Football: Norfolk's finest fail to break derby day deadlock

Norwich City 0 Ipswich Town 0

A GROWING sense of deja vu slowly enveloped this East Anglia derby, and in some respects that was not surprising as the loyal and vociferous fans had seen it all before.

Last April, in the corresponding fixture, these sides met to contrive a painful goalless draw, and it was the same again yesterday, the local rivalry cancelling out any hope of flowing football to enliven an overcast sky. Instead it was a day when the defences stood out, in particular Norwich's back three, and they had to stand firm as the traffic came towards them for long stretches of the game.

However, despite having the bulk of the possession, Ipswich failed to draw more than one save out of Andy Marshall all game, and it was their hosts and Norfolk neighbours who came the closest to ending the stalemate after 58 minutes when Matt Jackson, who was outstanding in defence, hit the crossbar with a header from Jean de Blasiis' well-flighted free-kick.

Yet Jackson could have found himself with a much less active afternoon and plenty of time to scour the record books. His high boot in David Johnson's neck after 15 seconds might have made him a contender for fastest sending- off of the season in the eyes of less lenient referees, but Terry Heilbron turned a blind eye, no doubt wary of setting such a precedent for himself.

Norwich started the game without the suspended Iwan Roberts and injured Darren Eadie, and only Adrian Forbes looked any sort of threat to Ipswich's well-organised defence. But to sum up his and Norwich's afternoon in general, when Forbes did break through into the penalty area his shot sailed past Richard Wright and went for a throw-in.

Not that Ipswich fared much better with a near full-strength side. Presented with the ball and vast amounts of space, they rarely showed the presence of mind to get behind Norwich's stout rearguard, although they did have one chance on 11 minutes as Jim Magilton sent in a corner that Wayne Brown headed down but straight at Marshall. As Norwich continued to concede ground, Ipswich went close when Mick Stockwell finished his swift run with a shot just past the post.

But, as the Norwich manager, Bruce Rioch, emphasised afterwards, the most important thing in the East Anglia derby is not to lose, while his Ipswich counterpart, George Burley, was left once more to rue his side's failure to turn possession into goals.

"I was disappointed not to get all three points, but I'm confident the goals will come from our forwards," Burley said. "As in previous weeks we had about 80 per cent of the play but failed to turn that domination into three points and that's something we're going to have to work on."

Rioch said: "It was a derby match in which defences stood out, most particularly ours. It would be fair to say that Ipswich had better possession of the ball and passed it better, but the one thing in which we did match them was commitment."

Norwich City (3-5-2): A Marshall; Kenton, Fleming, Jackson; Sutch, Milligan, Russell, De Blasiis, L Marshall (Anselin, 53); Forbes, Llewellyn (Dalglish, 53). Substitutes not used: Green (gk), Mackay, Carey.

Ipswich Town (3-5-2): Wright; Mowbray, Thetis, Brown; Wilnis, Clapham, Holland, Magilton, Stockwell (Naylor, 86); Johnson, Scowcroft. Substitutes not used: Salmon (gk), Wright, Axeldal, Croft.

Referee: T Heilbron (Newton Aycliffe).

Booking: Ipswich Town: Naylor.

Man of the Match: Jackson.

Attendance: 19,948.