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Kipre: It's a Special Day Sunday, 5th Oct 2025 16:03 by Kallum Brisset Town goalscorer Cédric Kipré says he is immensely proud to be a part of the first Blues side to defeat Norwich City in more than 16 years after a 3-1 victory in the East Anglian derby at Portman Road. Kipré’s goal opened proceedings just after the half-hour mark, when the defender chose the perfect moment to score his first goal for the club on only his second league start. After 6,013 days, the Blues finally got one over their near-neighbours on an emotionally charged afternoon in Suffolk that also saw Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke find the net. “In this derby, it’s amazing,” Kipré said. “It’s the type of moments you dream of and you don’t think it’s going to be real and it happened today, so I'm very glad. “I used to be a striker! It was a good finish, the goal was there and I just hit it. I’m very happy for the team. “A very good performance, very serious from the boys. We’ve worked hard during the week, we’ve worked on certain things and we did it well today so I'm very pleased. “We trust each other. We have a very confident group so there was no pressure, we trust each other’s qualities as well. We knew that if we did what we know we can do on the pitch, everything would go well. “It means a lot, of course, especially for the fans and for the club. It’s been 16 years, a long time coming, so we’re very happy that we are the group that won today. It’s a special day and I hope everyone enjoyed it. “I’ve tried to do what we’ve been learning this week and I think I did it well, but most importantly it was a great performance from the team. “This is why you need a lot of players with experience who have already played in these kinds of games. We have a few in this team, so this is why we were composed and relaxed and did our job well.” The celebrations in the changing room were led by Marcelino Núñez, the former Canaries midfielder having visibly enjoyed himself in the post-match scenes on the pitch. Town full-back and boyhood fan Harry Clarke was also among those to make their emotions felt on the pitch after the final whistle. “It must be Nacho, he loves it. He is good vibes,” Kipré said of the Chilean. “Especially against his old club as well, so it was a special moment for him too. Maybe that’s why he’s been celebrating like this. Harry Clarke, of course too. Everyone was buzzing and happy.” On the fans, he added: “Sixteen years so I was expecting that from them to be celebrating like this. I hope tonight they’ll enjoy it. “The arrival was very special. A lot of people, the blue smoke and stuff like this gets you pumped. The motivation is here straight away. It was an amazing day. “It didn’t surprise me because this week we’ve been talking about it and seen a few images and videos. I was expecting it, but not as big. “It was very different because it’s a special day and a special game. A derby is there to be won, and we did that today so I'm happy.” Philogene will perhaps go down as the greatest hero of them all, scoring his fifth goal in his last three home matches with an outstanding finish from 30 yards that will go down as one of the all-time great East Anglian derby goals. Kipré said: “Very special, he’s a special boy and he scores special goals. Everyone’s very happy for him. I saw it from behind, the ball kind of moved and it was an amazing goal. "When he shot I wasn’t even surprised. It went in and I'm very happy for him. “Just before half-time was very important. Obviously they scored so the game was a bit more difficult. We felt a bit more free when we scored and just before half-time was very important.” Clarke rounded off the afternoon with a goal from the bench to make sure of the three points with 77 minutes on the clock. Kipré said: “Super sub! He comes in and he scores, I’m very happy for him. It also shows the importance of the whole group. “Sometimes you start on the bench and you need to come on and make an impact and he did in the last few games. I’m happy for him.” Kipré had family support at Portman Road, with his wife watching on from the stands with pride. “I haven’t played many games and it’s been a bit difficult,” the 28-year-old admitted. “She’s been here to support me always. I saw how happy she was and it made me happy also.”
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