David Hannant: Time for Norwich to lay down the gauntlet

And on Saturday, a certain mangy, flea-ridden, rabid dog had that day, at about the 700th time of asking.

To put things into perspective, the last time Ipswich managed an East Anglian Derby double, I had only just made it into primary school. And I turn 40 next year.

Obviously, I’m still fuming about how things went down at the weekend, as I imagine is every person of yellow and green persuasion.

To say the derby was a bit controversial would be akin to saying Garfield the cat is a bit fond of lasagne and a bit on the anti-Monday side.

But equally, it almost gives reason to pity our neighbours south of the border.

Imagine waiting so long to muster a victory at Carrow Road, only for it to arrive in the most tainted of ways.

Ipswich fans adore talking about history, we all know this, but how will this derby be remembered?

As football fans we all have ways of pigeon-holing memories and events.

I present the Grant Holt derby as a prime example of this - I use that term and you immediately know which game I’m talking about.

Or how about the Jamie Cureton derby, or the Leon McKenzie derby?

For slightly less jovial reasons, you can probably also pinpoint the Bryan Gunn derby too.

This one just gone, however, will be remembered for one man and one man alone - and I’m not talking about Marcelino Nunez.

Referee Anthony Backhouse (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Make no mistake, this was the Anthony Backhouse derby - a man whose name almost certainly meant nothing to anybody prior to 12.30pm on Saturday.

Now, I understand that it is easy to try and blame officials when things go wrong and generally a fleeting decision and moment in time does not determine a game.

However, we didn’t just see a single decision swing a game - although it certainly made a difference.

Instead, what we saw was a full 90 minutes of match-ruining incompetence.

There was zero consistency, zero control over the game and zero respect for the gravitas of the occasion.

We saw identical offences given different punishments, constant disruption to the ebb and flow of the game and, frankly, the largest asterisk you could ever put by a football result.

So imagine waiting 20 years for that?

It is, however, a real testament to the life of a football fan that close to a week on, I am still seething. And believe it or not, that is a good thing.

I’ve made this point before, but there really is nothing like being a football fan.

It is irrational, it is ridiculous and it is simply wonderful.

And nothing sums this up more than the beauty of petty local rivalry.

I have literally no rational, sensible reason to dislike Ipswich any more than any other club.

And yet nothing fills me with more visceral anger than when they get the rub of the green - and little makes me happier than their misfortune.

My irrational hatred of them as a club even makes me reluctant to support England in major tournaments, through not wanting them to share the joy.

And I just think that is a hilarious phenomenon.

Clearly, in reality, it’s all banter and the moment it leads to actual violence and abuse it’s just daft.

But expressed in the right way, I maintain that hatred spawned by petty sporting local rivalry is the purest of all emotions.

And, as with all moments in life, it is the lows that make the highs feel all the more higher.

Was it fun being able to laud it over our rivals for so long? Of course it was.

And likewise, the only way I see it being 16 years before we claim back bragging rights is if they sneak up this season and we pass them as they inevitably plunge back through the trap door.

I genuinely saw nothing from Ipswich on Saturday to suggest they would be capable of staying in the league if they do manage to avoid bottling promotion.

And when we do next beat them, it won’t just be a victory, it will be revenge.

I’m sure in this moment they are enjoying their hollow, controversy-shades victories, as would we roles reversed.

But for us, the injustice simply has to be the fuel that drives us in the weeks and months to come.

We now have four games with the shackles completely off - it’s time to lay down the gauntlet for next season.

OTBC