Norwich City v Ipswich Town
Saturday 6th April 2024 – 15:00
Carrow Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike
I said a couple of weeks ago that I was lost for words when it comes to this club and what we keep on producing game after game but following Monday's sensational late win against fellow promotion hopefuls Southampton I really am struggling to describe just how I feel and I am genuinely running out of compliments for this set of players and Manager with his backroom staff, it is just on a completely different level.
The build up to the game was clearly one of trepidation given how ordinary we had been just Three days earlier at Blackburn, add to that the undoubted quality and ability within the Saints squad and their need to win meant we were facing One hell of a tough game, but it was One we dare not lose such is the situation at the top of the table.
The game started well for Town and a cracking early strike from Leif Davis gave us just the start we needed, the lead inside Fifteen Minutes and something to build on, or so we thought, Sadly the lead lasted seconds as Southampton got themselves back on level terms almost immediately, with Davis out of position Southampton broke away down our left and in acres of space they crossed for Adams to score, at the time we were all screaming offside at the officials but replays clearly showed Davis to be playing them onside.
If that wasn't a big enough blow it wasn't long before we found ourselves behind, this time we were carved open by some excellent Southampton play, this time down the other flank and it was Armstrong who finished with aplomb giving Hladky no chance. It really was a wake up call for Town who it has to be said had looked second best and continued to do so throughout the entire first half. Thankfully Southampton failed to add to their lead with Hladky and the Town defence holding firm, at the other end only a Chaplin strike straight into the keepers hands was what Town had to show for their efforts, it was a good chance which really should have seen Chappers doing better.
Town's game plan had clearly been affected with the loss of Kieffer Moore around the half hour mark and with the introduction of Al-Hamadi we had to play it a bit different tactically. Town old boy Fraser came so close to a Third just before the break but thankfully his effort beat Hladky and the far post much to the relief of everyone. Getting to half time only One down was key and it needed a big half time talk from Kieran McKenna if Town were to get themselves back into this match.
If the first half was decent the second was to prove to be the stuff of fairytales, while we all hoped for a Town revival I don't think anyone expected what was to follow. Town definitely looked a different animal as the second half commenced, faster, livelier, stronger in the tackle and generally more on the front foot, at the same time Southampton continued to look a big threat going forward, that was never more evident as Hladky excellently palmed away an effort which looked to be going in.
As is the Ipswich way the changes came on the hour mark with Broadhead, Clarke & Taylor entering the fray, replacing Jackson, Luongo and Tuanzebe and this was to turn the game on it's head. It wasn't long before we were seeing their impact as Ali smacked one off the post following some good work by Broadhead, this only seemed to inspire Town more as we looked to get ourselves level. The atmosphere was electric by now with the fans getting right behind their boys in Blue and it has to be said it paid off with the equaliser finally arriving. A glorious first time strike from Broadhead, following a lovely pass from the impressive Jack Taylor, caught Bazunu in the saints goal off guard and he had no chance as the ball flew across him into the far side of the goal, Portman Road erupted as the players celebrated, game on.
The game continued to excite as it swung from end to end with both teams looking for a winner and both teams also looking capable of finding one. Al-Hamadi hesitated when a simple pass either side to a team mate could have seen us through on goal, while at the other end a brilliant piece of defending by Luke Woolfenden snuffed out a Southampton chance when they looked likely to score, it really was exciting, end to end stuff which was certainly no good for my heart. With the clock running down Town were given a huge advantage as Southampton were reduced to Ten men, Bree correctly seeing Red for a blatant foul on Leif Davis who was bursting clear into the box. This was the chance Town needed and they were to grasp it with both hands.
Little did we realise that the arrival of Jeremy Sarmiento with a Minute of normal time left was to take our evening to another level. Seven Minutes of added time went up on the board, the crowd were roaring Town on still believing we could grab the win. Another great block from Woolfenden spared Town's blushes against the Ten men of Southampton.
What followed next was up there with all the glory nights I have ever witnessed at Portman Road, the clocked ticked into the final minute of added time, Clarke squares the ball to Morsy, the skipper sets off on a powerful surging run, evading a tackle and playing a great ball across to the ever dependable Davis, Davis takes his time and picks his pass to Sarmiento in the box, the super sub takes a swing at it but mis times it, surrounded by no less than Five defenders he somehow flicks it with his left foot before superbly toe poking it with his right past the desperate dive of Bazunu and into the net.
