Pre-match preamble
All I have heard repeated endlessly for the last couple of weeks is the fact that Town haven't beaten Norwich City for 16 years! Or more precisely, 6,013 days. I wonder who bothered to work that one out; odds on they weren't Ipswich supporters.
So, I thought I'd look at this stat a little more closely to see what it really means. My son Sheridan sparked this train of thought as he texted me to say that Ipswich had beaten 78 different teams since we had beaten Norwich. I soon found that this stat had been bandied around quite widely this weekend by the commentators.
It doesn't sound quite so dramatic when you break it down into the fourteen games between them during that time, with Norwich winning eight, whilst the other six finished as draws. Eight wins in sixteen years – what's so special about that, huh?
I thought my usual brief history of the club would not be needed today for such a well-known adversary, but I found a quick peep on Wikipedia interesting. Founded in 1902, they were originally called the Citizens and wore pale blue and white colours. The media began calling them the Canaries because many of these birds were bred in the area, and eventually the name was adopted and the kit changed to the yellow and green of today. (Our name for them? The Budgies, of course).
Their football song, "On the Ball City", is believed to be the oldest in the world, still in use today. Who knew?
Talking to Mark on the train, we both agreed on a predicted score of 3-1, though he qualified that with 'optimistically' and said he would take a draw. I was more certain about a win.
First half
The atmosphere in the stadium was riotous (in a good way) with everyone singing and waving flags. The team could not have wished for noisier support.
The game started slowly, both teams seeming tentative for the first ten minutes or so. It livened up in the 22nd minute when Philogene put the ball in the net, but consequently the goal was ruled out as the whistle had already been blown for a foul by Hirst on Darling. A few minutes later, Schwartau tested Palmer for the first time with a powerful shot that was well-saved by the keeper.
Ipswich began to threaten, and Hirst attempted a header, but it was well saved by Kovacevic.
Still dominating, on the 32nd minute ,Town finally broke through when a Philogene corner, headed back across the goal by O'Shea, was picked up neatly by Kipre and fired into the net.
This advantage was negated just a couple of minutes later when a shot from Schwartau was deflected into the left-hand corner of the net.
Just before halftime, Town restored their advantage with another of Jaden's amazing flyers. He picked up the ball himself midway down the half, beat his marker with a turn and fired a curling ball high into the left-hand corner of the goal, touching the underside of the bar on its way. Wow. Just wow.
Second half
There was a close call for Town early on with Sargent nearly capitalising on a defensive error, but Town carried on playing strongly and pressing for most of the time, picking up where they had left off in the first half.
Philogene let loose with another of his volleys, which just skimmed over the top of the bar, drawing a big OOOH from the crowd.
A few minutes later, our new hero Nunez passed forward to Azon, whose shot hit the far post and rebounded towards Clarke. He happily accepted the opportunity to tap it into the net. A few minutes later, Nunez found Azon again from a corner kick, but it was headed just wide.
As time was running out Town were still looking for goals, and Akpom had a low strike gathered by keeper Kovacevic.
The whistle was blown before a fourth could be conjured from the match.
Final score Town 3-1 Norwich.
Man of the match
My man of the match for the second week running is Cedric Kipre. Kipre is fast becoming a favourite for me; he didn't put a foot wrong today, and that includes his quick-fire opportunistic goal, his first for the Town. He fits well with O'Shea. He was also chosen as the man of the match at the match.
Leif Davis and Jaden Philogene were on form.
Jack Clarke was an excellent substitute and was in the right place at the right time to tap in the third goal.
All the super subs performed well again.
All in all, a solid and striving game for the whole 90+, one of the best we've seen.
Hirst perhaps needs to work on his finishing?
Post-match pondering
What a match! Perfect result for us. Three points in our pocket and a foe defeated.
Many said they were really nervous about this encounter, and some were just excited. Jon, whom I spoke with the night before, said it felt like Christmas Eve. He got up at crazy o'clock on match day and was in Ipswich when I was just getting out of bed in Colchester.
I was strangely not nervous, I was convinced of a win – having seen brief snatches of Norwich games this year, I would say, player by player, Town quite simply has the stronger team (this was evidenced by the way the Norwich players began to fall over at the slightest touch). The referee (Mr Thomas Kirk from Yorkshire) kept pretty good control considering the nature of the match.
The only thing that made me nervous in this match, and I have to say it, was the first half faffing about in front of our goal – AGAIN. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it, and I'm not the only fan to say so. Sargent was very nearly gifted a goal in the second half from a mix-up at the back. When you have the range and firepower of a player like Jaden, why not feed the ball up to him or any other forward player to make some magic happen? Nothing has happened from faffing lately except occasionally getting caught out or putting all the fans at risk of a heart attack. The second half was much better, with more long balls and quick clearances.
But I won't dwell on that as it was such a wonderful afternoon, so good to be a part of it, the team and the club really served us up a treat, with pre-match as well as match entertainment. Well done guys – I've never seen so many smiling Town fans, I'll swear the glow stretched right down to the Orwell.
And I couldn't hear any birds singing.
