Paddy Davitt delivers his Ipswich verdict after Norwich City’s Championship derby triumph.
1. Ipswich Town, it’s happened again
What a result for Norwich City. A derby game rightly billed as the biggest renewal in nearly a decade. The stakes could not have been much higher. Bragging rights and points to edge another step closer to the Premier League.
Town 23 points clear of David Wagner’s side at kick-off, and looking down on the rest of the Championship. If Portman Road back in December was a missed opportunity to end their long streak without a derby win, surely this was the day for Kieran McKenna and his Blues?
There were nervy moments to navigate. None more so than that final quarter which ebbed painfully towards Angus Gunn’s goal far too often for those of a green and yellow persuasion.
Town hogged possession again, as they did in Suffolk, but this was a merited win for the hosts.
Marcelino Nunez’s bouncing long range free kick embarrassed Vaclav Hladky, and City could have added to their lead with the magnificent Josh Sargent bursting clear on more than one occasion, as Norwich countered with the type of attacking threat that has become Town’s hallmark under the impressive McKenna.
Ipswich may well recover their poise and seal an improbable second consecutive promotion. But East Anglia remains green and yellow, and Wagner has continued a 15-year period of dominance. He deserves all the credit going.
Although the City head coach was quick to push the praise in the direction of the home fans who created ‘the best atmosphere since he has been in charge’. Four points from six against the best Ipswich side in many a year is a testament to the German and his squad.
2. Scary Sarge
Alas, a 10th consecutive Carrow Road goalscoring game might have eluded Sargent, but his reputation at this level now precedes him. The US international was a marauding presence, and the panic he spread through the Ipswich backline was almost tangible.
The 24-year-old was involved in two big moments in each half when he tumbled under challenges from Axel Tuanzebe and Sam Morsy. Wagner felt the first was the right call but in real-time was adamant it should have been a penalty and a red card for the Ipswich captain.
Instead it was Sargent sprawled on the turf before the close up television pictures captured his incredulity. There were also less eyecatching grappling from Town’s centre backs that escaped cautions from the referee, which told you everything about the desire to try and stop Sargent at source. By fair means or foul.
You also saw again, graphically, in that second half as Ipswich tried to pin the Canaries inside their own half, what an asset Sargent’s pace and athleticism is to counter with intensity and relieve that building pressure.
Wagner’s pre-match revelation his prized forward had finally managed to train for a full week without any issues related to that ankle injury which ruled him out for nearly four months felt like a watershed moment.
If the powerful striker feels pain-free and able to handle the training load then he remains not only a difference maker for the Canaries, but a player opponents will not wish to face on the run-in.
3. Mind games
A game unlike any other in these parts. A neighbourly contest impossible to package as simply just another three points. Even though both McKenna and Wagner tried as much in their pre-match soundbites – and the German repeated the same assertion post-match – no-one was surely buying that narrative.
By common consent the biggest derby since the last time both of these clubs could see the Premier League appearing on the horizon. Back in 2015, Alex Neil’s vintage were too good over those semi-final tussles, and then brushed aside Middlesbrough at Wembley.
Which is why this latest renewal at Carrow Road felt like it came with some heavy psychological baggage.
Prevail, and the uplift not only in terms of the points but the feeling nothing can stand in the way of either club’s assault on the big league would feel intoxicating.
Go the other way, particularly on the Norfolk side of the equation, and the first set of players or management in 15 years to relinquish bragging rights would have felt a heavy burden to carry. One the euphoria subsides, Wagner must attempt to bring the feet of his fans and players back to earth.
There are hard yards ahead, not only to shore up that play-off spot which increasingly looks Norwich’s to claim, but then to navigate a path through knock out football. But if you can hold your nerve in a febrile derby atmosphere then there is nothing to fear.
4. Let’s do it all again?
It would not take a huge chain of events from here in the remaining Championship league games to serve up an East Anglian play-off encore.
Be it two semi-finals to rival 2015 or the ultimate test of nerve at Wembley. Wagner was asked directly about that prospect in his post-match interview, and delivered a one word response to whether there would be any psychological advantage to his side. ‘Yes’.
The heart might not be able to take the tension, tinged with excitement, that grips both fan bases in the build up to these local affairs. But who would not want to relive the sights and sounds at Carrow Road from this latest derby?
The old stadium was bouncing before a ball was kicked. From the daredevil descent from two soldiers atop the roof of the South Stand. To Ipswich slayer Grant Holt striding across the halfway to escort the abseiling duo, and the matchball.
The football allegiance of at least one of the soldiers became clear as he implored the Lower Barclay to turn up the volume as he walked the width of the away section.
From the raucous rendition of the City anthem to the Along Come Norwich organised giant banner unfurled across the Lower Barclay.
A game to savour, a day to be thankful you are alive to experience the quickening pulse that only this type of sporting occasion can induce.
Imagine doing it all again with the jeopardy a place in the Premier League on the line?
