x

We Deserved It - Joe - Ipswich Town News

Town manager Joe Royle said he thought that even Norwich fans would feel his side would deserved their 2-0 victory over the Canaries at Carrow Road.

Royle said: "I don't think even the most die-hard Norwich fan would disagree that we deserved to win today.

"The only worry I had was that we might be punished for not putting our chances away. We missed three good opportunities in the first half and when we had a good appeal for a penalty turned down I was beginning to think it was going to be one of those days.

"But the boys kept at it and in the end they got their just reward.

"This is an excellent win for us and I feel really pleased for the supporters as well as the players. It hasn't been the best of times for them recently - we've had a couple of poor results at home and there's the administration business - but this is a great boost for them. You could see how much it meant at the final whistle.

"The win also keeps us in the hunt for the play-offs although we're not getting too excited about that yet. We've just got to carry on winning and see where it takes us."

The Town manager was thoroughly impressed with the league debut of 16-year-old wonderkid Dean Bowditch: "The boy did extremely well for us. He's still young enough to play for our U17s but he came on and has done extremely well.

"In normal circumstances we wouldn't have brought him in so soon. The experience will have done him good but he'll be back learning his trade in the youth team soon."

Norwich manager Nigel Worthington said the better side won despite his players' best efforts: "I've got no complaints about the commitment and work rate of the players - that was first-class - but Ipswich did keep the ball better than us and I thought that was the decisive factor in the end.

"This is a blow, there's no doubt about that, but we'll still keep battling and we've got another home game against Reading to look forward to on Wednesday.”

Norwich midfielder Mark Rivers, a regular scorer against Town in his Crewe days, felt his side never got going: "All the lads are devastated in the changing room. It's always hard when you lose such a big game, especially a derby. We just didn't perform like we know we can."

What to read next:

TWTV Video Verdict - Brentford Plus Alan Lee and Season Stats
The TWTV team reflect on the 1-0 home defeat to Brentford and are joined by former Town striker Alan Lee to look at the Blues’ frontline as well as Adam Wilkin, who provides a statistical overview of the season.
Ipswich Town 0-1 Brentford - Highlights
Highlights of this afternoon’s 1-0 home defeat to Brentford.
Frank: Exactly as Difficult as I Expected
Brentford manager Thomas Frank admitted his side’s 1-0 victory over the Blues was as difficult as he had anticipated.
McKenna: VAR is Taking Away From the Game
Boss Kieran McKenna believes VAR “in its current guise” is “taking from the game as a spectacle”, the Blues’ 1-0 home defeat to Brentford having been repeatedly stopped for incidents which the Town manager believes were marginal decisions rather than clear and obvious errors.
Palmer: We Need to Sustain Pressure For Longer Periods
Town goalkeeper Alex Palmer feels sustaining a performance over 90 minutes is the Blues’ target following the 1-0 defeat to Brentford at Portman Road.
Ipswich Town 0-1 Brentford - Match Report
Kevin Schade’s 18th-minute goal saw Brentford to a 1-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road. The German international headed home a controversial three-times-taken corner with the Blues ultimately worthy of a point, Omari Hutchinson coming closest with a late strike which visitors keeper Mark Flekken pushed onto a post.
Ipswich Town 0-1 Brentford - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Ipswich Town 0-1 Brentford - Half-Time
Kevin Schade’s 18th-minute goal has given Brentford a 1-0 half-time lead over the Blues at Portman Road.
Thousands Honour Town Women at Cornhill Celebration
FAWNL Southern Premier Division champions Ipswich Town Women were honoured with a special ceremony on the Cornhill, receiving the acclaim of thousands of residents and Blues fans on a glorious morning in Ipswich.
Tuanzebe's Return Only Change as Blues Host Brentford
Town boss Kieran McKenna has made one change for this afternoon’s penultimate home game of the season with Axel Tuanzebe returning to the starting XI.