Norwich City XI vs Harwich & Parkeston
8th September 2002

To mark the centenary of Norwich City's first ever competitive match, a team of former Canaries took on Harwich & Parkeston, who were Norwich's first opponents. Back in 1902, the match finished 1-1 but 100years later, the scoreline was 5-4 to the Norwich City XI

Lineup:

BRYAN GUNN
JOHN POLSTON
ROB NEWMAN
JON NEWSOME
TONY SPEARING
NEIL ADAMS
PETER MENDHAM
IAN CROOK
JEREMY GOSS
DALE GORDON
ROBERT FLECK

SUBS:
MERVYN CAWSTON, GREG DOWNS, PHIL HOADLEY, DAVE WATSON, PAUL WILSON, PHIL LYTHGOE, GARRY BROOKE, MARK BARHAM, ALAN TAYLOR, JOHN DEEHAN, KEVIN REEVES, ROGER GIBBINS, GREIG SHEPHERD, MIKE MILLIGAN, GARY SARGENT, KEITH ROBSON

The starting line-up consisted of three former internationals (Gunn, Goss, Fleck) and others capped at B or Under-21 level (Crook, Gordon,Adams). Most of the team had played professional football within the past 10years and were fairly fit. Dale Gordon got the game off to a exciting start with a goal after just 4minutes, showing that his silky skills were not lost. Although Harwich equalised in the 11th minute when they took advantage of the lack of pace in the thirty-something Norwich defence. However the ex-Canaries were wise to this tactic and played an effective offside trap. Disco Gordon got his second on 18minutes to put the Canaries up in front. Peter Mendham added a third and then Neil Adams struck a brace to give Norwich a 5-1 half-time advantage. It was far from being a walkover though and the Harwich keeper pulled off a number of good saves. However the difference in clas was noticeable depsite the fact that most of the Norwich side had retired through injury. Newsome was solid in defence and Dale Gordon's skills still amazed the crowd as the ball seemed to stick to his feet. Crook and Adams' passing was still spot on although the old tactic of playing the high ball to Robert Fleck didn't work, just as it didn't in the 80s or 90s. As for Mr Fleck, he entertained the crowd with his efforts and his banter with the bench - which by the way was managed by Ken Brown, John Bond and Mel Machin. The kids of today though have no respect for history as the five year old in front of me scremaed out "take him off" when an effort from Fleck ballooned over the bar. When his next attempt, a scissor kick whistled past the post, some wit in the crowd observed that Scotland could have done with Fleck on their trip to the Faroes Isles the day before.

Whenever I read Roy of the Rovers as a youngster, matches between the current Rovers and the veterans often resulted in the old-timers winning and being called back to help Rovers with an injury crisis. Based on Norwich abysmal showing in the 3-0 home defeat to Cheltenham two days after the centenary match, maybe there's a need to register Mr Gordon, Newsome, Adams, Crook and Mendham for the current squad ?

The second half saw Norwich make a number of substitutes, most of whom were from an older generation of players thus resulting in the game slowing to an almost pedestrian pace. The young legs on the Harwich team were too strong for the older Canaries and they pulled back into the game despite Norwich's advantage of an extra player. Not that there wasn't any injuries or sendings-off - rather that in one mass NCFC substitution, five came on but only four left the field. Harwich soon added to their ranks to even things out. Of the substitutes, Dave Watson looked strong in defence and Mark Barham still had pace on the flanks and the ability to cross the ball. Of the Norwich side in the second half, there were internationals (Barham, Reeves, Milligan, Watson) and Cup Winners (Watson, Downs, Taylor). Even former physio Tim Shepherd got a run out when one of the pensioners took a knock.

After the match finished with the Canaries hanging on to a 5-4 victory in their centenary shirts, a buffet dinner was provided giving fans the opportunity to meet and mingle with their former favourites. Nearly all those I spoke to were extremely pleasant but special mention must go to Dave Bennett, Kevin Reeves, Simon Ratcliffe, Jon Newsome, Roger Hansbury and Kevin Drinkell.