Town boss Mick McCarthy felt two penalty decisions were pivotal in the Blues’ 3-1 Championship play-off semi-final second leg defeat at Norwich City, the Canaries winning the tie 4-2 on aggregate to set up a Wembley final against Middlesbrough.

Blues midfielder Teddy Bishop was caught in the first half by Nathan Redmond but referee Roger East waved away his protests. After the break, East correctly dismissed Christophe Berra for handling Redmond’s shot on the line, leading to Wes Hoolahan opening the scoring from the penalty spot.

“The game’s hinged on a penalty decision, two penalty decisions in my view,” McCarthy said.”I thought we should have had one in the first half when Bish was brought down.

“And the second one was a stonewaller, it’s a sending off and with 10 men we were hardly likely to win, unfortunately.”

McCarthy felt Berra handing the ball was a natural reaction: “The TV asked me whether he should he have pulled his hand away, and of course he should in the cold light of day, but we’re kind of hardwired and trained to stop the ball going in the net.

“He’s been brilliant, Christophe. It’s a penalty, a sending off, nothing we can do about it.”

Despite being reduced to 10 men the Blues got back on terms when Tommy Smith netted from close range, typifying the resilience and never-say-die spirit the side have shown all season.

“They’re great, I’m immensely proud of them,” McCarthy added. “They’ve been fantastic all season I couldn’t be any prouder of a group of fellas.

"Low maintenance, hard-working, really professional and I think today they’ve shown what they’ve been about and why we’re in the play-offs when we were pretty unfancied at the start of the season.

“We were the better side in the first half. I go back to the point. I don’t know what anybody else thinks but I think Teddy Bishop got clipped, he says he got clipped, and it should be a penalty.

“Unfortunately, I’ve got history, I seem to remember a game [when manager of Sunderland] against Watford, not that I’ve got a long memory, when we didn’t get one given.”

He says he would feel just as sick if the Blues had reached Wembley and lost there: “There are two teams, I’ve seen Middlesbrough cock-a-hoop on the pitch last night and Norwich today and one of them’s going to be as sick as a seaside donkey, just like I feel now.

“It makes no odds, we’ve got to win it. We haven’t got the chance to play at Wembley but if we’d have lost at Wembley I’d have still been sick. Good luck to the two of them, one of them’s going to be coming back and seeing my kipper in the Championship.”

As home fans ran onto the pitch after the final whistle with police horses helping to disperse them, McCarthy hung around to see his players off the field.

“There are some muppets who come on and want to abuse you, but it’s generally from a distance. I hope they enjoyed themselves,” he said.

“I wanted to make sure all my players came off safe and sound because at Preston [Chesterfield’s] Ian Evatt got kicked, punched and spat on and I certainly didn’t want that happening to any of mine.

“And I don’t think it did, there were some numpties running around giving the usual wanker sign and all that but nothing more. They’re generally not the bravest when they come and shout from a distance.”

Norwich manager Alex Neil said the match went as he expected: “It was a really tense affair, a tight game, as I expected it would be. We’ve come out the other side of it managing to do the job we set out to do.

“It was really pleasing and I’m delighted for the players, the fans and the club that we’ve managed to get ourselves into the final and give ourselves a chance of getting to the Premier League.”

Having brought Wes Hoolahan into the side along with Nathan Redmond, he was pleased that they both played a part in the game’s pivotal incident.

“I put Wes Hoolahan and Nathan Redmond in the team to give us that bit of quality later on as we got further up the pitch and the pleasing thing is that they combined to get us the penalty and the red card which was the turning point in the game.”

Photo: Action Images

roytheboy added 15:42 - May 16 Everything to be proud of Mick, well done our boys
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MaySixth added 15:42 - May 16 Sorry Mick, but that Bishop incident was never a penalty.
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bluefeast added 15:44 - May 16 Redmond is a prima donna ,worthless scumbag ,could only play when the space was there ,prior to that in first leg and first half today ,absolutely useless. Bad luck to us all ,its to painful at the moment ,players gave their all ,Mings should be ashamed at the two hideous mistakes that both ultimately was the teams down fall ,yes he has talent but he needs to cut out errors at this level.

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TractorBeezer added 15:45 - May 16 Disappointing I know but Mick but you can rightly feel very proud of the boys and all of the hard work from you and Terry. We played really well in the first half pressing high up the pitch and playing some football. It's been an enjoyable, interesting season with ups and downs and much excitement. Thanks! We'll be ready to start again in August... hopefully with most of our squad intact. UTTBs

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Bostonblue added 15:50 - May 16 Bishops was never a penalty but Berra is a star & who wouldn't have done the same!
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battyblue added 15:53 - May 16 TractorBeezer) hopefully with a few additions
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tractorfromongar added 15:53 - May 16 Well done Mick and the boys for a cracking season. We did not get the dream ticket to Wembley but no one can say the team failed this year. What a team compared to the days a few years back when the damp squib and the dark lord were in charge. Already looking forward to next year!
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TimmyH added 16:01 - May 16 Clutching at straws Mick ...Bishop incident never a penalty but saying that the boys gave it everything today and the draw at home was never going to be enough. Midfield still an issue for me, relying on Bishop as play maker at such an age was pushing it. For me S.Hunt, Ambrose, Tabby and maybe even Anderson (who has done well over the 2 legs) probably needs to go.
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toxtethblue added 16:05 - May 16 Hes never going to get rid of Tabb, hes in love with him too much... brings him on and what does he do? Loses the ball which leads to their third and game over...
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austractor added 16:05 - May 16 Thanks to the entire club for giving us a great season which we have not had for some time. I only gave us a "supporters chance" of winning today so whilst I am disappointed ofcourse I am definitely not surprised with the way it finished up. Lets hope the ambition in the camp and boardroom is only increased by what was achieved in the last 2 years on a shoestring. The teams that finished above us all show we are still an important step behind what an automatic promotion hopeful requires. COYB

