MATCH STATS FULHAM: Van der Sar, Volz, Bocanegra, Malbranque, Knight, Goma, Boa Morte, Clark, Bouba Diop, McBride, Radzinski. Subs: Crossley, Pembridge, Rehman, Pearce, Cole (for Boa Morte, 85). NORWICH CITY: Green, Helveg, Drury, Fleming, Shackell, Francis, Safri, Huckerby, Bentley, Ashton, McKenzie Subs: Ward, Holt (for Safri, 33), Charlton, Jonson (for Helveg, 45), Svensson (for Bentley, 58). SCORERS: Fulham: McBride (10, 85); Bouba Diop (34); Knight (54); Malbranque (71); Cole (90). TOP CANARY: EDP: Darren Huckerby Evening News: The fans Pink 'Un Poll: Huckerby (38%) ATTENDANCE: 21,927 REFEREE: Steve Dunn (Gloucestershire). YELLOW CARDS: Norwich: Helveg (18) RED CARDS: None. SHOTS ON TARGET: Fulham 16, Norwich 2 SHOTS OFF TARGET: Fulham 3, Norwich 7 CORNERS: Fulham 3, Norwich 13 FOULS:  Fulham 11, Norwich 13 OFFSIDES:  Fulham 1, Norwich 5

Sunday May 15, 2005
RICK WAGHORN

Norwich's brave escape effort had a sorry ending as they dropped out of the
Barclays Premiership following a six-goal thrashing at Fulham.

A series of spirited displays had left the fate of Nigel Worthington's men in
their own hands going into today's clash.

But another great display failed to materialise at Craven Cottage, as the home side took an early lead through Brian McBride and never looked back.

The 6,500 massed ranks of Canaries supporters were left crestfallen as the
reality of a return to the Coca-Cola Championship dawned - but the Norfolk club will have won many friends, if ultimately not enough points, for a positive approach on their first campaign back in the top-flight for nine seasons.

As the Canaries prepared for potentially the game of their lives away at Fulham this afternoon, so City chief Nigel Worthington was at least able to throw a fully fit team into battle with both Adam Drury and Youssef Safri shrugging off their respective knocks to take their place in an unchanged Norwich line-up.

With City defending the goal in front of the City supporters the game opened at a fast and furious pace with the West London side showing little signs of having little to play for.

Despite a bright and positive opening, City’s worst fears were realised in the 10th minute when Fulham opened the scoring.

It was, in all fairness the simplest of strikes as Tomasz Radzinski rode through the inside-right channel before feeding a neat ball into American international striker Brian McBride who drilled his shot beneath the advancing Robert Green to break a thousand Norfolk hearts gathered in the stand behind the Canary keeper’s goal.

6,500 Norwich City fans turned the Putney End at Craven Cottage into a sea of yellow and green.

Once more Norwich were going to have to win a game the hard way — coming from behind if they had any hope of preserving their prized Premiership status.

Norwich’s best chance of the opening spell arrived in the 16th minute when some excellent work from Dean Ashton found his cross arriving on the head of the diving Craig Fleming only for the City skipper’s fierce header to be inadvertently blocked by Leon McKenzie.

A minute later and the game had its first booking as Thomas Helveg saw yellow for a late lunge on Luis Boa Morte.

In the 25th minute City did at least have the ball in the net as Ashton turned strongly away from Zat Knight and smashed the ball home only for referee Steve Dunn to whistle for a foul — if only on the basis of TV replay a harsh decision given it was little more than shoulder to shoulder stuff.

Further evidence that Norwich’s afternoon was not going to plan arrived just after the half-hour mark when Youssef Safri sadly trudged away to the touchline with what would appear to be a recurrence of his groin strain. In his place arrived Gary Holt who was at least granted a supportive welcome from the increasingly anxious Canary fans.

What was once a minor foothill to climb became the proverbial mountain in the 34th minute when Fulham extended their lead.