The scenes that followed can't really be described unless you were there, Sarmiento sets off to the corner flag in celebration with players piling on top of him, substituted Conor Chaplin runs across the pitch to join in the celebrations, I can remember seeing Jack Taylor in the middle of the pitch saluting the crowd and punching the air with both hands, another player fell to his knees in disbelief, in the stand everyone erupted in incredible scenes, fans young and old hugging and jumping up and down, fist pumps, high fives, charging up and down the stairways, you name it, it seemed to go on for an eternity. I was there when we beat Barcelona, St.Etienne, Inter, etc etc, I saw us put Six past Man Utd and dismantle others like Arsenal, Spurs & Liverpool but I cannot remember a celebration quite like this One. It carried on into the night, walking back to the car, random strangers high fiving us, cars honking their horns and fans singing at the top of their voices, this meant something, only time will tell quite how much it meant and how important it was.
As if that wasn't enough excitement and drama for One day we move on to the next massive game and they don't come any bigger than the East Anglian Derby against our little neighbours from up the road. To say this is probably One of the biggest Derby games in modern times is no lie, yes we had the play off semi-final from a few years back but this is not far behind it. They will be hell bent on spoiling our promotion drive while we will be desperate to keep ourselves top of the league and on course for back to back promotions.
Watching them at Leicester last weekend told me we have nothing to fear, at our best we are the better team but it will require a better performance than the ones we witnessed in the second half at Blackburn and the first half Monday Evening against Southampton, at home they are a different proposition, the crowd will be loud and hostile and they know their play off aspirations could be severely dented if they don't win. It is nigh on Fifteen years since we beat them and to say we owe them one is putting it mildly, we should have won the home game and but for poor finishing we would have done so comprehensively so we need to take what chances come our way, we have a generation of fans who haven't seen us beat them and that needs to be addressed, hopefully this is our time.
Team selection is key, we need to be strong but we also need to keep some big boys in reserve, that serves us so well in the last third of the game. having keiffer Moore available would be huge for us, their CB's can be iffy and he will ruffle some feathers so we have to hope the back injury that forced him off against Southampton is nothing serious, this is a game we need to get on the front foot from the off, none of these slow starts that we are often guilty of, the crowd need to be silenced and an early goal would certainly do that, the defence need to be on their game too as Josh Sargeant has been in very good form, in short we need to be brave and fearless, we need to keep our heads and not get caught up in all the hype and the players need to realise if they don't already just what it means to us fans and what is at stake, a win here would be off the scale in more ways than One.
I can't predict this, nor do I want to. heart say One thing, head another' all I will say is surely at some point the law of averages applies and it becomes our time ? Yes you make your own luck in this game but I truly believe we are due some against this lot. Fingers crossed. Go out and do us proud, fight for the badge and write your names in Ipswich Town folklore, who will be this weeks hero ? "SARMIENTOOOOOOOOOOO" TOWN HAVE WON IT IN THE FINAL SECONDS" I would love to hear something like that again. COYB'S. IPSWICH TIL I DIE.
The Opposition – Norwich City - Honours
League
Second Division / Championship
Champions (5): 1971–72, 1985–86, 2003–04, 2018–19, 2020–21
Runners-up: 2010–11
Play-off winners: 2015
Third Division South / League One
Champions (2): 1933–34, 2009–10
Runners-up: 1959–60
Cup
Football League Cup
Winners (2): 1961–62, 1984–85
Runners-up: 1972–73, 1974–75
The Manager – David Wagner
League Table as at 02.04.2024
Form Guide
Norwich City
6 Mar Middlesbrough 3 - 1 Norwich City
9 Mar Norwich City 5 - 0 Rotherham
16 Mar Stoke City 0 - 3 Norwich City
29 Mar Norwich City 2 - 1 Plymouth
1 Apr Leicester City 3 - 1 Norwich City
Ipswich Town
5 Mar Ipswich Town 3 - 2 Bristol City
9 Mar Cardiff City 2 - 1 Ipswich Town
16 Mar Ipswich Town 6 - 0 Sheffield Wed
29 Mar Blackburn 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
1 Apr Ipswich Town 3 - 2 Southampton
Head to Head
Match Referee – Matthew Donohue
NORWICH CITY 0 IPSWICH TOWN 1
that the 15 years hoodoo can be broken along with keeping top spot. 
. The guys a machine! 
