In December I talked about how the prospect of the game and a potential Ipswich victory, given the form of both teams at the time, led me needing to pretend the whole thing was not happening, hiding my phone in a draw so I wasn’t tempted to check the score and threw myself into other things as a distraction. This time around, the nerves were less as Norwich were showing some imperious home form, but certainly still present given some shaky performances since the international break.
Norwich took the game by the scruff of the neck and looked the better team pretty much throughout. It was one of those games that was more comfortable than the score line suggests.
This is of course a retrospective view, there was no feeling of comfort while the game was going on, especially considering Ipswich’s annoying habit of scoring late into games.
facing them at the moment.
The feeling of the final whistle on Saturday has turned what has felt like a rather uninspiring season into a much more positive one. While it is often said that clubs should always be looking forward and not dwell on what has already happened, Norwich should take pride in an excellent derby day performance.
While it wasn’t as comprehensive as the 5-1 victory under Lambert, or the 3-0 under Farke, it was a win against a team who sat top of the league, full of confidence and have rightly been praised for having a fantastic season.
Unfortunately, the Championship season rarely gives clubs time to pause, and Norwich have two tricky away fixtures before they return to Carrow Road. Hopefully a couple of positive results will mean the party atmosphere from the end of Saturday’s game will still be going.
The season has already been a rollercoaster of highs and lows and it is still far from certain where it will end up. I will admit that in seconds after the final whistle I would have been quite happy for the season to end then and there and forego the stress of the play-offs.
The prospect of Ipswich in the semi-finals or final is too much to contemplate right now, but if it comes down to it after this weekend’s performance, I’d be much more confident of Norwich extending their unbeaten run even further.