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bluefeast added 16:07 - May 16 There is a fine line between finishing 6th and finishing 16th ,Our form in the first half of the season was championship 1st or 2nd spot ,our form in the second half of the season 15th 16th 17th. We need to recruit in the areas that weaken the 1st 11. I suggest we will not see Tabb ,Hunt next season. Will we keep our star players or do we need to sell in order to strengthen. FFP makes the championship so tough , then you have the 3 coming down from the prem plus those who will do better next season in the championship than they have done this season. Its the hardest league on the planet to get promoted from. We face a tough task doing better than this season. Hugely proud at the moment and hugely disappointed ,a horrible cocktail really. Well done ITFC ,enjoy the summer break ,lets hope for some quality additions over the close season and go on an early run next season. Manage the league like its 9 mini leagues of 5 games , keep the players focussed and striving to be top of those mini leagues over all 9 of them. COYB

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ian_marshall added 16:09 - May 16 Proud of the boys! Nothing to be ashamed of, roll on next season!
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therein61 added 16:15 - May 16 So proud of lads for giving their all, this for whatever reason was a step too far so lets put it right next season and get in the top two COYB
7

carlo88 added 16:29 - May 16 And a Boro win next week would round off the season nicely.
13

Pip50 added 16:29 - May 16 Good work effort but proud! Calamity full back defending for the game changing first goal. Delusional from Mick Bish tripped on a shoe lace. One shot on target. We set up not to concede again, yes Narwich are a better side but we could have jumped them on a one off, but no, negativity from the start at PR. Time for a change please some football or at least entertainment. Hopefully Narwich will be out of our hair we just can't beat them.

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TimmyH added 16:32 - May 16 Considering how bad Fulham and Cardiff played this season after coming down I personally feel next season will be difficult to achieve what we have done this season but saying that there's not much between about 5th and 10th in this league. A bigger squad to start with will go some way!
1

superkevinwilson added 16:33 - May 16 So proud of of the players and love mick and tc. Build on this and next season will be a high
7

bluefeast added 16:37 - May 16 Pip50 ,if you were a 5 foot 9 stone boxer in the ring with a 6 foot 1 stone boxer would you slug it out toe to toe or would you try and negate the obvious advantage your opponent has >? Fact is in an open gung ho game we would of conceded more against a norwich side that has better players. So Mick did exactly the right thing , tried to negate norwich strengths and impose our strengths on them. Today was cruel on Bera and that was a huge blow. Don't dis the manager ,take a look at the bottom half of the table and see where the lessor players who play expansive football are positioned.

13

itfc1981 added 16:38 - May 16 Come on Boro!
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bluefeast added 16:38 - May 16 Pip50 ,if you were a 5 foot 9 stone boxer in the ring with a 6 foot 10 stone boxer would you slug it out toe to toe or would you try and negate the obvious advantage your opponent has >? Fact is in an open gung ho game we would of conceded more against a norwich side that has better players. So Mick did exactly the right thing , tried to negate norwich strengths and impose our strengths on them. Today was cruel on Bera and that was a huge blow. Don't dis the manager ,take a look at the bottom half of the table and see where the lessor players who play expansive football are positioned.

3

kevtblue added 16:42 - May 16 Well done to players and supporters today they did itfc proud. Whilst I am desperately disappointed this is the first time in years I have had the real excitement of an end of season with something to play for. Mick and terry and the staff have done a fantastic job with little money to spend. Great to see David M back and there was a glimpse of what he can do. We have the structure to compete at the top again next season with a fit and healthy squad who knows what we can do. Enjoy the holidays all see you next season.

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Pip50 added 16:43 - May 16 Blue feast I probably would sneak up and mug him. That's my point they knew how we would set up and that we would make mistake(s) their manager effectively said that after the game. We needed to surprise them we didn't.
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Keaneish added 17:04 - May 16 If we play every 90 minutes at that tempo next season as we did today, we'll walk into the top 2. Outstanding first half, the sort I'd pay money to see week in week out. Silly little mistakes cost us again though.
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bluesince84 added 17:12 - May 16 Not going to moan. In our heart of hearts however today panned out, a penalty, being outplayed or a duff decision we were never going to win but i will thank MM for a brilliant season. We should be rightly proud of our players and to even see a game at this stage of the year shows how far we've come. Middlesbrough just gained 30,000 fans. However im in two minds about this as i do not want to be playing norwich again next season. Enjoy the summer. ME back MM or he will leave, thats the only certainty i can see.

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PJH added 17:23 - May 16 Proud! Proud of the team this season. Proud of the performance today. Proud to be part of our wonderful support today. Proud to be an ITFC supporter.
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