Only a 95th minute equaliser from Timm Klose prevented the Blues from ending their nine-year wait for derby glory as Town and Norwich drew 1-1 at Carrow Road, skipper Luke Chambers having given the visitors an 89th minute lead. Chambers looked set to win it for the Blues with a header from a Martyn Waghorn corner but Klose nodded in Grant Hanley's cross seconds from time to save the game for the home side.
Boss Mick McCarthy switched the Blues to a 3-5-2 formation with Adam Webster joining Chambers and Cameron Carter-Vickers at the back.
Dominic Iorfa came in for Jordan Spence in the right wing-back role with Jonas Knudsen on the left as manager Mick McCarthy eschewed his usual 4-3-2-1 system.
Stephen Gleeson was part of a three-man midfield with Cole Skuse and Callum Connolly with Joe Garner and Martyn Waghorn up front.
Spence, Bersant Celina and Grant Ward dropped to the bench alongside David McGoldrick, who was back after his knee injury. Sub keeper Michael Crowe was also among the subs having got over the illness which made him a pre-match doubt.
There was no place on the bench for Freddie Sears, although the former Colchester United man was in the travelling party.
The Canaries lined up in their usual 3-4-3 formation and were unchanged from the team which drew 1-1 at Derby County last week.
At a sunny Carrow Road on what would have been Sir Bobby Robson’s 85th birthday, Town won an early corner on the right.
Waghorn’s flag-kick was dealt with not entirely comfortably by the Norwich defence but the former Sunderland man’s subsequent ball back into the box was too long and Webster was unable to stop it going out of play.
Town made a positive start and they might well have gone ahead in the ninth minute via a familiar derby source.
Gleeson wafted a ball towards Norwich keeper Angus Gunn’s right post towards Knudsen, a scorer in each of last season’s derbies, who headed wide when he will feel he should have hit the target.
Moments later, Gunn was forced into his first serious save of the afternoon, the on-loan Manchester City man diving away to his right to palm Waghorn’s 20-yard shot wide.
Norwich had their first sight of goal in the 15th minute, but Nelson Oliveira’s touch let him down after he had been found by a clever pass over the top. The ball ran loose on the left but the Portuguese frontman’s cross was too long.
In the 18th minute, Garner looked to have sent Waghorn away on goal but Hanley did well to get across and force the Town striker off the ball inside the area. Waghorn claimed a penalty but referee David Coote wasn’t interested, probably correctly.
Town had looked the more threatening side in the game’s opening quarter. The Canaries had had a fair amount of the ball but to little effect. On 22 Oliveira scuffed wide from distance.
James Maddison, the scorer of the only goal when the sides met at Portman Road in October, struck his first effort of the game just after the half-hour mark but his 25-yard freekick was watched past his left post by Blues keeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
Connolly did better with a freekick at the other end in the 33rd minute. His low strike was saved by Gunn down to his left but the keeper couldn’t hold on. Garner looked looked to get on to the loose ball at a tight angle on the right, Jamal Lewis barged into him and sent him to ground but referee Coote waved away the Blues’ striker’s protests.
Josh Murphy flashed a shot wide for the Canaries, then Knudsen saw a strike blocked on the edge of the Norwich box.
Gunn was forced into another save in the 40th minute. Following good work from Gleeson and Iorfa on the right, Waghorn found space to shoot on the edge of the box, the ball looping up into the six-yard box from where Connolly forced Gunn into another save.
The on-loan Everton man will have felt he should have had the ball in the net, but the linesman’s flag was raised in any case.
The Norwich keeper was forced into a more meaningful stop in the 44th minute when a 25-yard freekick was played short to Waghorn and the striker smashed a low strike which the keeper did well to get across to and paw behind.
Just before the break, Iorfa went to ground in the area after losing control of the ball as he burst into the box, much to the annoyance of Klose, who shoved the Blues defender and was subsequently spoken to by the referee.
Town went off the happier of the two sides having had all the first half chances with Bialkowski still to be seriously tested.
Knudsen’s early header was probably the best opportunity, while Waghorn, twice, and Connolly had both stretched Gunn into making saves.
The Blues will probably feel they ought to have made more of their numerous set pieces - both freekicks and corners - with Waghorn’s balls into the box not always as dangerous as they have been at times in previous games.
