Norwich City 3-1 Ipswich - Full Time Summary

Ipswich dominated the first half and were unlucky to go in with the score level at half-time but missed a number of good chances that they really should have put away, but failed to do so.

After 18 minutes in which neither side created much in the way of a clear-cut scoring chance, Ipswich began to put pressure on the City goal.Ian Westlake was the cloesst to threatening when his well hit shot came cannoning back of Robert Green's right hand post in the Canaries goal.

The next Town chances fell to Matt Richards on 28 minutes who played a neat one-two with fellow academy graduate Darren Bent but could only manage to fire wide with his weaker right foot with only keeper Robert Green to beat.

Town at this point were all over a shaky Norwich defence who did not look comfortable at all with Bent's pace which was causing them all sorts of problems.

Bent was the next one to miss a chance however after a good move was rounded off by a great lob from the England Under 21 international only to see it rebound off the crossbar when Norwich goalkeeper Green looked to have no chance.

Jim Brennan limped off in the 45th minute and was replaced by Jason Shackell for the Canaries with left sided defender Brennan having struggled for the last 10 minutes after picking up a knock earlier in the half.

The second half started with Ipswich looking to continue where they had left off at the break, but Mackay nodded City ahead in the 50th minute when he got on the end of Ian Henderson's right-wing free-kick following slack marking from Kuqi and beat Kelvin Davis at the far post from six yards.

Tommy Miller was lucky to escape a yellow card for a foul on Henderson, but when the Norwich winger whipped in the resulting free-kick from the right wing Mackay was there again to give a lesson in finishing by hitting the top left-hand corner with a rasping right-foot shot from seven yards following poor marking from Kuqi again.

Soon after Norwich took the 2-0 lead Ipswich Town boss Joe Royle choose to shuffle his pack, by taking off the poor, ineffective and disastarous Shefki Kuqi and bringing Richard Naylor on to the suprise of the blues fans who were expecting Top Scorer Pablo Counago to enter the fray.

Norwich continued to apply pressure on the Town goal, and it almost paid off when midfielder Paul McVeigh came close to making it 3-0, but Davis did well to turn his shot away for a corner to keep Town in a game which was threatening to run away from them.

Town made one last throw of the dice with 20 minutes to go, replacing right back Fabian Wilnis with Pablo Counago, with Jermaine Wright moving to right back. Town also shifted formation to 4-3-3 with Darren Bent on the Left, Nayoir through the middle and Spainard Counago on the right side of a three pronged attack.

Norwich had calls for a penalty with 15 minutes to go following a reckless challenge from Drissa Diallo which looked just inside the box. However referee Clattenburg gave a free kick on the edge of the area. The news wasn't as good for Diallo however, as he was dismissed for a professional foul, something of which he can have no justified complaints about.

Substitute Phil Mulryne's free-kick hit the wall and minutes later the stunning Mackay was only inches away from a hat-trick when he got a toe to Huckerby's cross with the shot just going wide.

Former Manchester City striker Huckerby then fed substitute Iwan Roberts to give the long time Town fans hate figure a chance on goal, however Davis came out to meet the vetran striker and gathered the ball well..

Town were given a chance to get back in it with just three minutes remaining on the clock when referee Clattenberg threw the Blues a lifeline when he amazed Norwich fans by awarding a penalty to Town for a push on subsitute Richard Naylor in the box.

Tommy Miller made no mistake from the spot, hitting a right-foot shot high into the net beating Green's dive to his left giving Town fans a little hope and setting up what could have been a nervy finish

The last word however was left to Huckerby who had not been involved as much as usual. His angled left-foot drive just 30 seconds after Millers penalty took a deflection off Georges Santos giving Davis no chance and sending the City fans home to celebrate a rare Carrow Road victory over their local rivals.

Town: Davis, Wilnis (Counago 70), Diallo, Santos, Richards, Miller, Wright, Magilton, Westlake, Bent, Kuqi (Naylor 60). Subs not used: Price, Bowditch, Reuser.

Booked: Diallo, Wilnis, Magilton.

Sent-off: Diallo (professional foul - Straight Red).