Advent Calendar Day 2 - Norwich 2 v 5 Liverpool 29/09/2012

Posted by JerseyKloppite on December 1, 2015, 01:02:14 am

I've had some fun times watching Liverpool on the road. The Community Shield Final in 2006 (and beating Birmingham 7-1 in the Cup in the same year), the aways at Fulham and West Ham in the 2013/2014 season in our run-in, and the even better 5-2 at Fulham when Maxi, Maxi Rodriguez ran down the wing and bagged a hat-trick. A far cry from my first Liverpool game ever, at the age of 11 sitting in the home end at Filbert Street seeing us go down 1-0 to a late Tony Cottee goal. Still, it didn't put me off...

My favourite away trip to date was our visit to Norwich in September 2012. Brendan's first season in charge had gotten off to a shaky start, with only 2 points from our first 5 games (I forgot it was actually that bad), which included visits to Anfield by City, United and Arsenal. The City game was on my wedding day, kept surreptitiously up to date with the score by a friend, and the Arsenal game took place on our honeymoon, watched from a bar in Montenegro. I was keen to get a first opportunity to see the new manager and managed to bag three tickets off the exchange, which were hugely appreciated. A couple of friends who are huge reds who don't get to go to many games were dead keen (they live in South America; 12 months later we were sitting together in a remote cabin in the Chilean Andes listening to Liverpool play Southampton on internet radio, they're very keen :D). We set off from London at a respectable 11am, and as usual the trains into East Anglia might has well have been going to Narnia.

Arrived, popped to Morrisons for the food and picked up the tickets. My friends had never really been on RAWK so went completely on trust that the tickets were genuine and above board. I was hugely relieved when they were legit...   ;D A quick visit to the Compleat Angler for a pint, and a great atmosphere as boisterous reds sang song after song, still optimistic about the future under our new manager. Bumped into Sir Harvest Fields briefly on the way out, which was memorable, as anyone lucky enough to meet Carl will testify. Joined in with the singing and caught the end of the lunchtime kick-off on the TV, then off to Carrow Road.



Headed to the game, lots of singing (the Lucas Leiva song getting a good airing, though wasn't sure if people kept singing it around me cos' I had his name on my shirt...). Away fans in full voice, particularly enthusiastically singing a song about the demise of a former Conservative PM that is now redundant to the tune of a gripe about Suarez's lack of penalties. Glorious, clear day, and confidence even when the team comes through. Wow, Rodgers had faith in our younger players. Wisdom, Suso and Sterling all starting as Carra, Henderson and Downing sat on the bench. Excitement - the future of the club given a chance to shine!

What a start! Buzzing from the off after Suarez calmly fires home from the edge of the box. Nervy at times, as our defence sometimes opened up far too easily, but on the whole we were a pleasure to watch. A delight to see Suso, Sterling and Wisdom acquitting themselves so well. Suarez brought down in the box, no pen. The song again. Then, one of the funniest and most karmic moments on a football pitch, and perhaps my favourite at a Liverpool away game. Suarez endures the stick of the home end, as he misses a sitter, a one on one with the keeper. He gets absolutely barracked by the home fans, hoots of derision from all four sides of the stadium. Calmly, he robs the defender after a miscontrol from the goal kick, cuts inside and finishes beautifully. Norwich silenced, and we all went absolutely crazy.



Nerves at the start of the second half, when Norwich somehow missed chances, before blink-and-you-forgot-he-played-for-us Sahin bagged the 3rd and finally felt safe. Suarez bags a hat-trick against his favourite opponents and the party is in full swing, 'ole-ing' every pass as Norwich chased shadows. Norwich pull one back before Gerrard adds a fifth, a late second for the hosts not coming close to denting the buzz as we leave after a hugely enjoyable game. A brilliant train ride back with more drinking, singing and some decent chat with Liverpool and Norwich fans who couldn't compliment us highly enough, and were very impressed by our young side.

I've had aways where I've by complete coincidence met players at the hotel before the game, where I've seen us lift trophies, complete routs and bag last minute winners in crucial fixtures.  But this always sticks in my mind. A great day out with some old friends, a fantastic football match and a good place to visit as an away fan. Rodgers' first league win and one more game in Suarez's love affair with Norwich.

<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xtz85z" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xtz85z</a>

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