Harbinger Of Glory

When the whistle went, Norwich were already moving.

Eager to keep up their appearances and reputation, they eagerly snapped into the pressing machine they had become known for since the start of the season.

Wigan tried to build from the back using simple exchanges between the centre-halves, but the yellow shirts closed in fast.

A minute after the game began, Sargent curved his run to block the passing lane, forcing the ball wide.

And when the ball got there, the fullback there, Ryan Nyambe, barely had time to look up before he was pressed against the touchline.

”Immediate pressure from the home side,” the commentator noted.

”They’ve started on the front foot as we expected!”

Ryan Nyambe quickly tried to get the ball away, but the clearance was rushed.

It dropped straight back to a Norwich midfielder thirty yards out, and the first warning came after that, in the third minute.

A quick switch of play, right to left, caught Wigan stretched.

Taking on the ball, Norwich’s Kieran Dowell drove inside from the right side, forcing Joe Bennet to backtrack, but before the latter could get his thoughts together, Dowell clipped a teasing ball toward the far post.

”He’s sent it in,”

the commentary came through while bodies collided.The ball ricocheted awkwardly in the six-yard box, slowing down at the last minute, and for a split second, it sat there.

Adam Idah, who hadn’t anticipated the ball well, tried to grab onto the shirt of Whatmough, trying to use the latter as a ramp of sorts.

Still, the Wigan defensive wall was able to shrug off the Norwich striker before swinging a boot through it and sending it high into the stands on the left for a throw-in!

The home crowd groaned in unison at the chance squandered while Adam Idah, now on the ground, let his frustrations out at the grass.

”That was a very much-needed clearance by Whatmough,” the commentary judged. ”A second later, and Sargent might have smashed it in even if Idah hadn’t been able to!”

On the touchline, Dawson exhaled slowly but said nothing.

While on the pitch, Max Power turned and clapped sharply at Whatmough before turning towards the rest of his mates.

”Keep calm!” the captain barked. ”That’s the warning, and it’s only just the 3rd!”

Norwich didn’t retreat.

From the throw, they recycled and came again.

By the sixth minute, the crowd in the stadium had grown louder and much more expectant because their team was getting closer and closer towards putting the ball into the back of the net of the Wigan goal!

”A clever one-two to get away. Now Idah is on the run, he has options,” the commentary fired off rapidly as the striker bore down on the Wigan goal!

In the next second, a return pass slipped through into the channel, and suddenly Sargent was free, angling toward goal.

SHOOOOOOOOOTTTT!!

The Norwich fans behind the Wigan goal roared, and so the American forward heeded!

”It’s Sargeeennntt!!!!” the commentators bellowed simultaneously as the effort left the former’s foot, travelling sharply towards the near post, low and hard!

It looked as good as a goal.

But the goalkeeper got down quickly and showed a palm strong enough to push it wide.

The rebound spun dangerously across the face of the goal before Idah got on the end, but before he could get a shot away, Charlie Hughes slid in dangerously and hacked it clear from his feet!

”HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!!!” the Norwich fans behind the goal roared with their hands on their head, calling out ’Penalty!’, but the match official shook his head while Idah lay on the ground with his hands raised to the sky, while the rest of Carrow Road erupted in frustration.

”Oh, that was inches away from being one-nil,” the commentator said, voice rising with the replay.

”Brilliant movement, and Wigan are struggling to track those inside runs.”

”You could hear the Norwich fans calling for a penalty, but the official says no and rightfully so. I think Charlie does just enough to clear the ball away without too much contact,” the co-commentator came through as the broadcast camera cut to Dawson on the sidelines, who stepped forward, shouting instructions and gesturing for his midfield to drop a yard deeper.

Across from him, Wagner clapped his hands together, urging more of the opposite.

”Mount it!” he roared, cupping his mouth so his players could hear him over the livid Norwich fans, still sour about the penalty decline!

”It’s been all Norwich as we approach the quarter-hour mark,” the commentary came as Wigan won the ball back and attempted to string a sequence together with a brief spell of possession that drew ironic cheers from the home fans.

Fletcher, not having that much of an impact on the game, tried to drive through the middle but was clipped just as he turned.

The official’s whistle came through as the pause gave Wigan another chance to breathe.

Max Power stood over the ball, scanning the box before delivering it long when the whistle came through.

The ball floated toward the back post, met by a glancing header that drifted harmlessly wide.

The few travelling supporters applauded from the corner section, their voices thin, but it got thinnner a second later!

”Quick start by Norwich once more as they look to counter,” the commentary came through, sounding almost devastating.

The home side worked the ball quickly and inside with two sharp passes, then slipped through to the overlapping fullback.

He cut it back low across the 12-yard spot, with the ball swerving between legs and failed attempts to clear it!

”Is there a finish?” the commentator questioned as the ball rolled perfectly to a Norwich midfielder arriving late.

And he struck it clean.

Too cleanly because in the next second, the shot thundered against the underside of the bar and bounced down, dangerously close to the line before spinning out.

”Yessssss, Oh- no,” the commentary came, sounding a bit confused because for a heartbeat, the stadium thought it was in as arms shot up, but the assistant referee kept his flag down, letting the match go on as Ben Amos slowly sat down, grabbing his foot.

”What a let-off,” the commentator breathed. ”Wigan living dangerously here inside the first seventeen minutes.”

Max Power turned again, clapping hard at his back line, voice cutting through the noise.

”Switch on! Switch on,” he said, but even he knew what he was saying was a hard ask when they didn’t really have any anchor to hold them!

On the sideline, Dawson’s jaw was tight now, like he was coming to a decision, and while the referee was checking up on Ben Amos, he called Tiehi from the bench!