The East Anglian Derby is often a game that one cannot enjoy until the final whistle has sounded, but today was different. Comfortable, solid, outstanding; Norwich breezed past the long-ball merchants and into third place in the table. The top-scorer in the Championship, Daryl Murphy, didn’t leave Seb Bassong’s back pocket all afternoon, with the Cameroonian being an absolute rock at the heart of defence.
The opening ten minutes was that normally associated with a derby game – scrappy, with the ball spending more time in the air than on the deck. Whilst Norwich grew out of that style as the game progressed, Ipswich did not. It was only going to be one man who opened the scoring for City. Bradley Johnson – who should walk the Player Of The Season trophy – nailed an absolutely thunderous strike into the top corner of the net after Lewis Grabban’s clever cut-back. Grabban, playing as a lone striker in a 4-4-1-1 formation, ran the Ipswich defence ragged all game; hassling and harrying, he never gave their centre backs an inch of space.
Whilst Ipswich insisted on trying to break the indestructible centre back pairing of Russ Martin and Bassong with long ball after long ball, they were not to be beaten. One chance, however, fell to Freddie Sears after Alex Tettey’s misplaced pass and Martin Olsson’s poor marking allowed the ex-Colchester striker the chance from 12 yards out. But it was John Ruddy who would come out on top, smothering the space and using his legs to deflect the ball high and over the bar to keep Norwich’s slender advantage in tact. Half-time provided a welcome relief to a hectic half, which felt like it had lasted closer to three hours rather than the regulatory 45 minutes. Relaxation was clearly on the minds of the fans, but the respective managers must have had very different team talks in the dressing room.
Whilst the first half had been a fairly even affair, the second half was far from it – excluding a 10-minute spell in which Ipswich were bright and threatening. Norwich were allowed a lot more space, comfortable in knocking the ball about and drawing ‘Olé!’s from the Barclay. Nathan Redmond provided a neat spark on the wing but often looked slightly blunt, and was withdrawn for a more physical presence in Cameron Jerome, with the Norwich top-scorer having an instant impact. He cut inside onto his right foot, and his shot was deflected and scrambled over the line by the in-form Grabban, who wheeled away in sheer delight. At 2-0, the game was dead; the three points were secure. Ipswich never really looked in danger of mounting a serious challenge to Norwich’s position and they were resigned to seeing the Canaries leap-frog them into third place.
The confidence from Norwich fans pre-match was not misplaced, with the players matching their passion and enthusiasm and subsequently running out deserved winners. Bassong was, in my opinion, the clear man of the match, yet the award was given to Wes Hoolahan. Jonny Howson ran the game again from midfield, with the highlight being an exquisite defence-splitting pass to Jerome who really should have scored when through one-on-one. Steven Whittaker continued his resurgence with an excellent display, whilst Brad Johnson did what he does best. John Ruddy made a couple of decisive saves which clearly impacted on the game, and he deserves his fifth clean sheet in seven games. Six wins on the bounce; up to third; one point off second; it’s a great time to be a Norwich fan. Alex Neil has led a resurgence that no team in the Championship can stop or challenge, easily brushing aside all those ahead of us. So, Ipswich fans, mind the gap.
Because, after all, WE ARE THE PRIDE OF ANGLIA.
