IT’S OH SO FARMILIAR
Jack’s birthday treat as Canaries make it 14 without defeat in derby
0 2 JACK STACEY celebrated his birthday by helping Norwich continue their 15-year rule over their bitter rivals.
The right-back turned 28 on Saturday with a win that not only knocked Ipswich off the top of the league but kept the Canaries’ play-off charge in good shape.
Marcelino Nunez’s first-half strike was enough to make it 14 Old Farm derbies in a row without defeat for the home side, also keeping alive the possibility that these two could meet again in the post-season knockouts.
Stacey (inset, top) admitted defeat would have scuppered his own post-match festivities but he felt local pride played a big motivating role in their victory.
He said: “I wasn’t planning to celebrate and think about my birthday until after the game.
“I was going to have to cancel that reservation if we lost.
Now I can enjoy it.
“We had that belief going into the game. It’s a good record against Ipswich that we wanted to keep intact.
“Having the confidence from the fans just makes it a little bit sweeter to maintain that.
“We could hear the celebrations in the background doing the TV interviews. We were desperate to get over there and I think they gave us the chance, so that was nice.”
Ipswich fans had to endure both their gloating rivals and seeing their own team stumble.
It was a strangely flat showing from the Tractor Boys in the Carrow Road sunshine. They were undone with the one true moment of quality in the game, a Nunez freekick, and offered little response.
Defeat for Leeds at Coventry keeps them second, with Watford at Portman Road on Wednesday night. Captain Sam Morsy felt three games in eight days took a toll, after their last-gasp heroics over Southampton.
He said: “I don’t think it was a great game but we just weren’t at our best today and I guess you can’t rely on continually getting late winners.
“It’s our closest rivals and we know how much this game meant to our fans, so it’s really disappointing. It’s three points lost.
“It was quite flat. It was for both teams. It’s quite cagey for both teams, which it’s always going to be in these sort of games.
“It’s about how you come in Monday morning with a fresh head. What can we do better? What can we improve? How can we bring it to Wednesday? Two more home games?
“Wednesday will be the last night home game this season. Let’s enjoy it. The fans will be right behind us.”