Maybe they should make mercurial matchwinner Mark Kennedy the patron saint of lost causes at Maine Road.

In a game that appeared to be meandering towards a forgettable bore-draw, the Eire international suddenly turned the match on its head with two stunning late goals within a minute of each other.

Kennedy's double ended a personal scoring drought stretching back almost six months.

Unstoppable for the first 15 minutes, Kennedy was then virtually anonymous before his late match-winning heroics which broke the heart of a disciplined Norwich side who surely felt they had done enough to claim a point.

Blues boss Joe Royle had been forced to reshuffle his side with Robert Taylor pulling up in training yesterday with a calf strain.

Royle brought in Paul Dickov as well as Danny Granville for Danny Tiatto at left back.

Not that the changes appeared to have unsettled City who set off at a whirlwind pace.

Canaries boss Bruce Rioch's defensive master-plan was left in tatters as early as the second minute when Goater claimed his 21st goal of the season.

But Norwich bounced back to level through Iwan Roberts who seems to be making a habit of scoring against the Blues.

As City went off the boil a grateful Norwich comfortably soaked up what little spark the home side could provide in a muted performance.

And with the game seemingly petering out despite Royle's bid to pep up proceedings with a couple of substitutions, up popped Kennedy to break Norwich's hearts.

A defensive mix up, with right back Daryl Sutch the chief culprit, saw him beating the turf in frustration as he looked up to see Kennedy latch on to his weak clearance and rifle an unstoppable shot past keeper Robert Green.

Unbelievably it happened again just a minute later as, in a carbon copy move, Kennedy was again allowed the freedom to crack home his sixth strike of the season from an identical position.

And Kennedy even had time to stake his claim for the match ball only for Green to deny his 25-yard injury time free kick with a fine finger-tip save.

Teams:

Man City: Weaver, Edghill (Pollock 79), Wiekens, Horlock, Bishop, Goater, Jobson, Whitley, Kennedy, Granville, Dickov (Allsopp 61).

Subs Not Used: Fenton, Grant, Wright.

Booked: Dickov.

Goals: Goater 3, Kennedy 82, 83.

Norwich: Green, Sutch, Fuglestad, Milligan (L. Marshall 86), Carey (de Blasiis 86), Mackay, Jackson, Roberts, Dalglish, Russell (Forbes 86), Llewellyn.

Subs Not Used: A. Marshall, Wilson.

Booked: Milligan, Dalglish.

Goals: Roberts 15.

Att: 32,681

Ref: T Bates (Stoke on Trent).