ADAM IDAH NETTED a winning goal deep into stoppage time for Norwich as they came from behind to beat Hull City at Carrow Road on the opening day of the Championship.
Idah started on the bench but was sprung by David Wagner with four minutes of normal time remaining, coming on to replace summer signing Ashley Barnes. The Irish international made an instant impact, poking in from close range in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win the game.
Earlier, Shane Duffy made a difficult start to life at the club, as his error led to Liam Delap’s opening goal for Hull. Duffy got in a muddle with defensive partner Ben Gibson, and was caught in possession by Delap, who skated clear and lashed the ball into the roof of the net. Norwich equalised in first-half stoppage time through Jonathan Rowe.
Stephen Kenny was in attendance at Carrow Road, but had to content with seeing the bulk of the Irish players come off the bench: Andrew Omobamidele came on to play alongside Duffy with 15 minutes remaining.
Irish U21 international Harry Vaughan started for Hull, with all of Sean McLoughlin, Aaron Connolly, and Cyrus Christie introduced midway through the second half.
Elsewhere, former Shamrock Rovers forward Aidomo Emakhu came off the bench to set up the winning goal for Millwall away to Middlesbrough, Romain Esse’s strike enough to seal a 1-0 win.
Elsewhere, Mark Travers made a Championship debut for Stoke City in their 4-1 win against Rotherham, with Enda Stevens also playing all 90 minutes for the Potters following his move from Sheffield United.
Will Keane scored a late equalising goal for Preston against Bristol City, for whom Jason Knight made a full debut after his summer move from Derby.
Sam Szmodics created what proved to be the winning goal in Blackburn’s 2-1 win at home to West Brom.
Plymouth made a successful start to life in the Championship, meanwhile, beating Huddersfield 3-1.
Swansea and Birmingham shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, while QPR crashed to a shocking 4-0 loss away to Watford. QPR – who lost 5-0 to League One’s Oxford in a pre-season friendly last week – fell behind within a minute of the season’s start and pitifully trailed 4-0 at half-time.
In League One, Derby were beaten 2-1 by Wigan Athletic, while in League Two, Wrexham’s season began with a 5-3 thumping at home to MK Dons. Wrexham’s Eoghan O’Connell opened the scoring but in the wrong net, with Anthony Forde adding the final goal for Wrexham in a crazy game.
James McClean, signed yesterday from Wigan, was not part of the Wrexham squad so his first game may ironically come against Wigan in the League Cup on Tuesday.
David McGoldrick, meanwhile, netted on his return to Notts County, but his side felt the full force of a 15th-minute red card and were hammered 5-1 away to Sutton United.
Championship results
- Blackburn 2-1 West Brom
- Bristol City 1-1
- Middlesbrough 0-1 Millwall
- Norwich 2-1 Hull
- Plymouth 3-1 Huddersfield
- Stoke 4-1 Rotherham
- Swansea 1-1 Birmingham
- Watford 4-0 QPR
