MATCH STATS STOKE CITY: Simonsen, Buxton, Duberry, Hoefkens, Broomes, Chadwick, Brammer, Junior, Kolar, Harper, Sidibe. Subs: de Goey, Dyer (for Sidibe, 89), Henry (for Junior, 60), Taggart, Gallagher (for Harper, 70). NORWICH CITY : Green, Colin, Fleming, Shackell, Charlton, Brennan, Marney, Safri, McKenzie, Ashton, Huckerby. Subs: Drury, Jarrett, Ward, McVeigh (for McKenzie, 59), Doherty (for Ashton, 84). SCORERS: Stoke: Kolar (9), Harper (45), Sidibe (69). Norwich: Ashton (38) TOP CANARY: EDP & EN: Youssef Safri PinkUn Poll: Brennan (42%) ATTENDANCE: 14,249 REFEREE: Mike Pike (Cumbria) YELLOW CARDS: Stoke: Dubery (62, foul on McVeigh); Hoefken (82, foul on Ashton) Norwich: Charlton (84, foul on Hoefken) RED CARDS: Norwich: Huckerby (51, dissent) SHOTS ON TARGET: Stoke 6, Norwich 4 SHOTS OFF TARGET: Stoke 6, Norwich 5 CORNERS: Stoke 8, Norwich 2 FOULS:  Stoke 7, Norwich 13 OFFSIDES:  Stoke 1, Norwich 3

Monday August 29, 2005
CHRIS WISE

Norwich City’s poor start to the new Coca Cola Championship season plumbed new depths at the Britannia Stadium when they slumped to their third successive defeat and had Darren Huckerby sent off just for good measure.

The Canaries looked to have got a firm foothold on the game when Dean Ashton struck eight minutes before half time to cancel out an early effort from Stoke winger Martin Kolar.

But one-time City loan player Kevin Harper conjured up an exquisite second for the home side just before the break — and things went from bad to worse just after it when Huckerby saw red for directing a verbal volley at referee Mike Pike when a strong tackle on him went unpunished.

There was no way back for City after that needless dismissal and the Potters rubbed further salt into the wounds in the 69th minute when Mamady Sidibe cracked home a loose ball in some style to leave Nigel Worthington’s misfiring outfit a well beaten side.

The pre-season favourites for automatic promotion have now taken just three points from a possible 18 this season and after another low key display they will now need to regroup over the next couple of weeks before their next fixture - a must-win home clash against Plymouth Argyle.

An unchanged Norwich side made a lively start, with Huckerby getting a decent low shot on target as early as the second minute.

But the visitors were knocked back on their heels when the Potters went in front from their first meaningful attack of the match. With just eight minutes on the clock the Canaries were caught out by an excellent cross-field pass from Dave Brammer which found Kevin Harper on the right wing.

Dean Ashton side-foots home in some style from just outside the six yard box for City's equaliser.

The former Norwich loan man got the better of Simon Charlton near the corner flag before finding the giant Mamady Sidibe who used his immense physical presence to carve a hole in the visitors defence before letting fly from close range.

Robert Green produced an outstanding reflex stop to keep his effort out but the ball rolled out kindly to Czech winger Kolar who side-footed home from some 10 yards out to open the scoring.

Nigel Worthington’s side recovered from that early setback to play some neat, purposeful football. But once again there was precious little to keep the opposition goalkeeper occupied and most of the decent chances continued to come at the other end.

Green had to be alert to keep out goal-bound headers from first Sidibe and then Kolar but City looked confident enough at the back and gradually began to get their act together at the other end too.

And they were rewarded for their improvement eight minutes before the break when Ashton scored his first goal since signing a contract extension last week to restore parity.

Dean Ashton celebrates his third league goal of the campaign.

The hardworking Jim Brennan was the architect of a hugely welcome goal, doing superbly to keep Youssef Safri’s pass in play on the left flank before curling in a low cross which the £3 million striker side-footed home in some style from just outside the six yard box.

It was the first time Norwich have scored since Ashton’s early opener against Crystal Palace over two weeks ago and the visitors almost added a second on 41 minutes when Huckerby almost found McKenzie with another good cross, this time from the right.

At that stage it looked promising for the Canaries but they then contrived to concede a second goal just before half time with Harper coming back to haunt his former side with a beautifully taken effort.

The visitors never really recovered their composure at the back following a fine run and cross from right winger Kolar and when the ball fell kindly to Harper on the edge of the area he curled a perfectly judged shot over Green’s head and into the back of the net to restore the home side’s advantage.

Half-time: Stoke City 2, Norwich City 1

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the struggling Canaries they duly did, with Huckerby being sent off for the first time in his Norwich career five minutes after the re-start.

Darren Huckerby is felled from behind by Dave Brammer - a tackle which saw the Norwich frontman's verbal reaction earn him a red card.

The city frontman was furious when referee Pike refused to penalise Brammer’s crunching tackle just outside the Stoke box and made his point rather too forcibly to the Cumbria official.

One assumes that there was also some industrial language thrown in for good measure because Mr Pike immediately produced a red card, much to the amazement of Huckerby, his colleagues and the Norwich fans.

City now had a veritable mountain to climb and Stoke duly made their numerical advantage tell midway through the second period.

The visitors were once again guilty of some poor defending as they failed to deal with a right wing corner from Harper and when the ball landed at the feet of Sidibe the big man from Mali proved he could also play on the ground as he thumped an unstoppable rising drive into the roof of the net.

Worthington had brought on McVeigh for McKenzie on the hour mark to provide some fresh legs upfront but it didn’t help with Norwich failing to create a single goalscoring opportunity after the break.

It was tough for the loyal band of travelling supporters to take and when Gary Doherty replaced the tiring Ashton with five minutes to go it was the cue for large numbers to head for the exit door.

Result: Stoke City 3, Norwich City 1