Dean Ashton is congratulated by Leon McKenzie after opening the scoring against Man Utd.
Norwich keep hopes alive
By Chris Hatherall. Sunday, 10 April 2005.
Norwich City are TheFA.com’s Team of the Weekend after their stunning victory over Manchester United.
The relegation-threatened Canaries kept their Premiership survival hopes alive with an amazing 2-0 victory at Carrow Road on Saturday.
Goals from England Under-21 star Dean Ashton and fellow striker Leon McKenzie sent Norfolk wild with excitement – and now Norwich Captain Craig Fleming says they can still stay up.
He said: "It was fantastic to beat a club like Man United, one of the biggest clubs in the world. We will never give up hope of staying up. We go to Crystal Palace now next weekend and it’s set up for a massive game. People can write us off if they like but we’re not writing ourselves off and we never will."
Wrexham, who have battled so hard this season just to stay alive, also deserve a mention after winning their first trophy since 1978 by beating Southend 2-0 in the LDV Vans Trophy Final.
Sir Alex Ferguson was in the crowd to watch his son Darren captain Wrexham to victory, scoring his side’s second goal in extra time after Spaniard Juan Ugarte had finally broken the deadlock with his 19th goal of the season.
Ferguson Junior said: "It was a great win and a great moment. The fans have stuck by us and they deserve this. And my dad will be happy too!"
The trophy is extra special for Wrexham because they went into administration earlier in the season and had 10 points deducted under new Football League rules. But now they are hoping for a bright future.
In the Conference, Barnet were once again worthy contenders for this award as they celebrated promotion to the Football League by beating Halifax 3-1 in front of almost 4,000 fans at Underhill.
And in The FA Trophy, Grays Athletic completed a convincing 7-0 aggregate win over Burton in the semi-finals by winning 2-0 away from home. Hucknall were also celebrating after winning 3-2 against Bishop’s Stortford to go through 5-3 on aggregate.
All great results, of course. But you don't get much better than beating mighty Manchester United when you are bottom of the Premiership!