Ipswich Town - Jack Clarke on scoring in 2-1 win against Sunderland | East Anglian Daily Times

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0 Comments This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald. Jack Clarke spoke to the media after Ipswich Town's 2-1 win against Sunderland at Portman Road. Alex Jones reports.

Jack Clarke celebrates his winner with his fellow Blues (Image: Ross Halls)

In Clarke’s own words, his first Premier League goal was ‘a long time coming’.

The winger was signed for Ipswich’s last Premier League campaign, but it didn’t really work out for him. He came in after pre-season and struggled to get up to speed with the most relentless, demanding league in the world.

This time has to be different. After another term back in the Championship and a full run of friendly fixtures ahead of the Blues’ return to the top flight, he’s clearly in a better position to have an impact.

Coming off the bench to score the winner against former club Sunderland on opening day is a strong start. It was his first goal at the level.

“It felt like it'd been a long time coming,” he admitted. “I didn't quite manage to do it last time in the Premier League and probably had a few opportunities to do so as well.

“It was more relief than anything else and hopefully it can help me and the team kick forward.”

The winger struck in the 90th minute to secure the win at Portman Road (Image: Steve Waller)

It was a typical Clarke goal, cutting in from the right through a crowd of bodies before curling a shot into the back of the net.

“It's become a bit of a trademark over the years,” he chuckled. “There’s probably no better way for me to do it.”

For it to happen against Sunderland, a club that gave him so much in League One and in the Championship, is a weird feeling.

Dara O'Shea celebrates (Image: Steve Waller)

“It was sort of bittersweet,” Clarke explained. “Even now it's not really sunk in too much in terms of how surreal of a moment it was.

“I had it in the back of my head coming into today. Obviously, if I did get the opportunity and scored, I'd try to keep it [the celebration] as respectful as possible.

“I don't know if the moment or the adrenaline sort of took over, but it is what it is.”

The noise was deafening when the ball hit the back of the net. Clarke isn’t sure if he’s ever heard a roar so loud when his goal went in.

“The adrenaline, the moment, how big it probably was, it hasn't still sunk in yet.

“I think it was more relief for everybody else, and especially me, proving that we can do it at the level.

Clarke stunned his former club in the 90th minute of the match (Image: Ross Halls)

“We've worked so hard for all of last season to get back here. We worked hard for seven weeks waiting for the opportunity to play and do the best that we can.

“We did that today.”

The performance is exactly what fans had hoped for. Ipswich were never going to blow a team of Sunderland’s quality away, but they limited the Black Cats to very few clear-cut opportunities and remained in the game for as long as possible.

In the end, their attacking quality proved to be the difference.

Town players savour the match-winning moment (Image: Steve Waller)

“It's been a long seven weeks waiting and we were champing at the bit a little bit for the opportunity to play back in the Premier League. We got it today and we took it.

“It took us a while to get going last time. I don't think the schedule really helped us too much in the Premier League last time, and we sort of felt like we were good in games and coming out on the wrong end of certain scenarios.

“It's a ruthless league. You give teams half a chance and all of a sudden you're walking off in despair.

Brazilian striker Emersonn gave Town the lead in the first half (Image: Steve Waller)

“We knew we had to obviously put that right coming into this season and stay in games as long as possible. We did that today.”

It’s the perfect start for Ipswich, and one that will give them huge confidence going into the next few games.

Given that a trip to Man United and a home game against Liverpool are on the horizon, it’s important that the Blues have been able to get points on the board early.

Gary O'Neil applauds the Town fans (Image: Steve Waller)

“The gaffer obviously tried to instil it in us for the last seven weeks,” Clarke detailed. “Stay in games, give yourself opportunities to win. That's what we did today.

“Hopefully it can sort of give us some momentum, some self-belief, more confidence going into the next set of games.

“We'll give every game full focus like we always do, but some are obviously going to be harder than others.

“When you play the big boys, you obviously get fewer opportunities, and a lot of people could write us off before we even get there.

Ipswich head to Old Trafford to face Man United in their next league game (Image: Steve Waller)

“We've got a lot of belief that we can almost give them a game. And if we stay in the game and get opportunities, who knows?”

Regardless, for Clarke, his Town team-mates and manager Gary O’Neil, it’s important to never get too high after a win or too low after a defeat – especially at this stage in the season.

“That's what the gaffer said afterwards,” Clarke stated. “Obviously, it's a brilliant day for the football club and a brilliant day for us, but we've still got a game on Tuesday night [Carabao Cup v Leicester City]. We've got another game next week.

“It's not going to hopefully define our season too much. It's one game out of 38.

“It's a nice one. It's good for confidence and hopefully we can use it to our advantage.”