Five things we learned from today’s East Anglian derby between Ipswich Town and Norwich City
Bartosz Bialkowski makes a great reaction save at Carrow Road during the first half. Picture: Pagepix
Following this afternoon’s hard-fought 1-1 draw at Carrow Road, sports writer WILL RIDGARD looks at five things we learned about the East Anglian derby as the spoils were shared again.
1. Jonas Knudsen loves scoring against Norwich City
The Danish defender’s goalscoring prowess against the old enemy is quickly drawing comparisons to Danny Haynes’ record. After scoring against the Canaries in August, with a fine shot from the edge of the box, Knudsen made it two in two this afternoon with a thumping header.
His passionate celebrations in front of the travelling Ipswich Town fans showed just how much the goal meant to him.
2. There was a lot of banter in the stands
While Norwich City fans made the effort to applaud for a whole 60 seconds, in the 15th minute, to mock Ipswich’s 15 consecutive seasons in the Championship, Town fans went crazy when Jonas Knudsen headed them into a 63rd-minute lead.
Both sets of fans jibed ‘we forgot that you were here’ and claimed themselves as ‘the pride of East Anglia’ over the course of the afternoon, alongside some rather more expletive-laden insults.
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3. Ipswich had no luck
Ipswich might well have won the game had referee Oliver Langford awarded them an early penalty.
Among a Norwich City defender sandwich, from an Ipswich Town corner, David McGoldrick took a tumble, only for Langford to call a foul by the Town striker.
Fortunately for Town, Mr. Langford did have his eyes peeled when Mitchell Dijks scored, but was then penalised for handball. Canary Crusher Danny Haynes may have got away with that…
4. Ed Sheeran is a Town fan
The Suffolk born singer is a Tractor Boy! He may have been sitting in the home end, but Ed was in attendance at Carrow Road, showing his support for the boys in blue! Maybe Ed will release a song about Mick McCarthy’s men soon…
5. Bartosz Bialkowski is brilliant
OK, so he might have done better with the goal, but the Polish goalkeeper made some brilliant saves throughout the afternoon.
He was at his best to stop Jonas Knudsen from scoring an own goal in the first half, and then made further outstanding saves to deny Steven Naismith (twice), Alex Tettey, and Alex Pritchard. The shot-stopper was the worthy winner of the man-of-the-match award.
