Mick McCarthy walked into the Ipswich press room an hour after full-time, cup of tea in hand, and offered to avoid wasting anyone’s time. “If someone asks me, ‘Am I disappointed with that result?’ then I’m out of here, right?” he threatened. “I’ve just done interviews and been asked the most senseless questions.”

He was generous enough to hang around but in any case Norwich City had already provided the afternoon’s most pertinent answers. Their hold over the East Anglian derby in the last decade might have come from nowhere but it is total: this was their ninth game without defeat against the old enemy and had the added bonus of levelling the all-time win tally in this fixture at 40 apiece.

Norwich had to ride their luck in a first half in which Ipswich’s aggression and tempo made up for any other deficiencies. They were a shade fortunate to go in level but there was always the suspicion that their technical superiority might have its moment and so it was brought to bear.

Just before the hour mark James Maddison, the best player on the pitch by some distance, picked his spot to perfect effect and the pattern of recent years resumed. Ipswich’s vim degenerated into vague bluster; Norwich bloomed into a cool, collected unit that exuded a higher level of authority.

Perhaps luck had little to do with it after all. Ipswich could point to Jonas Knudsen’s angled drive that thudded against the post five minutes in and, yet more regretfully, to the free header that David McGoldrick missed with the interval approaching. But this was Norwich’s fifth consecutive away win, four of them in the Championship, and their form after what now appears to have been a watershed 4-0 defeat at Millwall has been magnificent.

They could hardly have picked a better venue to make their entry into the top six; if the appointment of Daniel Farke, and accompanying reshuffle on and off the pitch, seemed questionable two months ago, then the progress since then has spoken of a plan coming together.

“We really have this feeling that we’re in a special situation,” Farke said. “We appreciate this one. To do it with a derby win in such a close game and another clean sheet is always good.”

From looking vulnerable every time the ball entered their box in the season’s early weeks, Norwich now look a lucid and secure unit that packs a hefty punch on the break. Timm Klose and Christoph Zimmermann, two towering figures at centre-back, dealt well with the niggly presence of Joe Garner and were barely troubled in the final half-hour as Ipswich offered little more than a series of aimless balls on to their heads.

That was not quite the analysis provided by McCarthy, who bristled at the suggestion that Ipswich had lost their cohesion after going behind. He was pleased with their performance and contended that they were the better side “for the majority of that game, certainly for the first half”.

There was truth in the latter part of the statement but the problem for him is that, as with their opponents, the broader pattern points to something more significant. In Ipswich’s case six defeats in their past eight games have erased much of the goodwill from straight wins in their first four and a reversion to their standard second-tier limbo appears inevitable.

For all their energy and positive intent there is little discernible style when they have the ball; they certainly have no player with the spark of Maddison, a deft 20-year-old who was signed as a hot prospect from Coventry during Norwich’s last season in the top flight and now looks perfectly equipped for a leading role in the No10 position.

“The definition of quality is always to perform over the long term,” Farke said. “Right now James seems to be growing up and performing over several weeks. He is in brilliant shape and so important for us but he needs to go further.”

So do Norwich but Farke’s way is gradually taking hold. He implored them to be braver on the ball at half-time and they took heed, creating a number of dangerous situations before Maddison applied the clincher.

That has become the way of things in East Anglia: it has been Norwich who have learned lessons and developed in the past 10 years while Ipswich, just as they did here, have tailed off painfully.

“It hurts me to lose any game but it’s never going to hurt me as much as fans who’ve supported the club for 30 years,” McCarthy said.

He was stating the obvious: Ipswich’s supporters, some of whom booed half-heartedly at the end, resent the status quo as much as their manager detests predictable lines of inquiry.

Talking points

Fraizer Campbell scored 12 minutes from time to seal a Hull City win. Photograph: Keith Turner/REX/Shutterstock

1) Was this a corner turned by Hull City and Leonid Slutsky? They have been wildly inconsistent since relegation from the Premier League but a mucky, fiercely contested Yorkshire derby with Barnsley brought a 1-0 win and – incredibly – a first victory on the road since 20 August 2016. Fraizer Campbell was the hero, scoring 12 minutes from time, and perhaps he is on the comeback trail too. It has been such a fraught few years for the one-time England cap who is, almost unbelievably, now 30; this was a third goal in his last four appearances, though, and perhaps there is scope to make up for lost time. Slutsky does not think the striker can complete 90 minutes regularly just yet but knows how he intends to use him. “Campbell is the first forward now,” Slutsky said. “He’s very aggressive, he’s a very strong individual and a leader of the team.”

2) Shrewsbury were toiling. Not that it was anything to be overly concerned about – their start to the League One has been spectacular – but mid-table Fleetwood Town were proving sturdy opponents and, despite mounting pressure, there was little real sign of a breakthrough for the surprise leaders at Greenhous Meadow. Wigan were winning comfortably at Blackpool and about to knock Paul Hurst’s side off their perch; then came the kind of moment that sorts genuine promotion candidates from the rest. Centre-back Toto Nsiala still had plenty to do after leaping to meet Shaun Walley’s 89th minute corner but, a good 12 yards out, managed exactly the right power, loop and direction. In went the ball and up to the Championship Shrewsbury will go if they keep this pace: they are now 10 points clear of third-placed Bradford.



3) Victory at Crewe came with far deeper layers of meaning for Accrington Stanley than their elevation to third place in League Two. Last Tuesday one of their academy players, Jordan Moseley, tragically died at his home; the emotions were raw at a tight-knit club and they turned in a performance worthy of their late team-mate. When Billy Kee opened the scoring from the spot in the third minute the players held aloft a shirt reading “RIP Jordan Moseley”. Jordan Clark quickly doubled the lead and then, on the quarter-hour, supporters of both clubs united to applaud a young man who was taken far too soon. Kee dedicated the victory to Moseley afterwards; Stanley, just two points off the top, look like genuine contenders.