Falkenbergs FF 0, Norwich City 3

David Cuffley

City boss Glenn Roeder declared himself pleasantly surprised with the ease with which his rebuilt side disposed of Swedish second division opponents in their second tour match last night.

Goals from Darel Russell, Lee Croft and Jamie Cureton - who produced another excellent finish - secured a comfortable victory over Falkenbergs FF at sunny Stafsinge.

Roeder had to reshuffle his side because of continuing injury problems, especially in defence, but the Canaries were on top throughout with some slick passing against their highest-ranked pre-season opponents so far.

Now City return home for friendlies against Tottenham next Monday and Colchester on Saturday week in good heart.

Said Roeder: "I thought we stepped on a lot tonight compared to Saturday. Saturday was decent but this is a lot stronger team and yet the way we played you would never have guessed.

"The improvement from Saturday to tonight surprised me. I wasn't expecting us to play as well as that. I obviously wanted us to, but the pleasant surprise was that we totally dominated from start to finish."

Defender Elliot Omozusi made his first appearance in Norwich City colours in tonight's friendly against Falkenbergs FF in Sweden.

The 19-year-old lined up in the centre of defence in an unfamiliar back four for City because of injuries to Jason Shackell, Gary Doherty, Michael Spillane and Adam Drury, still not considered fit to return to action.

There was another outing for triallist striker Chris Makiese after his goal against Ahlafors IF on Saturday, but he had a quiet night and was replaced by Chris Martin with more than half an hour left.

Kick-off at Stafsinge IP was delayed by 15 minutes because of the late arrival of the City team.

It took City less than four minutes to take the lead when Darel Russell scored with a powerful header from a corner by skipper Mark Fotheringham.

But Falkenbergs almost levelled within a minute, David Svensson crossing for Tobias Nilsson to test David Marshall with a low drive that the goalkeeper blocked with his body.

Jamie Cureton then fired just wide and Russell had a low drive saved by 'keeper Stojan Lukic as the Canaries continued to hold the upper hand.

Apart from Nilsson's early effort, the host found it difficult to get out of their own half in the first quarter of an hour, though Joel Johansson fired wide left-footed in a rare break.

Cureton headed over in another attack from a cross by Lee Croft.

Eight minutes before the break, Svensson brought Marshall into action again with a low drive that the keeper grabbed, diving to his right.

Though City dominated possession and forced a succession of corners, they were unable to stretch their lead until three minutes before the interval when Croft forced the ball home from a cross by Wes Hoolahan.

City's back four, with Omozusi and Clingan as centre-backs and Matty Pattison at left-back, looked assured despite their lack of familiarity.

t Half-time: Falkenbergs FF 0, Norwich City 2

After the break, Clingan came to the rescue with an important block to deny substitute Oskar Andersson after an error by Marshall.

Roeder made his first substitution of the night when Martin replaced Makiese and, almost immediately, Cureton made it 3-0 with a delightful chip from the corner of the penalty area.

With a three-goal lead, City started to ring the changes with three more substitutes introduced at intervals.

Luke Chadwick, Robert Eagle and Korey Smith replaced Cureton, Hoolahan and Russell, respectively.

Pattison almost made it 4-0 11 minutes from time with a volley direct from Fotheringham's corner, but substitute keeper Joakim Wulff was equal to his effort.

With five minutes left, Croft made way for Academy youngster David Stephens, called into the squad after representing his age group for Wales in a tournament in Sweden.

It was an impressive display by the Canaries, with Omozusi and Clingan, in particular, taking the eye, the whole display watched by ex-Canary Mathias Svensson, a popular visitor with the travelling fans from Norwich.

t Result: Falkenbergs FF 0, Norwich City 3

t Falkenbergs FF (4-5-1) - Lukic; Englen, Gustavsson, Torbjornsson, Carlsson; Aguila, Svensson, Ganemyr, Nilsson, Fagercrantz; Joel Johansson. Subs: Wulff, Joza, Boman, Mendel, Kullsjo, Erik Johansson, Gassi, Yussuf, Svan, Sjogeren, Holmqvist, Andersson.

t Norwich City(4-4-2) - Marshall; Otsemobor, Omozusi, Clingan, Pattison; Croft (Stephens, 85 min), Fotheringham, Russell (Smith, 76 min), Hoolahan (Eagle, 72 min); Cureton (Chadwick, 65 min), Makiese (Martin, 58 min). Subs (not used): Nelson, Lathrope.

t Referee - Kristoffer Karlsson.