A game of sound and fury that may, in the context of the Championship as a whole, have signified nothing, could have very serious repercussions for the Norwich City manager Nigel Worthington. Getting thrashed at Reading in midweek was bad enough but the disquiet that has been rumbling around Carrow Road for several weeks was expressed uncomfortably loudly and clearly after his expensively assembled team responded to that débacle by allowing themselves to be outplayed by Ipswich's talented youngsters yesterday.

That Worthington gave debuts to three players with Premiership experience only made matters worse. Robert Earnshaw, for whom Norwich paid West Bromwich Albion £2.75m last week, and Jonatan Johansson and Zesh Rehmann, both signed on loan for the rest of the season from Charlton and Fulham respectively, are considered locally to represent Worthington's last throw of the dice. On this evidence, though, it is hard to believe they can make a big enough impact for the Canaries to close the 12-point gap that now separates them from a play-off position. Earnshaw in particular gave the team nothing.

"They started brighter, passed better and picked up all the second balls and, if you allow teams to do that, you're asking for trouble," said Worthington afterwards, chants of "We want Worthy out" still audible outside the ground. "Supporters are part of the game, they're entitled to express their opinions but I'll stand tall and keep believing. We had a good chat in the dressing room afterwards but it's on the pitch we've got to put it right."

His suggestion that some of his players were getting it right on the training field but freezing in the stadium is unlikely to find much sympathy from those who had just seen Ipswich's considerably less experienced team thrive in the rebarbative derby atmosphere. While the visitors' performance was built on the solid foundation laid by the centre-halves Jason De Vos and Richard Naylor, it was two 18-year-olds, Owen Garvan and Danny Haynes, who caught the eye. Garvan was outstanding in midfield and Haynes, brought on as a first-half substitute, was a constant threat up front before scoring the late winner the visitors deserved.

The writing had been on the wall for much of the first half-hour, so much so that it was perversely inevitable that Norwich would open the scoring. Shortly after Matt Richards's shot had hit the post, with the Norwich goalkeeper Robert Green beaten wide, Yousef Safri lifted a hopeful long ball into the Ipswich half. For the first and only time the Ipswich offside trap misfired, enabling Johansson to run on and lift the ball neatly over Lewis Price in the Ipswich goal.

Barely five minutes later Ipswich were level, though not without a slice of luck. Green looked to have Jimmy Juan's free-kick well covered before it took a hefty deflection off the head of Johansson.

Worthington, relieved to get to half-time on level terms, made two changes in midfield but to little effect. Haynes, chasing every lost cause, got to Garvan's long ball before the oncoming Green and headed it towards goal, only for Rehmann to clear before it could cross the line. Haynes might have followed up himself had Green not flattened him but the referee saw nothing wrong. Nor did he two minutes later when Gary Doherty appeared to foul Alan Lee, two decisions that Ipswich manager Joe Royle described afterwards as "blatant" penalties.

It looked as though Norwich would get away with it but there was a final twist. Haynes, still limping from Shackell's previous attempt to stop him, was in the right place when Lee headed Richards' cross down on the six-yard line. The teenager flung himself at the ball, bundling it across the line off what looked suspiciously like his arm.

"I don't know what it hit, hand or arm or whatever, I just threw my head at it and hoped for the best," he said afterwards. "I don't care what it hit, we were the better side and even the most ardent Norwich fan will tell you that," said Royle, whose team has now gone six games unbeaten. "I feel sorry for Nigel. It was 'Royle out' a few weeks ago but there you go; that's a month in the life of a football manager."

Richard Rae (The Guardian)