Nurse! My Happy pills have worn off! If not that poor a performance, a terrible result never the less.

Although Burnley started the game way down the table they had been pretty free-scoring at home this season, so there was perhaps a hint of what Town needed to do in order to get something out of this match, i.e. score goals.

The only period during which we looked like doing so was the opening half an hour or so before they scored. Dean Bowditch partnered Sam Parkin up front, and had made some good chances notably with the help of Owen Garvan in midfield, when Burnley got a fortuitous goal.

A speculative shot from James O'Connor from way out, took a nasty deflection off a Town defender and looped over Lewis Price into the net. The keeper couldn't be faulted for the goal, it was just one of those lucky moments for Burnley.

Town did not react well to going a goal behind, and the rest of the half was the opposite of what had gone before. This continued into the second half, with Burnley now the side with their tails up and threatening goal. Ipswich on the other hand had gone all shakey at the back, and at the other end chances were few and far between.

Joe Royle decided to make a double substitution to spice things up, taking off skipper Jim Magilton and Dean Bowditch who were replaced with Jaime Peters and Danny Haynes respectively. It did little to improve things.

With 20 minutes-ish left to play, the home side were awarded a free kick from more than 20 yards out. It shouldn't have been too much of a problem but the poorly organised Town wall allowed the powerful low shot from another O'Connor, this time Gareth past and Lewis Price could not stop it becoming 2-0.

Ipswich had not been able to break down a resolute Burnley defence at one nil, so two nil just made a psychological mountain too high to climb. One or two Town efforts happened but were pretty weak and the team looked resigned to losing, and in fact Burnley nicked another one before the end.

With 3 minutes left Chris McCann flicked a header into the net from a very poorly defended corner, Price must have felt let down by the players in front of him.

Nothing like the performance on Saturday against Leeds, the defence a little unsure at crucial times, but Burnley can score and needed to be punished at the other end to get points out of them. This didn't happen with few real chances to trouble their defence. If Town had got the first goal I'm sure the result would've been different, but it was disappointing to see how the mood swung when we conceded.

The visit to this Yorkshire club was always going to prove a difficult match, especially so given Town's recent run of games without a win. Everyone was going to have to be at their best, and as it happened the defence at least were.

I single out the defence not because the rest of the field were below par, but because it was where most of the play took place. Leeds had most of the ball with the Town backline having to soak up relentless pressure at times.

Canadian Jason De Vos was marking his half-century in a Town shirt, and did so finely alongside Richard Naylor who also put in a fine performance. Castro Sito, having escaped a ban after his bogus red card against N****ch was overturned, made up the back four along with Jay McEveley.

Leeds had hit the woodwork and had several opportunities to scare Town before we went ahead somewhat against the run of play. Dean Bowditch showed great persistence down the right, chasing a ball right to the by-line before looping a high cross towards the backpost where Sam Parkin stooped to head home.

The home side continued to keep their foot on the gas though, and 5 minutes or so before the break earned a golden opportunity to restore parity. Jim Magilton stuck out a leg in the penalty area to bring down Shaun Derry, but Richard Cresswell's penalty cannoned off the bar.

The second half restarted with pretty much the same style. Town's chances were restricted and Leeds always looked like they'd get something out of the game, although as the half went on they seemed to become more and more frustrated.

A notable moment for the visitors was the introduction of former FA Youth Cup winner Danny Haynes who made his senior debut ten minutes into the half. He had an enthusiastic half hour and will hopefully become a regular.

With 20 minutes left on the clock the Tractor Boys doubled their fragile lead, and the prospect of three points seemed more likely. Haynes was involved, feeding Owen Garvan who spotted Sam Parkin in space. Parkin touched the ball forward and very neatly slotted just inside the post past the diving keeper from 15 yards.

The Peacock's heads certainly dropped, and with Town happy to sit back and keep their 2 goal cushion safe the game wore on and thankfully ended with a welcome clean sheet and three points for Ipswich.

Parkin will get a huge boost from his brace, and hopefully confidence to take his goal tally higher. Joe Royle will be pleased to see a positive contribution from Haynes.

Another northern fixture for Town beckons on Tuesday night up at Burnley, who although not exactly setting the division alight, are always a difficult team to visit.

So much anticipation from both sets of fans, so much hype, so much build up and excitement. All we've come to expect from our Derby games.

All spoiled by one incompetent buffoon sent presumably from the lower leagues to adjudicate a huge game of football for all concerned. Well done that man - you have had your 15 minutes of fame, all at our cost.

How the hell Sito was sent from the field for such an innocuous incident I'll never fathom. As Lisbie ran through without the ball which was already destined for the arms of Lewis Price, he ran across Sito and down he went like a sack of shit (excuse the French today). Not uncommon in today's game, but I can only guess that the ref had never come across such obvious behaviour from a striker. Of course not - he'd obviously never ref'd a game in his life.

Sito barely changed stride as the two players crossed, any contact was not apparent and there seemed a split second before Lisbie decided to go to ground, obviously realising the ball was beyond him. Outside the area and towards it's left extreme, the lino flagged for a foul from the opposite side of the pitch. The ref then went about staging an over-dramatic dismissal, reminiscent of an attention seeking continental official.

Town had been on top of a lively Norwich side for the first 15 minutes of the match which led up to the incident, and the prospect of a cracking game looked good.

Both sides had pressed forward and tried their luck, with perhaps just one really close chance from Sam Parkin who dived to head powerfully goalwards from a Jay McEverly ball in, Robert Green making a good save at the near post.

Then the game and atmosphere changed with the sending off. Most were busily berating the ref for producing what they thought was going to be a yellow, let alone red card. They were left gobsmacked.

It ruined the match. The visiting Canaries had their feathered tails up and put Town under more pressure for the rest of the half. Nothing fancy from them, but certainly the tables had been turned. Fortunately they're not as good as their recent Premiership status suggests, and the chances that they created were badly squandered, although Lewis Price had a good deal to do with it too.

The officials left the pitch at the break to deafening boos from the home fans, and received the same acknowledgement on their return.

Town had never given up the fight, and arguably bossed the second half of the match, but only after Norwich had scored what turned out to be the winning goal. Even against 10 men, the visitors had not managed a breakthrough and it was down to us to gift them the goal. Darren Huckerby had been brought on at half time, and soon chased down a ball towards the left edge of the penalty area with Lewis Price racing him to it. Although the young goalie made it, he didn't cleanly make contact with the ball to clear, presumably worried about handling outside the box, and unfortunately Huckerby controlled and steadied to shoot. If there's one person you don't want to see facing your unguarded goal regardless of the difficult angle, it's him, and he tucked it away despite the best efforts of the defence to race back.

That said, much later on in the game he missed a far easier opportunity to double the lead but thankfully showed the form more like the other Norwich forwards had displayed.

And ours for that matter. We pressed Norwich well throughout the half, but there was simply no creativity up front, and the shots we got in were coming from further back.

We need to develop more bite. We need to see the original Dean Bowditch back again. We need Sam Parkin to 'click'. We need a fit Nicky Forster. We need ideas.

And most of all we need referees with common sense.