Timm Klose saves Norwich to deny Mick McCarthy's Ipswich the perfect smash and grab in East Anglian derby

Norwich City 1 Ipswich Town 1: It was an explosive finish to a match that had stuttered and sparked

Timm Klose celebrates after Norwich's late equaliser against rivals Ipswich Town (PA)

Mick McCarthy was unable to contain himself as his jubilant players ran to celebrate Luke Chambers’ 89th-minute opening goal. “F*** OFF,” he roared, at nobody in particular. And if that’s how he celebrated Ipswich’s late, late goal, Lord only knows what he was muttering to himself exactly five minutes later, as Timm Klose nodded in a last-gasp equaliser for Norwich City to ensure the spoils were shared.

It was an explosive finale to a lopsided Old Farm derby that had until that point failed to ignite in the manner everybody had expected. After dominating the first half, Ipswich were on the rocks in the second, although they thought they had done enough to snatch all three points when Chambers took advantage of some slack marking at a corner to head home.

Ipswich’s vocal travelling supporters erupted in delight and the agitated home crowd began to twitch nervously for the exits. But in the fifth minute of added time, with Ipswich in retreat, a marauding Klose got onto the end of an inch-perfect Grant Hanley cross to beat Bartosz Bialkowski from close range. Carrow Road roared. There were just seven seconds left on the clock.

Ipswich were denied a famous win (Getty) (PA)

And so Ipswich’s miserable wait for a win behind enemy lines continues. They have not won here since February 2006, and last beat their rivals all the way back in 2009, just shy of a decade ago. Here they were just seconds away from snatching back some local pride, until Klose’s timely intervention.

Local derbies can perversely matter just that bit more when there is less at stake, where the simple pleasure of a one-off win is the biggest prize on offer. With both sides rooted in mid-table on the same number of points, and any hope of a spot in the play-offs now appearing increasingly unlikely, the two teams were left to scrap it out purely for local pride, and it will be Norwich’s supporters who derive the most pleasure from this result.

It was a typically fractious atmosphere at Carrow Road, despite the anti-social Sunday lunchtime kick-off time. Around these parts, the locals wear former referee Keith Hackett’s remarks about this derby as a badge of honour. “There are certain derby fixtures that you always know are going to be highly charged, but the East Anglian derby tops the lot,” he once said. “The players came out of the tunnel as if they were ready for a boxing match. The noise was intense and aggressive.”

Chambers gave Ipswich the lead (Getty) (PA)

On this occasion, it was more of a slugfest than a chess match. The tone was set as early as the fifth minute, when Moritz Leitner and Callum Connolly threw themselves into a wince-inducing 50-50 with gleeful abandon, while a special mention must go to Ipswich forward Joe Garner for abandoning his pursuit of a long punt forward by merrily shoving Jamal Lewis off the pitch and into the advertising hoardings.

Against such agricultural opponents Norwich struggled to find any rhythm in a sloppy first half, largely owing to Skuse’s grim determination to robustly man mark Maddison or die trying. Maddison has won more points courtesy of his goals and assists than any other player in the Championship this season, but those all came without Skuse rabidly snapping at his heels, and under such intense pressure he appeared in danger of wilting.

With Maddison not so much in Skuse’s pocket as taking up residence in it, Ipswich flourished, and they would have deservedly taken the lead were it not for Angus Gunn, on loan from Manchester City. After spilling a couple of early efforts, the 22-year-old tipped Connolly’s point-blank header wide, before smartly palming away Martyn Waghorn’s deflected free-kick.

Ipswich's wait goes on (Getty) (PA)

Ultimately however they were made to pay for their prolificacy, especially as Maddison finally began to solve his Skuse conundrum in the second half. The youngster went close with a dipping free-kick which Bialkowski did well to tip over the bar, and then should have been played through on the counter by Nelson Oliviera, who instead chipped the ball wastefully into the grateful palms of Ipswich's keeper.

As the game became increasingly stretched Maddison was finally able to exert the influence that is now expected of him. He once again worked Bialkowski with a stinging free-kick, and then caused chaos with one particularly twinkle-toed run, selling Cameron Carter-Vickers an even bigger dummy than Ipswich signing Finidi George for £3m, only to shoot high and wide.

But it wasn’t to be Maddison who made the difference. After Chambers had bullied his way in front of Alex Tettey and headed in, Norwich threw everybody forward in search of the equaliser, with Klose proving their unlikely hero. It was just his fifth goal in Norwich City colours, and means his side are now unbeaten in the last 10 East Anglian derbies.