MATCH STATS NORWICH CITY: Green, Wright, Davenport, Doherty, Drury, Hughes, Safri, Etuhu, Thorne, Ashton, Huckerby. Subs: Gallacher, Fleming (for Wright, 77), McVeigh, Henderson (for Ashton, 74), Rossi Jarvis. LUTON TOWN: Beresford, Foley, Perrett, Heikkinen, Underwood, Robinson, Nicholls, Brkovic, Morgan, Feeney, Howard. Subs: Brill, Vine (for Morgan, 69), Showunmi (for Feeney, 62), Holmes, Barnett. SCORERS: Norwich: Hughes (3), Huckerby (25) TOP CANARY: EN: Dean Ashton PinkUn Poll: Davenport (37%) ATTENDANCE: 25,383 REFEREE: Ken Wright (Cambridgeshire) ADDED TIME: First half: 2 min Second half: 3 mins YELLOW CARDS: Norwich: Safri (dissent, 23), Drury, (foul on Brkovic, 60). Luton: Brkovic, (foul on Huckerby, 62), Perrett (foul on Henderson, 81). RED CARDS: Luton: Perrett (second yellow, foul on Thorne, 90), Nicholls (obscene gestures, 90). SHOTS ON TARGET: Norwich 7, Luton 4 SHOTS OFF TARGET: Norwich 5, Luton 7 CORNERS: Norwich 5, Luton 4 FOULS:  Norwich 21, Luton 14 OFFSIDES:  Norwich 7, Luton 1

Saturday November 19, 2005
RICK WAGHORN

Under-fire City boss Nigel Worthington asked the question and he got his answer with a 2-0 win over Luton Town.

From the moment that returning skipper Andy Hughes blasted Norwich ahead in the third minute the result was rarely in doubt as the Canaries showed all the heart, desire and, above all, shape that they lacked at Molineux last week.

Huckerby, to his credit, was back to his bright and busy self and added the second after 25 minutes following a fabulous Dean Ashton flick.

With new-boy Dickson Etuhu successfully filling the huge hole left by Damien Francis, the only sour note was sounded by Ashton's substitution for what appeared to be a hip injury and he must now he a real doubt for Tuesday's trip to Millwall.

For Luton, who slumped to their fourth defeat on the back of today's effort, their season unravelled even further in the dying seconds when first Russell Perrett saw red for his second bookable offence and then more bizarrely still Hatters skipper Kevin Nicholls was also shown a red card long after the final whistle had blown for allegedly making an obscene gesture at the Canary supporters.

As the Canaries ran out for what could be seen as one of the biggest games in Nigel Worthington's managerial career at Carrow Road, the under-pressure City chief could at least name arguably the strongest starting 11 of the whole season against the visiting Hatters.

For with both Dickson Etuhu and David Wright making their City debuts and with Andy Hughes and Youssef Safri slammed back into the Norwich midfield, the one and only notable absentee remained Leon McKenzie.

That said, however, the fact that the vastly experienced Peter Thorne was making his first Championship start ensured that it was still a strong and powerful Canary line-up that went out to avenge last month's miserable 4-2 defeat at Kenilworth Road.

For Luton, arriving on the back of three straight league defeats, there was a welcome return for influential skipper Kevin Nicholls at the heart of the Hatters midfield though the big threat, as ever, would come from the muscular presence of Steve Howard at centre-forward who would no doubt give former Luton favourite Gary Doherty a testing afternoon.

Darren Huckerby takes the acclaim of the Barclay Stand after putting Norwich City 2-0 ahead.

Indeed it was Luton who forced the first save of the match with little more than a minute on the clock when a sharp, snap shot from Dean Morgan forced Robert Green into a relatively simple save down to his right.

Two minutes later and Norwich's hopes of a flying start were answered in stunning fashion as Hughes flashed home an opener.

Thorne and Ashton worked the space well together on the edge of the Luton box before Ashton spread the ball wide to his arriving skipper, all alone on the right-hand corner of the Hatters penalty area.

One touch brought the ball under control the second sent a fabulous 20-yard drive away and beyond Hatters keeper Marlon Beresford.

What was interesting to note was Etuhu's role as he drove forward in familiar, Francis-like fashion and provided the perfect dummy run to enable Hughes the freedom of the penalty area.

The goal was all that both the players and the manager could have asked for particularly against a Luton side so renowned for flying out of the blocks themselves.

Etuhu's emergence as the new Damien gained further credence in the 12th minute when Wright made his first telling contribution of the afternoon as he overlapped well with Hughes away on the right before delivering a teasing ball on to the edge of the six-yard box where Etuhu waited only for his downward header to drift two-yards wide of the left-hand post.

Darren Huckerby squeezes the ball beneath the advancing Luton keeper Marlon Beresford to give the Canaries a two-goal lead.

As the first half progressed so the game descended into a succession of niggly, awkward fouls with Town skipper Kevin Nicholls managing to annoy both new boy Etuhu and Darren Huckerby with his physical approach. It summed up a frustrating spell for the home side when Safri became the first player to be booked as he gently kicked the ball away following the award of yet another half-hearted free-kick.

