London 2 North Ipswich 23 Norwich 15 It was brilliant sunny day at Humber Doucy Lane as the two sides took to the field for this derby match in front of a large & noisy crowd of 350 spectators with Ipswich still smarting from the hammering they suffered at Beeston Hyrne back in October, writes John Kornjaca.
The early signs were ominous with Norwich appearing as a slick, fast-moving outfit that executed the basics very well with a dominant front-five.
Indeed, it was Norwich who took an early lead following some early pressure. A neat chip over the Ipswich rush defence saw Lawton race through to ground the ball in the corner and a 5-0 lead.
Ipswich came back at the visitors with great purpose and determination. Following some great driving play from centre Ben Grimwood and Chris Blom, the ball was handed back to Grimwood who crossed close to the posts to score a fine try. Corey Button struck a good conversion and Ipswich nudged ahead 7-5.
The next score was also to go the way of the Black and Golds following several drives to the line. Scrum-half Jake Steward tossed a smart reverse pass to the powerful Blom who just three metres out, reached down to his bootlaces to grab the ball and dive over in a single movement and make it 12-5. A Button penalty pushed Ipswich further ahead at 15-5.
Norwich hit back just before the break with a converted try and it was 15-12 Ipswich as they turned around.
The first points of the second half came again from Button’s boot as Norwich picked up a yellow card for repeat infringements at the breakdown. With the score now 18-12 to the Suffolk side, Norwich launched a sustained offensive, but fine tackling restricted them to a penalty and an 18-15 scoreline as the game entered the final 15 minutes.
Following good play in midfield, fly-half Button – having his best game of the season for Ipswich – burst through a couple of tackles to score wide out from 30 metres, at last allowing some breathing space for the home side at 23-15.
Despite a determined effort from Norwich in the closing minutes, Ipswich – with an error-free display - held on and secured a fine victory much to the appreciation of a noisy home crowd.
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