Robert Green is helpless to stop Pape Bouba Diop's free-kick extending Fulham's lead to 2-0.

Francis fouled Boa Morte 10-yards outside the Canary box and from the resulting free-kick the returning Pape Bouba Diop swept a wonderful 25-yard shot high over the Norwich wall and beyond the despairing dive of Norwich keeper Robert Green.

If the Canaries were to preserve their Premiership status after this it would indeed be the greatest escape in Premiership history.

Norwich’s hopes of prising anything out of this do-or-die encounter almost ended completely two minutes before the break when Volz’s low cross found McBride storming in at the near post and his first-time touch flicked the ball away, beyond and above Green only to slam back off the underside of the Norwich bar.

Moments later as half-time loomed so it took an excellent, forceful tackle from young Jason Shackell to rip the ball off Boa Morte’s toe as the Fulham striker prepared to shoot goalward.

Half-time: Fulham 2, Norwich 0

City boss Nigel Worthington used the half-time break to make his second change of the afternoon as Helveg gave way to Mattias Jonson at right-back.

Robert Green's face sums up the feelings of all Norwich City followers as the goals continued to rain in.

The second half was barely two minutes old when Huckerby sped clean through only for his touch to desert him at the crucial moment as the covering Volz slammed the door shut as the Canary winger broke into the Fulham box.

At the other end it took another excellent covering tackle from Shackell to deny Radzinski as the former Everton winger worked himself free through the inside-right channel.

Norwich’s hopes of looking after their own fate at Craven Cottage this afternoon ended in the 54th minute when gangling Fulham centre-half Zat Knight smashed home their third goal.

Once again the wound was largely self-inflicted as Fleming and Jonson went for the same header and only ended up in presenting Knight with a reasonable chance from 15-yards out.

The finish that followed was exemplary as he swept the ball between a helpless Green and his left-hand post.

Dean Ashton shows his emotions at the final whistle at Craven Cottage.

All eyes now turned to events at The Valley, St Mary’s and The Hawthorns with Norwich’s Premiership future now resting on the inability of others to either win or draw their last game.

In the 58th minute Worthington made his last throw of the dice with Svensson replacing Bentley.

To their credit Norwich did continue to press forward with Jonson forcing a save out of Van der Sar in the 62nd minute while Shackell headed well wide after a deflected shot from Ashton looped up invitingly.

Steed Malbranque heaped yet further misery on the Canaries in the 71st minute with the home side’s fourth goal.

A dejected Leon McKenzie wipes away tears at the final whistle.

With the Canaries committed to pushing forward at every opportunity Fulham were by now enjoying acres of space every time they countered and though Boa Morte might have been ushered wide by the covering Green as he broke forward in the 71st minute so his pull-back found Malbranque unmarked on the edge of the Norwich box and although substitute Holt did manage to stretch a despairing boot at Malbranque’s shot he could do little more than guide it into the roof of Green’s net.

With Palace a goal to the good at The Valley courtesy of yet another Andrew Johnson penalty so the Championship was beckoning for the Norfolk side.

Five minutes from the end and McBride grabbed his second of the afternoon. Once again it was the simplest of runs and the simplest of finishes that undid the Canaries as Malbranque’s neat through ball inside the inside-left channel found McBride free between Fleming and Jonson and his shot was drilled unerringly inside Green’s left-hand post.

Roger Munby salutes City's fans at Craven Cottage.

In the final minute of normal time substitute Andy Cole banged the final painful nail in Norwich’s Premiership coffin when he latched on to a McBride cross and back-heeled the ball beyond a despairing Green with Norwich’s spirits and resistance long since broken.

It was a painful way to depart the top flight after making such a gallant fight of it over the last six weeks.

The one saving grace was the performance of the supporters who outshone everyone else in the Canary shirts on a day when many a survival dream died.

Result: Fulham 6, Norwich City 0