Ipswich v Norwich: Blues boss Mick McCarthy suggested his Norwich City counterpart Neil Adams required a ‘lesson in etiquette’ after forgetting to shake hands immediately after the Canaries sealed a 1-0 win in the East Anglian derby at Portman Road.

After the referee’s whistle confirmed the Norfolk side’s victory in front of the Sky television cameras, courtesy of Lewis Grabban’s 24th minute goal, Adams marched straight onto the pitch to congratulate his players.

He eventually remembered to shake hands with McCarthy and assistant boss Terry Connor and made a point of apologising for the incident in his post-match press conference.

When informed of that, the terse Blues boss said: “So he should. I tend to deal with my matters with other managers and coaches individually and on my own. He probably said that because he thought I’d mention it.

“Listen, he’s got a good team, they’re a good side and they’ve just beaten us. If it’s a lesson in etiquette (he needs) then the first people he should shake hands with is me and TC. I’ve done it when we’ve been beaten six and five.”

Adams had said: “I want to apologise to Mick and Terry – I was out of order, completely unintentionally. I hope you all report that. I was too caught up in the moment and I didn’t shake his hand or Terry’s. I should have shown more respect to them and shaken both their hands before I went off on my celebrations.

“Hand on heart it was definitely not intentional. I would definitely not have been happy if it had been flipped so big apologies to Mick and Terry, they’re good people and I apologise unreservedly.

“Terry came on to the pitch to shake my hand and that’s when I realised ‘I’ve forgotten, I’ve made a big mistake’. It’s my fault, it wasn’t intended and hopefully they will accept that with grace. I don’t want to argue with Mick!”

Reflecting on the match, McCarthy said: “It was a hard-fought game, they got the goal and we didn’t. It changed the course of it, as it always does. It changed the momentum. I thought they were better for 10 minutes certainly after that.

“Being one in front allowed them, second half, to try and catch us on the break which they almost did a couple of times. We had a gilt-edged chance with Daryl Murphy and he knows he should have scored.”

He continued: “As always the effort and commitment was there from the players. I thought we rushed it and tried to get back in the game too quick and didn’t have too much quality in the first half. Second half we were better.

“We were playing against a good team that has come down from the Premier League with good players and they’ve signed some more good players. They’ve got a good squad. It’s no disgrace how we played against them, it’s just difficult when it’s our nearest and not so dearest.

“When I looked at the fixtures when they came out – Fulham at home, Reading away, Norwich at home – I knew it would be hard and that’s proved the case. Only 42 to go.”

On the winning goal, Cole Skuse leaving a ball back into the box and keeper Dean Gerken rooted to the spot as Grabban nodded in from close-range, McCarthy explained: “Somebody shouted ‘keeper’s’ and I don’t know who shouted it. I haven’t got an earpiece into the six-yard box to find out who it was.

“No other player should shout it apart from Gerks. It certainly looked like a mix-up. We didn’t deal with it well. We didn’t deal with the first corner kick and we didn’t deal with the second ball coming in either.

“The last three games we’ve conceded some very poor goals from our point of view – the one at Reading, the two at Birmingham and now today. It’s not like we’ve conceded as a back four that can’t defend. We’ll have to get better.”

Asked if he felt the goal may have been offside, he replied: “No, Chrisophe Berra was lying on the floor with (Michael) Turner. If it was it will give me something to whinge about, but the reality is we didn’t deal with it. I’m not blaming the officials. I think if you look, Christophe Berra and Turner are lying on the floor about one yard out.

“I’ve no complaints with that, I’ve just got complaints with how we dealt with it.”

Adams said: “I thought we needed to be better in the first half, we didn’t really move the ball as quickly and effectively as we’re capable of. Even though we were winning the game I felt we could be a little bit better and step it up.

“Defensively, throughout the game, we were excellent and we were maybe worth one or two more goals in that second half. It was good to restrict Ipswich to relatively few chances, if any at all. Overall I thought we were full value for the win.”

– See Monday’s EADT and Ipswich Star for match comment and more reaction.