Roberts revives Canaries' campaign

Norwich City 3 Sheffield Wednesday

Reunions can be bittersweet occasions and that was shown to be true once more, here in Norfolk. The Norwich manager, Nigel Worthington, had the sweet part leaving his opposite number and former team-mate Chris Turner with the bitter taste of defeat in his first match in charge of Sheffield Wednesday.

The two were friends from their time together at Wednesday, but the old boys' act went out of the window as Norwich resurrected their promotion push.

This was the Wednesday's fourth consecutive defeat and suddenly the Third Division and Hartlepool, whom Turner left behind earlier this week, must be looking like a safe haven in comparison.

When you are struggling at the wrong end of the table the last thing you need is acts of madness by your own players to inflict further damage to your cause. Sadly for Wednesday, who dominated the majority of the first half, that was exactly the scenario played out after half an hour when Shefki Kuqi handballed two yards off his own goal-line.

That left the referee with no choice but to send off the striker, who had diverted Iwan Roberts' goalbound header, and Roberts himself converted the spot-kick. Turner claimed not to have seen the incident and wondered if Kevin Pressman had been fouled in the build-up.

Wednesday appointed Turner as their new manager on Thursday, their seventh in five years and until Roberts' penalty it looked as if his arrival had given his new charges a significant boost. From the start the Owls looked as if they believed they could stop the rot.

Turner had highlighted Wednesday's culture of losing after signing on the dotted line, but that was something that has also afflicted Norwich of late. The Canaries had lost three of their previous four games and their promotion charge had instead become something of a slow walk. Yet further proof that their luck had changed came two minutes before the break when with their second shot on goal, they doubled their lead.

A corner led to mayhem in Wednesday's penalty box and Paul McVeigh pounced on the loose ball to send his scissors-kick in off Pressman's post.

Kuqi's departure deprived the Owls of their top scorer while Roberts went on to emphasise the importance of strikers staying on the pitch. His second of the game, a turn and shot after McVeigh's pass, capped Norwich's best move of the match.

Norwich City 3 Sheffield Wednesday 0
Roberts pen 31, 82, McVeigh 44

Half-time 2-0 Attendance: 20,667