East Anglian Derby ends in draw as Norwich City clash with Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town took on Norwich City in the first East Anglian Derby in 5 years
The East Anglian Derby ended in tense scenes as Norwich City drew with Ipswich Town in a tightly-fought match at Portman Road on Saturday (December 16th).
Fans of both the Canaries and the Tractor had been gearing up for one of the most intense clashes of the season, as it was the first Derby in over five years.
In total, just shy of 30,000 people took to the stands to watch the two clubs take each other on in a hotly anticipated match, including superstar singer and Suffolk native Ed Sheeran.
Going into the match, Ipswich were aiming for their first win over Norwich in thirteen years, and would fancy their chances as one of the top two sides in the Championship this season.
Ipswich Town have been the shock of the season so far, sitting 2nd in the English Football League following promotion from League One. At kick-off, they were just one point off the top of the table, and 10 clear of Leeds United in 3rd place.
Norwich City started the season poorly but have ground out results in recent weeks to sit comfortably in mid-table. But since then, the Canaries' fortune changed as they lost just one of their last five games.
As play got underway, the teams seemed equally matched with possession roughly split evenly between the two, with fans from both clubs taunting the other at kick-off with a cacophony of boos from either side.
Things immediately became messy when less than a minute into the game, Norwich scored a free kick after Ipswich's Burns ran into City's Sainz a little later than planned.
After some intense play at the beginning of the match, the teams went twenty minutes into the game before either team had a chance to score a goal.
It would not take too long for the first goal, however, as Ipswich finally broke through Norwich's defences to score a goal with star Broadhead scoring netting the ball after the third attempt, sending fans of the Tractor Boys wild.
However, Norwich City - now one goal behind - were quick to equalise, bringing the pair back to a level playing field with a goal by Jonathan Rowe in the fortieth minute of the match.
Rowe would go on to prove to be Norwich's saving grace, as he bagged a second goal just minutes into the second half of the match, with the Canaries now ahead.
But Ipswich would not keep Norwich from staying ahead as exactly one hour into play, the team managed to bag a second goal by Wes Burns who shot the ball in a low-kick.
With both teams equally matched, the game saw a number of close calls from both sides, as fans rang out in frustration.
As full time approached, and six minutes of added time was played, tensions could not be higher as both teams gave their all to clinch that all-important victory.
After some last-minute close calls, the final whistle blew, with Ipswich Town and Norwich City finally drawing 2-2.