Football: Ferdinand lays low Canaries

Queen's Park Rangers. .3

Norwich City. . . . . .1

IF NORWICH win the inaugural Premier League from here, it will take an extraordinary change of fortunes in the three interested cities. True, the other two contenders still have to make the tricky trip to Norfolk, but if their poor run continues, Norwich will have long since been swallowed up into the chasing pack.

It is to be hoped that they do not sink any further: that would be an unfair return for the breath of fresh air their delicate, cerebral play has brought to the first three- quarters of the season.

Brains are obviously not enough. Norwich needed to put themselves about a bit to roll over the sometime aesthetes of Loftus Road, but the requisite brawn was nowhere in evidence, especially not in both penalty areas, where the visitors hustled without conviction.

Before Christmas Norwich could have been relied upon to score more than they conceded. The goals-against column has not stopped ticking over, but their goal difference now stands at minus two.

That Les Ferdinand secured a 2- 0 lead before Mark Robins stole one back as half-time approached, would not have previously bothered a side who have made a habit of coming from behind, but the pre-interval phase turned out to be their only purple patch. Robins's goal, shuffled in after Rufus Brevett had inadvertently chested Ruel Fox's cross down into his path, was a mess, slow-motion affair, not at all in keeping with the style associated with Norwich. More significantly, it was Robins's only shot of the afternoon.

At the other end Ferdinand was having one of those games that helped him into the England side. He had not scored for Rangers in eight outings, but his first, nodded in when Alan McDonald headed Clive Wilson's free-kick back across goal, was well worked, if humdrum compared to his second. He received the ball just beyond half-way, and proceeded to run diagonally towards the box, fended off Colin Woodthorpe by rounding him, and shot low and hard past Bryan Gunn.

As well as the name on the score sheet, both goals had in common a complete absence of anything that could be described as cohesive defending. Only Ian Culverhouse, making a number of telling interceptions, looked clued up in the Canaries' back five. If Rangers could clone Bradley Allen's nippiness and nous on to Devon White's height and strength, Ferdinand would have a formidable striking partner, and they could have gone to town. Perhaps a couple of headers went astray because he was trying to do the work of two forwards.

Ruel Fox was a lone hive of activity for Norwich. An early foul on him gave Ian Crook a free-kick which was tipped over the bar by Tony Roberts, who from the corner had to save again from Fox from the corner. His cross set up Robins's goal, but when his chance came to shoot again, after a beautiful drag-back took him into space, he chose to feed the ball back to Woodthorpe. It is the old criticism of Norwich: sometimes they try to play too much football in the box.

They redressed that in the second half by perpetually and inaccurately shooting on sight. When Ferdinand nodded down for Clive Wilson in the 79th minute, the midfielder coolly showed them how to do it.

Queen's Park Rangers: T Roberts; D Bardsley, R Brevett, M Gayle, D Maddix, A McDonald, A Impey, C Wilson, L Ferdinand, G White (B Allen, 57 min), M Meaker. Subs not used: D Peacock, J Stejskal (gk). Manager: G Francis.

Norwich City: B Gunn; I Culverhouse, M Bowen, C Sutton, C Woodthorpe, D Sutch, I Crook, M Robins, L Power (J Minett 77 min), R Fox, D Phillips. Subs not used: D Smith, M Walton (gk). Manager: M Walker.

Referee: R Gifford (Mid-Glamorgan)

Goals: Ferdinand (1-0, 19 min); Ferdinand (2-0, 34 min); Robins (2-1, 39 min); Wilson (3-1, 79 min).