How the Irish fared: Wes Hoolahan pays tribute in ‘amazing’ Norwich farewell
Hoolahan brought down the curtain on his 10-year spell at Carrow Road by scoring a deflected equaliser and setting up the winner as Norwich beat Leeds 2-1 in Saturday’s Championship clash.
As he later reflected, endings don’t get much happier than that: “The send-off, with everyone coming up to me, was very emotional,” he said. “It was a fantastic day. Especially in the second half we were on it and we deserved to win 2-1.
Hoolahan conceded there was a touch of good fortune about his goal after his long-range shot took a big deflection, hit both posts before eventually crossing the line.
“There was a bit of luck involved but I was delighted to see it go in the back of the net. It took forever, and it hit the post and crawled across and I thought it was staying out but I think 27,000 fans roared it in! Then it was a good move to assist Josh (Murphy) and it was a great finish. Then to get the send-off at the end was amazing.”
Saluting Hoolahan, Canaries manager Daniel Farke said: “If I had to paint a picture of how Wes’s career for Norwich would finish that would have been it. He scored a goal, got an assist and put in an excellent performance.”
Alan Browne’s seventh Championship goal of the season ensured Preston will take their play-off battle to the final weekend of the season after a 1-0 win at Sheffield United.
To snatch the final play-off spot, Preston will have to beat Burton Albion at Deepdale next Sunday and hope Barnsley win at Derby. That looks a tall order but Browne’s intervention ensured the dream lives on.
In League One, Graham Carey kept Plymouth’s play-off hopes alive by scoring a last-gasp penalty to secure a 2-1 win over Rotherham. Richie Towell scored for the Millers.
In the Scottish Premiership, a last Conor Sammon penalty cancelled out a Joe Shaughnessy header as Partick Thistle drew 1-1 at St Johnstone.
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