Ipswich and Norwich play out entertaining draw

Posted Saturday, December 16, 2023 by PA

The much-anticipated East Anglian derby between Ipswich and Norwich, the first meeting between the two sides since 2019, ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Jonathan Rowe struck twice either side of the break for City while Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns were the Ipswich scorers.

Ipswich dominated the first half and should have been ahead by at least three goals.

Broadhead spurned the chance to put the home side ahead in the 20th minute when he danced round a couple of tackles to leave him one on one with Angus Gunn in the Norwich goal, before he put his shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

The Wales international was in the thick of the action moments later when he picked up a cross from Burns but he fired the ball just the wrong side of the same post.

Town then spurned their third good opportunity to take the lead when Rowe’s loose touch was pounced on by Broadhead. He worked the ball inside to George Hirst who slipped it on to Burns, but he smashed his shot over the bar.

Broadhead made up for his earlier missed chances in the 34th minute when he found the target following Town’s first corner.

The ball was cleared from the Norwich six-yard area but, after Massimo Luongo headed it back into the danger area, Hirst flicked it on and Broadhead rammed the ball home.

Norwich struck back with their first shot on target through Rowe six minutes later.

His attempted scissor kick was initially blocked by Luke Woolfenden but it landed back at the City man’s feet and he managed to find the net much to the joy of the travelling 2,004 Norwich fans among the 29,611 inside the stadium.

The visitors then took the lead through the same scorer four minutes after the break.

A throw in from Marcelino Nunez found Ashley Barnes, whose header landed at the feet of Rowe who drilled his shot through a crowded six-yard area and straight under Vaclav Hladky.

Town equalised through Burns on the hour-mark.

Broadhead and Connor Chaplin were involved in the move and the ball was moved on to Burns whose shot from the edge of the penalty area went through the legs of Norwich defender Sam McCallum and into the net.

Broadhead bent a low shot towards the far corner which Gunn pushed away and substitute Omari Hutchinson ran out of room to push the rebound home as the two teams battled for a winner in the closing minutes.