Sunday 21 August 2016 15:26, UK
Mick McCarthy felt his Ipswich side did enough to beat Norwich after a hotly-contested East Anglian derby ended in a 1-1 draw at Portman Road.
Cameron Jerome's 26th-minute strike gave the visitors the lead against the run of play before Ipswich left-back Jonas Knudsen fired in an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. An evenly-matched second half saw Norwich come closer but Ipswich arguably just shaded proceedings.
McCarthy said: "I thought we were the better side and I am really pleased with the performance. I expected a scrap but there was also a lot of quality in the match from both teams. We played well and we were solid for most of the game.
"We started really well and I am delighted with how we have responded, against Norwich today and Wolves in midweek, after I was annoyed and angry at Brentford last Saturday.
"I am disappointed we didn't win. We played well enough to win but we didn't manage to get that second goal against a team who will be at the top all season."
Ipswich bossed the first 20 minutes with Jonathan Douglas' strike harshly ruled out for offside in the opening stages and Daryl Murphy dragging a shot wide.
But it was Norwich who took the lead when a neat exchange between Ivo Pinto, Wes Hoolahan and Jonathan Howson ended with Jerome sliding the ball in.
Looking to finish the weekend at the top of the Sky Bet Championship, Norwich were on top - but they were pegged back in first-half stoppage time when Murphy and Freddie Sears teed up Knudsen who cut the ball back on his weaker right foot and drilled the ball into the corner.
Both sides had their chances in the second half - sub Steven Whittaker denied a certain goal by Adam Webster's goal-line clearance before cannoning a shot against the foot of the post.
Ipswich almost snatched a dramatic winner when Whittaker was careless in his own box and Teddy Bishop robbed him but could not find a way past Michael McGovern in the Norwich goal.
City boss Alex Neil felt a draw was a fair result, though admitted he was still a little disappointed by Norwich's yield of eight points from their first four games.
He said: "It has been a good start but I still think we could do more, in terms of performance. Today was a frustrating day. We probably had the better chances but I don't think we played well enough to win.
"If anyone was going to win it, I think it was us as we had the clearer chances - one off the line and another off the post.
"It was also a rubbish goal for us to concede. We had a corner in the 44th minute and I thought it would be a great time to get a second - and then they go up the other end and score. It was sloppy.
"We know we have got a lot more in us, but we didn't display that today."
