Chung-yong to nip in and score past John Ruddy with a low shot. The goal reminded City of their recent jitters in the league, but they had enough resolve to hold on for the victory in the last few minutes.
The win moved Norwich up to third in the table, only behind Derby and Watford (who have a game in hand) on goal difference. Derby are away at Brentford , while Watford play at home against Millwall on Saturday afternoon. Last night's loss leaves the Trotters still in the bottom three and they could drop to second bottom if Birmingham defeat Wolves at Molineux.
