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Norwich City 1 Sheffield United 0
Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell leapt to the defence of two of his players after they got involved in a furious on-pitch row following Norwich's last-gasp winner.
Captain Chris Morgan and substitute Lee Hendrie had to be separated by colleagues as they appeared to blame each other for Lee Croft's stunning late strike.
The goal came down Hendrie's flank, and the former Aston Villa man did little to block Croft's surging run as he played a one-two with Jamie Cureton before blasting the ball past Paddy Kenny.
Morgan might also have blocked the shot and he and Hendrie went forehead-to-forehead before being pulled apart.
There were also reports that the pair continued their argument in the tunnel but Blackwell denied that the row had got physical.
"There is no truth in that whatsoever," said the manager.
"You want players to show passion for the club and passion for their performance.
"There are too many players that walk away now and don't really care.
"If everyone had been patting themselves on the back after Norwich had scored I would have been grabbing people by the throat."
Blackwell felt his side had been the better team and would have won but for a stellar performance by Canaries goalkeeper David Marshall.
"The match should have been over by half-time but if you don't take your chances in this game there is always a risk that you will get punished and this is exactly what has happened today," he said.
"You certainly wouldn't have thought we were the away side today because we really took the game to them but the lad Marshall has made one or two great saves, including one near the end to keep them in it.
"It goes without saying that it is bitterly disappointed to come away from here with nothing but full credit to Norwich for taking their chance. They have taught us a valuable lesson today."
Norwich manager Glenn Roeder felt justice was done when Croft fired home.
"What pleases me most about this win is that we have finally got what we deserved out of the match," he said.
"On more than one occasion this season that hasn't been the case. It was a tough game and David Marshall has had to make one or two saves, certainly a lot more than he has made so far this season. But overall it would have been an injustice had we got nothing out of this game and it just shows the importance of the late save he made."
Norwich City: Marshall, Otsemobor, Grounds, Omozusi, Drury (Hoolahan 68), Croft, Fotheringham, Pattison (Lupoli 25), Bertrand, Sibierski, Russell, Lupoli (Cureton 65). Unused substitutes: Nelson, Archibald-Henville.
Sheffield United: Kenny, Halford, Morgan, Kilgallon, Naysmith, Cotterill (Naughton 84), Speed, Montgomery, Quinn (Hendrie 71), Beattie, Sharp (Webber 56). Unused substitutes: Gillespie, Ehiogu.
Referee: P Crossley (Kent).
Man of the match: David Marshall.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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