The most crucial East Anglian derby since the League Cup semi-final in 1985, fierce rivals Ipswich Town and Norwich City produced a score draw in a bid to rejoin the elite of English football.
An enthralling first-half saw the only two goals of the game, with a Jonny Howson volley opening the scoring 41 minutes in. An injury to Luke Varney saw the officials signal for six minutes added time, this enabled the home side to grab an equaliser through substitute Paul Anderson.
Goalscorer Howson stated: “Both teams were going for it and it shows how much it means to both of us. It was nice that we went in front early on but it was disappointing to concede just before half-time. It is set up nicely and we look to next Saturday now.”
Mick McCarthy’s XI started in what looked like a 4-3-3 formation with top scorer Daryl Murphy and Freddie Sears starting up top, the pair securing 50 goals between them this season, along with on-loan Luke Varney on the right.
Norwich, also donning their home kit, lined up in a 4-5-1 formation with Cameron Jerome replacing former Celtic forward Gary Hooper after recovering from a minor knock.
The game exploded into life following the first chance of the afternoon. Town’s top goal scorer Daryl Murphy powered passed Canaries captain Russell Martin, with pace the crowd have become accustomed to this season, before pulling the ball back towards January signing Freddie Sears. The 25-year-old’s near post effort was well saved by John Ruddy before the former England shot stopper rose back to his feet to deflect Varney’s header away from goal.
Dubbed as the Old Farm derby, the opening exchanges lacked the ferocity many were expecting following the action packed semi-final the night before, as Middlesbrough overcame Brentford late on at Griffin Park. A poorly timed challenge from Jerome after 18 minutes showed glimpses of animosity as he caught Luke Chambers late. The latter was up on his feet minutes later to deny Jonny Howson what would have been a certain goal, expertly blocking the close range header.
The Yellows were enjoying themselves on the left hand side, as a well worked passing move unleashed Alexander Tettey but the Norway international curled just wide of Bartoz Bialkowski’s goal. A further opportunity arrived for the Norfolk outfit, when West Brom loanee Graham Dorrans found Bradley Johnson in the penalty area. The ex-Leeds man has netted 15 times thus far but the header sailed just past the far post.
Alex Neil’s men were finally coming into the game but this was interrupted by an extended break in play following an ankle injury for Vardey. The forward was driven off in a stretcher and replaced by Paul Anderson, McCarthy temporarily reverting Ipswich into a midfield diamond.
The substitute may have scored with his second touch when a Teddy Bishop cross from the right met the head of the former Liverpool youngster, but the Norwich ‘keeper was happy to see it over his crossbar. The break in play proving plentiful for the home side, as the Tractor Boys reinserted themselves on the game.
The away team have defeated their East Anglian rivals in their last four attempts, scoring 12 and conceding only twice, and the two time League Cup winners opened the scoring five minutes before the interval. The returning Cameron Jerome collected a knock on and fourt Tommy Smith off the ball, adjudged to be a clean challenge from the referee.
Out on the right, the former Stoke striker whipped a beautiful ball into the periphery of the penalty area to find Howson coming from deep once more. Unmarked, the attacking midfielder ineffably volleyed into the bottom corner with the side of his right foot.
Six minutes were signed at the end of the first 45, ensuring there was still a chance for the 1978 FA Cup finalists to equalise and, with one clean sheet in five game for the visitors, a goal was not out of the question.
Two minutes after the allocated time, Bialkowski spilled right-back Steven Whittaker’s cross before nervously kicking the ball down field. A poor clearance from Martin unearthed the feet of Sears, whose low strike was palmed into danger by Ruddy. The long serving ‘keeper knocked the ball away from Murphy only to find Anderson, free to calmly slip home from six-yards. Quite an impact from the substitute, sending the crowd into delirium with his second goal of the campaign.
All even after 50 minutes of first-half football, League Cup final referee Anthony Taylor blew his whistle to send both teams down the tunnel. Alex Neil, who replaced Neil Adams at the helm in early January following a league position of 11th, would have been the happier of the two managers with the return leg at Carrow Road to come in seven days.
Anderson started the second half just how he ended the first, as he was involved from the offset. The first booking of the game came three minutes in, as Dorrans’ hard sliding tackle fouled the goalscorer. The resulting stage of play saw the 26-year-old volley a long range effort well wide of the Norwich net.
A second booking for Norwich came just before the hour mark, as Jerome intentionally clipped Berra in an increasingly heated encounter. Ipswich mounted more pressure on their opposition’s back four, epitomised by a series of Sebastian Bassong, who achieved promotion on loan at Watford this year, errors.
The majority of play came from the right hand side and Mauritian international, Bru produced an accurate cross that Sears headed over. A deflected Bradley Johnson shot and a tight offside decision on Jerome followed before Dorrans was replaced by Wes Hoolahan. That cross proved to be Bru’s final contribution as he made way for crowd favourite Jay Tabb, holding Premier League experience with Reading.
Wonderkind and Aston Villa target Teddy Bishop made way for Jonathan Parr with 15 minutes left to play, with chances few and far between after the break. However, moments after that change, Murphy latched onto a long ball and raced away towards the box. Without support, the aging forward decided to go alone without success.
In an attempt to change the game, Neil brought on Gary Hooper in place of Jerome. The striker, 27, has scored 13 goals in 19 starts this season, and is a lethal player to bring on from the bench. Team-mate Hoolahan found England Under 21 winger Nathan Redmond inside the area and forced the Ipswich ‘keeper into a save with a looping header.
The game dwindled out towards a draw and that is how the first-leg finished in Suffolk. A lack of quality in the final third from these rivals sees the tie remain all square going into the next week’s conclusion at Carrow Road.