It was one of the most unforgettable afternoons ever at Carrow Road... thanks to a Canadian striker by the name of Simeon Jackson. Chris Lakey reports on the events of nine years ago.
April 25, 2011
Norwich City 3 Derby County 2
Simeon Jackson had found a rich vein of form as City closed in on the Championship title on this day in 2011.
The Canadian international had scored goal number three of a stunning 5-1 win at Ipswich four days earlier to take his personal scoring streak to five in five games.
The lightning-quick striker was making a big impression on everyone: suddenly, he was the main man.
And then Derby County happened... and Simeon Jackson’s name was written down forever in the Norwich City history books.
A sensational hat-trick – the goals beautifully timed in minutes 45, 60 and 90, sent Carrow Road into a yellow and green frenzy.
Goal number one put City ahead just before the break: Grant Holt took a quick throw on the left, lofting the ball over the head of right-back John Brayford for Marc Tierney – who put it in the area where Jackson jumped above Gareth Roberts to head home.
Derby levelled, before Jackson struck again, Andrew Surman playing the ball to Grant Holt on the edge of the area; his back to goal, Holt laid it off immediately to Jackson who clipped it first time into the top corner.
Again Derby came back, and with minutes remaining it looked like a draw was inevitable.
Derby were wasting time at every opportunity – Robbie Savage took a lifetime to go off, replaced by Jeff Hendrick with a minute or three to go. Then Roberts made way for Russell Anderson.
Frustrating, but referee Andy Haines had been keeping count: five minutes of extra time were added on.
Henri Lansbury took a corner on the left, Wes Hoolahan helped it on with a flick of the boot, the ball fell for Russell Martin who lashed a shot goalwards. Alberto Bueno cleared it off the line, it pinged back towards Jackson, hit him in the midriff and went back over the line.
Jackson ran towards the Snakepit to celebrate, yellow shirts giving chase. Cue utter pandemonium at Carrow Road.
When the dust finally settled, City had a one-point advantage over nearest rivals Cardiff with two games left in the battle for second place behind QPR.
Jackson admitted luck had played a massive part.
“To tell you the truth I don’t know what happened in the box for the winner. I just got lucky,” he said. “It hit me in the mid-riff and it went in but I was just delighted that it helped us get the three points. When it went it, it was a bit of shock really because it only just hit me. As the gaffer says, that is what he pays me for. If we can get some more of those between now and the end of the season I’ll be delighted.
“The way we celebrated just shows how much it means to us and the hard work we put in. It was an amazing feeling but we still have two games to go. I don’t know if it was the most important goal of my career. Maybe, but hopefully the next games coming up will seal it off. It was definitely important to get the win.”
The history books will show that Simeon Jackson still had an almighty role to play before this amazing season had finished.
Norwich: Ruddy, Ward, Whitbread (Edwards 57), Tierney, R Martin, Crofts, Surman (Pacheco 71), Fox (Lansbury 67), Hoolahan, Jackson, Holt. Subs not used: Lappin, McNamee, Martin, Rudd.
Goals: Jackson 45, 60, 90
Derby: Jones, Roberts (Anderson 89), Brayford, Ayala, Barker, Savage (Hendrick 87), Bailey, Pearson, Davies (Ball 79), Robinson, Bueno. Subs not used: Davies, Addison, Atkins, Doyle.
Goals: Davies 54, Bueno 63
Referee: Andy Haines
Attendance: 26,078
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here