Norwich City have taken a giant step towards regaining their place back in the Premier League, having taken a 2-0 lead into half time of this afternoon's playoff final against Middlesbrough.
Alex Neil's men, who were relegated from the top flight 12 months ago, found the net twice early on to leave the Smoggies facing an almighty task.
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The contest got off to a storming start as both sides rattled the crossbar inside the opening 10 minutes. Bradley Johnson, who has 15 goals to his name this campaign, was first to be denied as he rifled in a superb shot from the edge of the box, while Jelle Vossen did likewise up the other end just 32 seconds later.
It was Norwich who claimed first blood, though, as Cameron Jerome made light work of the division's strongest defence to waltz through and tuck the ball beyond Dimi Konstantopoulos.
Boro, whose pre-match preparations got off to a bad start when they arrived at the ground less than an hour before kickoff, then found themselves two down with just 15 minutes on the clock.
Nathan Redmond, lively throughout the opening stages, rounded off a fine passing move by controlling Steven Whittaker's pass and blasting home a low finish across goal.
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The Smoggies had been boosted coming into this match by the return to fitness of striker Patrick Bamford, but the Chelsea loanee struggled to receive the service he has become so accustomed to throughout this season, as Boro upped their search for a route back into the game.
Chances proved to be limited for both sides for the remainder of the first half, however, which would have suited City much more than their shell-shocked opponents, with Aitor Karanka's side failing to register a single shot on target prior to the interval.
Follow live coverage of the second half from Wembley right here.
Daniel Lewis