At the other end, the Blues’ three-man backline had been comfortable for the most part, while Gleeson was starting to see more of the ball in midfield towards the end of the half.
Shortly after the restart Hanley did well to nod Garner’s ball for Waghorn back to Gunn ahead of the Blues striker.
Bialkowski was forced into his first save of the match in the 48th minute, Maddison, surprisingly quiet in the first half, curling a freekick from just outside the area towards the top corner until the Blues keeper palmed it over.
There was a further scare for the Blues from the corner. After Chambers had headed it clear, Harrison Reed looped it back into the box towards the unmarked and on side Klose on the edge of the six-yard box but the Swiss international defender was unable to get the ball under control and the danger passed.
Garner picked up the game’s first yellow card in the 55th minute for felling Maddison 30 yards out. The highly-rated youngster took the freekick himself and Webster did well to head away his dangerous ball into the box.
Moritz Leitner joined Garner in the book for tripping the breaking Knudsen just before the hour. In the 62nd minute Garner was replaced by McGoldrick.
Soon after, Maddison skipped into the area but shot well over, then on 64 Skuse was booked for a late challenge on the former Coventry midfielder. Two minutes later, Luke Hyam took over from Gleeson.
Within seconds Connolly was booked for a foul on Maddison a couple of yards outside the area. Again Bialkowski was equal to the youngster’s shot, pushing it away from goal to his right.
The Canaries were by now dominating and the Blues had Bialkowski to thank again in the 75th minute when he got down to his right to superbly save from Oliveira’s edge-of-the-box effort.
Two minutes later, the Pole was in action again, helping a Maddison shot which had struck Connolly past the post to his left.
On 79 Spence took over from Iorfa at right wing-back. The defensive nature of the substitution led to chants regarding McCarthy’s style of football from the Town support in the Jarrold Stand.
Waghorn and then Spence were booked for fouls, then on 83 Reed scraped a shot wide from the right of the box. With six minutes remaining Denis Srbeny took over from Murphy for the Canaries.
As the clock hit the 85-minute mark the Town support applauded and cheered in tribute for legendary boss Robson on what would have been his 85th birthday.
Town had shown little attacking threat in the second half but in the final scheduled minutes they began to look more dangerous Spence winning a freekick on the right.
Then in the 89th minute Knudsen’s cross was diverted out for a corner and from the flag-kick the Blues took the lead. Waghorn sent the ball into the box and skipper Chambers got away from Tettey to nod down and into the net sending the travelling Blues support wild.
TV footage appeared to show manager McCarthy - presumably in reaction to the earlier chants - gesture and swear in the direction of the Town support as he celebrated the goal.
Norwich swapped Tettey and Reed for Onel Hernandez and Mario Vrancic in injury time as they went looking for an equaliser.
Town looked like they were going to see the game out to record their first derby win in nine years until the fifth minute of injury time when Hanley chased down a ball which looked to be going out of play on the right and - with Bialkowski retreating having initially gone out chasing the ball - crossed back to the far post where Klose nodded in the leveller. There was no time for the Blues to hit back before referee Coote ended the game.
The late goal out of nothing was a sickener for Town having waited so long for a derby win and with the game seemingly all but won.
However, on the balance of the second half, a defeat would have been harsh on the Canaries, who had had all the chances up to Town’s goal, the Blues having been poorer after the break having been the better team in the first half.
The result leaves the two sides eight points off the play-offs - 12th and 13th following Bristol City's 2-2 draw at Leeds - with 14 games left to play.
Norwich: Gunn, Hanley, Zimmermann, Klose, Reed (Vrancic 90), Tettey (c) (Hernandez 90), Leitner, Lewis, Maddison, Murphy (Srbeny 84), Oliveira. Unused: McGovern, Pinto, Stiepermann, Watkins.
Town: Bialkowski, Carter-Vickers, Chambers (c), Webster, Iorfa, Skuse, Connolly, Gleeson (Hyam 66), Knudsen, Waghorn, Garner (McGoldrick 62). Unused: M Crowe, Celina, Spence, Ward, Carayol. Referee: David Coote (Nottingham). Att: 27,100.