Ipswich Town 2 : 2 Norwich City

Nobody likes it when you fail to beat your arch rivals, least of all when it’s a run as long as Ipswich Town’s 14-year winless run over Norwich City.

Whilst the extension of that run will of course be frustrating to those of an Ipswich persuasion, the single point taken from their 2-2 draw could prove to be a valuable one come the season’s conclusion.

The return of the Old Farm Derby on Saturday (December 16), the first in four years due to Town’s drop into the third tier, ended honours even in a pulsating affair at Portman Road.

Town, roared on after an exhilarating welcome from their supporters, started strongly against a shell-shocked Norwich side: twice Nathan Broadhead had chances from which he narrowly failed to convert from but it was third time lucky for the Welshman when he swivelled to strike the ball into the ground past Angus Gunn on 34 minutes.

Town were only able to hold onto their lead for six minutes though as the Canaries’ academy graduate Jonathan Rowe reacted quickest to a recycled cross from the right-wing to put the ball past Vaclav Hladky.

[The ‘intense and aggressive’ East Anglian derby rivalry explained by those involved]

Rowe was again on-target four minutes after the break when, reacting to another instance of poor defending, his firm strike was deflected off a Town foot and through the legs of Town’s shot-stopper.

Wes Burns brought the scoreline level for a second time but despite dominating possession and creating more chances, Town’s unwanted run against Norwich City continued.

Town are in town. #itfc pic.twitter.com/4LURQeU7eW

— Matt Lee (@MattLeeJourno) December 16, 2023

But the contrasting moods at full-time showed the different journeys that either side are currently on.

The 2,003 away fans that packed the far corner of the Cobbold Stand understandably sung chants about their 14-year dominance over Town and teased their arch rivals with cries of “Premier League, you’re having a laugh”.

From the Town supporters, however, it was a disappointed atmosphere wondering how they had not quite managed to do enough to end their torrid run.

However had you asked a neutral who they would back as having the best chance of reaching England’s top-flight, they would almost certainly lean towards those in Suffolk.

Town are joint-top of the second tier, have lost just twice this season, are ten points clear of third, and are 19 ahead of seventh-placed Sunderland.

They might have claimed local bragging rights in the derby but Town maintain a 21-point advantage over the Canaries.

Blues boss Kieran McKenna said: “I said it [the welcome]wouldn’t win or lose us the game but strengthens the bond going forward. It shows what the club is capable of. You see the following and interest in the town. The support the players got was vocal.

“The performance we delivered was against a team that 18 months were operating in the Premier League. That team were then celebrating a draw and we’re 21 points clear. I don’t need to emphasise too much that there are plenty of positive things we can take from it as a football club”

To Town TV he later added:

“There are so many positives from today in terms of the performance and things off the pitch. There’s lots to be pleased about. The last little bit in terms of getting what we wanted wasn’t quite there, but it’s also important not to lose these games.

“It keeps the momentum going and keeps us 21 points ahead of our nearest rivals, sorry, our local rivals, nearest only from a geographical perspective. But it gives us something to build on for two games we can really look forward to.”

If the pre-match welcome for Town’s squad prior to the promotion-securing 6-0 drumming of Exeter City was impressive, the display by Blue Action ahead of the ‘Old Farm Derby’ was even more so.

Supporters of the club regularly discuss the disenfranchisement between themselves and previous holders of the club’s most sacred positions, but that’s not the case now.

[Leif Davis is most archetypal ‘modern full-back’ possible]

It was only back in October, meanwhile, that supporters of Norwich were fighting amongst themselves after a draw at Coventry City and boos followed their 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough.

The Canaries seem to have turned a corner on the pitch.

They are enjoying a run of one defeat in seven Championship matches – a firm contrast to their one win and five defeats in the round of seven fixtures before that.

Canaries boss David Wagner even described taking a point as a “fantastic result” and said “if you can’t beat them you have to find a way not to lose”.

Goalscorer Burns told Sky Sports:

 “It was an important goal for us to score as it secured a point. I thought our lads were brilliant from the offset and stuck to our game plan, but clearly it means a lot more to Norwich at the moment – we’ll take a point though.

“On another day we probably score three or four, we just needed to be more clinical than we were today. These games are coming thick and fast and today was just another game that was coming along in the fixture list. We’ve got Leeds on Saturday and it’ll be the same process as it’s always been moving forward.

“Everyone knows we were the better team,” Broadhead added: “It’s just one of those days.”

The Canaries came into this season full of expectations with hopes for another promotion push high among supporters. They have had mixed results on the pitch whilst off it it was revealed in October that American entrepreneur Mark Attansio has been given the green light to become majority owner.

It was almost the opposite for Town fans.

They had only recently won promotion back into the second tier and whilst there may have been some who were quietly confident about a successful season, most of those would have been predicting a top-half finish.

[The Championship high-flyers who can’t stop scoring screamers]

Very few would have expected Town to be joint-top of the Championship after 22 games and going into the Christmas period. December will be a difficult month for Town but they are already in a good position ahead of mouth-watering ties with Leeds United (A) and Leicester City (H).

If the Blues can take points from any of those – having already beaten Coventry City (2-1), Middlesbrough (2-0), Watford (1-2) and taken a point off Norwich City (2-2) so far this month – then perhaps the idea of Town fighting for Premier League promotion will become more of a reality for Town fans.

It is a lot of ‘ifs’ but if that’s the case then Town could be celebrating an incredibly successful season indeed. And should that happen then they may not be too worried by Norwich’s smash and grab point at Portman Road.