Ipswich’s Paul Anderson ensures play-off first leg with Norwich ends even
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Version 0 of 1. Suffolk and Norfolk are divided by the River Waveney but nothing separates the top teams in East Anglia after the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final. This was billed as the biggest ever battle between Ipswich Town and Norwich City and that it ended in deadlock makes next Saturday’s second leg even bigger. “It could be a very nervy affair but unless you put the players in the Big Brother house for the week, you can’t protect them from that,” said Mick McCarthy jokingly. It is to McCarthy’s credit that this meeting of local rivals turned out to be a meeting of equals. Financially, the tie pitted aristocrats against peasants, with McCarthy having assembled his Ipswich squad at a cost of £110,000 whereas Norwich’s far superior resources have been swelled by multimillion-pound parachute payments following last year’s relegation from the Premier League. Norwich had confirmed their higher status by beating Ipswich twice during the regular season and finishing three places and eight points above them, and for periods here they looked the more accomplished side but their manager, Alex Neil, admitted that the draw was ultimately a fair result. Norwich’s slick passing and movement pushed Ipswich on to the back foot in the opening minutes, but Graham Dorrans spurned the visitors’ first chance by badly miskicking from 10 yards in the fourth minute. Although they were mostly forced backwards, Ipswich came close to taking the lead after a powerful run and cross by Daryl Murphy in the eighth minute. John Ruddy had to make a superb double save, first beating away Freddie Sears close-range shot from Murphy’s cross and parrying Luke Varney’s follow-up header. Norwich’s defence and their deep-lying midfielder, Cole Skuse, were having trouble keeping track of Jonny Howson, whose stealthy movement behind Norwich’s lone striker, Cameron Jerome, made him a regular threat. Luke Chambers made a fine intervention in the 21st minute to prevent Howson from getting a firm header to a cross from Nathan Redmond. Two minutes later Redmond rolled a pass to Alex Tettey, who curled a delicate shot against the outside of the post from the edge of the area. Ipswich had to alter their plans when Varney suffered an ankle injury after half an hour – “we think he’s snapped his achilles,” McCarthy said – but the midfielder’s replacement, Paul Anderson, could have scored with his first touch, heading wide from 10 yards after a cross from Teddy Bishop. Norwich were the more intricate side and there is a case for portraying this as a contrast between Ipswich’s guts and Norwich’s guile but they both showed some of the qualities for which the other is better known. The visitors made that point well in the way they took the lead three minutes before the break. Bradley Johnson flicked on a long ball from the back, Jerome shunted Tommy Smith aside and raced down the left before crossing to Howson, who guided a low shot into the corner of the net from 12 yards. Some Ipswich fans believed Jerome had fouled Smith in the build-up but McCarthy acknowledged afterwards that Smith had slipped under pressure from the striker. The Canaries fans barely had enough time to crow about their lead before the hosts equalised. Ruddy failed to hold a 20-yard shot from Sears and then stabbed the ball away as players converged on him, but it went only as far as Anderson, who slammed it into the net from seven yards. “That was sloppy,” said Neil. “It came from a straight punt up the park and we should have dealt with it.” Neither side could sustain the hectic pace of the first-half and in the second period Norwich enjoyed more possession but could not penetrate a dogged defence. The hosts even posed an occasional threat on the counterattack, with Russell Martin having to be vigilant in the 76th minute to block a shot from Murphy. Norwich’s clearest shot on goal in the second half came in the last minute, when Bartosz Bialkowski had to tip a looping header by Redmond over the bar. “We were dominant in the second half but lacked quality in the final third,” said Neil, the 33-year-old manager who has other engagements to fulfil before turning his attention to the second leg. He went straight from here to take a flight to Glasgow, where on Sunday he starts a two-day course as he seeks to gain his Uefa Pro Licence. Upon his return he will resume his pursuit of the most lucrative prize in football, a place in the Premier League. |