City's frustration did not, however, last too much longer as they added a second goal in the 25th minute.

As cool and calm as Huckerby's finish was it owed everything to a wonderfully, instinctive back-heel flick from Ashton that wholly carved the Hatters defence open and allowed the Canary winger a free run in on Beresford's goal and the chance to squeeze the ball beneath the advancing Luton keeper.

It was all Worthington could have asked for following his Wolves blast and suggested that Norwich were well on their way to avenging that Kenilworth Road no-show.

With City now comfortably in command, the best moment of individual skill of the half arrived on 32 minutes as Ashton turned brilliantly away under a heavy challenge from Howard before flicking the ball inside the full-back and into the path of an overlapping Drury.

It needed a brave diving save at his feet from Beresford to deny the City full-back a third Norwich goal.

Darren Huckerby celebrates his goal with new-boy Dickson Etuhu.

City's next opportunity arrived in the 37th minute when Safri floated over a deep free-kick which Doherty met at the far post only for his header to loop just the wrong side of Beresford's left-hand post.

Ashton continued to impress, no more so than in the 38th minute when he danced away from at least two Luton tackles before unleashing a well-hit 22-yard drive which Beresford caught well to his right.

At the other end with Doherty and Davenport enjoying the better of their encounter with Howard and Warren Feeney, Luton were left with little more than scraps to feed on though given the fragile nature of Norwich's confidence it was crucial that they headed to the half-time break with their two goal advantage intact.

Before the interval another fabulous back-heel from Ashton almost opened the door for Huckerby only for his first touch to just desert him.

Seconds later and referee Wright brought a thoroughly satisfactory first half to a close with the Canaries looking a wholly different outfit from the one that disappeared in the depths of Bedfordshire four goals adrift after 45 miserable minutes in the corresponding fixture last month.

Keep that advantage intact - or rather keep those three points in the palm of their hand come five o'clock - and things might just start to look a little better.

Half-time: Norwich City 2, Luton Town 0

Within three minutes of the restart new boy Etuhu came agonisingly close to bagging his first goal in Norwich colours.

Once again Ashton was centre stage as he produced the perfect lay-off from a Huckerby cross and back to the feet of the lurking Etuhu who from 22-yards out picked his spot, only for the broad back of Luton centre-half Markus Heikkinen to deflect the ball away for a corner.

Dean Ashton celebrates after Darren Huckerby nets the second goal. Ashton went off injured after 74 minutes.

Encouragingly City were camping themselves firmly in the Luton half as the second half progressed though regular City watchers would take nothing for granted until the final whistle blew.

The City supporters were off their seats in the 58th minute thanks to a fabulous forward run from centre-half Davenport who left two Luton shirts trailing in his wake as he burst half the length of the field before slipping Ashton in through the inside-left channel.

The City striker richly deserved a goal - this time it was Beresford spreading himself well to his left that denied Ashton his reward.

With Norwich continuing to enjoy the greater share of the game Safri almost latched on to a neat Hughes cross while Ashton would see a sweeping, 22-yard drive flash just wide of an upright.

The only downside was a 60th minute booking for Drury for a heavy challenge on Ahmet Brkovic.

He was followed into the book two minutes later by Brkovic himself for a clear trip on Huckerby on the edge of the Luton box.

From the resulting free-kick the Canaries forced two swift corners only for the delivery to fall short on both occasions.

Luton made their first change of the afternoon in the 62nd minute when Enoch Showunmi replaced Feeney.

Norwich's biggest concern of the second period arrived in the 73rd minute when Ashton gingerly left the field having fallen heavily on his left hip.

It was clear almost immediately that the City striker was in no position to carry on and he cut a forlorn figure as he headed away down the tunnel his game over.

Kevin Nicholls confronts Dickson Etuhu after the final whistle.

Ashton's exit prompted the arrival of Ian Henderson alongside Thorne and he was swiftly into the action as he latched on to a Huckerby break only for his 18-yard shot to swerve straight into the waiting arms of Beresford.

With 12 minutes of normal time remaining Worthington made his second change of the afternoon as new-boy Wright disappeared to a warm ovation as he gingerly felt his right thigh.

At least the Canary boss had an experienced replacement as Fleming arrived to fill the hole that Wright left.

Henderson's lively outing continued in the 81st minute when he lured Russell Perrett into a scything challenge which duly earned a yellow card.

Seven minutes from the end and Fleming's vast experience rode to Norwich's rescue with a fabulous last ditch touch to whip the ball off Rowan Vine's head as the Luton substitute looked in position to score.

At the other end Safri almost added a little icing to the cake with a 25-yard blast that flew just wide of Beresford's right-hand post.

Perrett's foul on Henderson came back to haunt him in the second minute of injury time as a high challenge on Thorne led to a second yellow and his early exit via a red.

By now the Canaries were comfortably closing out the game with Nicholls and Etuhu continuing their exchange of views right through to the final whistle.

Result: Norwich City 2, Luton Town 0