Chris Lakey David Marshall single-handedly turned back the red tide on Saturday - but says he knew little about the early save which prevented him being beaten by a David Beckham-style effort.

Chris Lakey

David Marshall single-handedly turned back the red tide on Saturday - but says he knew little about the early save which prevented him being beaten by a David Beckham-style effort.

The Canaries keeper was called into action within the first 60 seconds, and by the quarter-hour mark had added a penalty save to his list of jobs well done for the afternoon.

Barnsley midfielder Diego Leon saw Marshall off his line and, from just inside the City half, tried to sneak a long shot under the crossbar, only to see the Scot scramble back and tip his effort over the bar - although Marshall said there was an element of good fortune.

“No keeper likes that at all,” he said. “It's a horrible one and with the sun I never actually saw it at all. I just put my hands up - it was terrible with the sun. It was difficult in the first half so the back four did pretty well to get to half-time.”

It was an early call to arms, but on 13 minutes, Marshall had to face his fourth penalty of the season - this time keeping out Jon Macken's poor kick down to his left after Matty Pattison had been penalised for handball.

The sun didn't play a part this time - but Macken's body language did.

“I saw him looking to my right and I thought he was just looking to my right as if he's going to place it there, so I just read him,” said Marshall. “But I don't think it was the best of penalties.

“It's about time I saved a penalty and it was a good time to save it. Obviously we didn't play too well today so a clean sheet was our only chance of getting a point.”

Having denied Sheffield United seven days earlier with a superb save late on, Marshall now has two clean sheets under his belt, and says he's happy with his form.

“It's been good,” he said. “A lot of it can be luck as well so you just keep on playing. I think I could have saved a few penalties early season as well so I just keep plugging away.

“I am happy at the moment, but a bit disappointed with the result - but it's a big game on Tuesday at Southampton and hopefully we can get three points there.”

Marshall (below) shared the frustration of manager Glenn Roeder, who was quick to praise his goalkeeper's contribution.

“You have to give credit to Barnsley. They made it difficult for us to play right from the first few seconds when the lad had the David Beckham-style shot,” said Roeder. “It was a fantastic save from David Marshall to get back as quick as he did and tip it over.

“It (the penalty) happened so quickly I didn't see it, but apparently it did hit his hand so that constitutes a penalty - but it was nice to see David Marshall save one as well. He has had to face too many this year - let's hope there's no more.”

Marshall's frustration with City's performance was tempered by his satisfaction at bringing back a point.

“I am pretty happy with the result, because it is not often that you play like that, so poorly, and get a point out of the game,” he said. “So we are frustrated with our performance but not the result considering the way we played.

“I was thinking at half-time that last year in the second half here we played brilliant down the slope and I just thought we would have turned around and got going, but we never got going. We will have to be a lot better on Tuesday to get anything.

“You have to give Barnsley credit; they're not fighting for their lives because it's early days, but they started bottom of the table today and it is obviously a difficult place to come and they have a point to prove to their fans and the manager, so we give them a bit of credit.”

t Barnsley goalkeeper Heinz Muller said the Tykes did everything but score on Saturday.

“We had a great chance with the penalty,” he said. “You cannot blame Jon (Macken) for missing a penalty. Anyone can miss a penalty at any time. Scoring goals is our problem at the moment. We have performed very well today but we have just been missing a goal.

“We have put in a very, very good performance this afternoon. We have just missed the one goal to win the game.

“We have kept two clean sheets and have not lost. That is a positive although we have to start scoring goals. It is important for the team to continue playing well. I am part of the team and we all benefit when we do well.”