Ipswich Town gave 32-year-old platform to deliver epic season tally - campaign ended in Norwich City heartbreak though | OneFootball

Daryl Murphy was the Championship's hotshot for one season and one season only, before it all ended in tears

Daryl Murphy’s 2014/15 campaign with Ipswich Town is the great anomaly of the forward’s career, with close to 25% of the league goals he scored across a 15 year career coming across that nine-month period.

The frontman was imperious during that season at Portman Road with 27 league goals to his name, and was defying the odds to produce the best form of his career the other side of his 30th birthday.

Mick McCarthy had the Tractor Boys absolutely motoring, which was something of a feat at the time, with the Suffolk club in something of a malaise after too many years stuck in the second division.

Murphy helped make them dream again, although their East Anglia foes had the last laugh a decade ago, with a play-off showdown for the ages deciding their fate.

Daryl Murphy’s career-best season spearheads Ipswich Town play-off charge

After netting 13 league goals in the previous campaign, Murphy had established himself as a middle of the road Championship striker: will reach double figures, and do enough to keep a club competitive over the course of a season.

But right from day one in that 14/15 campaign, there was a different look in his eyes; one that craved that feeling of the ball hitting the back of the net, and he was a man that would do anything to be able to soak up the jubilation of the Portman Road masses after doing so.

Recently relegated Fulham were first up, and on the half-hour Murphy already had his first of the campaign, as he collected Luke Hyam’s pass and fired past Jesse Joronen. The crowd erupt, Murphy celebrates: something that would become all too familiar in the months to come.

Millwall, Brighton, Rotherham... none of them could suppress him, with the second of those three goals demonstrating his newfound confidence in front of goal, as he buried a bouncing ball on the angle with his first touch.

A brace against Nottingham Forest followed, before adding more two-goal hauls against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United. This was a man who was saving his best stuff for the biggest occasions.

Seven goals in as many games over the festive period started to give Town fans hope that a promotion push was within their grasp, with the likes of David McGoldrick and Freddie Sears chipping in when needed.

Things were as tight as ever in the race for the top six, and ultimately it was Murphy’s goals that made the difference in earning a play-off spot that season, with Wolves missing out to Ipswich on goal difference, while Derby County finished a point behind in eighth.

There had been talk of the potential of an East Anglia Derby for a place in the Wembley final, and the final day switch in positions made it happen, with Town in sixth and Norwich in third. Things were just about to get tasty.

Daryl Murphy fails to make play-off semi final impact

As prolific as Murphy had been throughout the campaign, he had failed to score against the Canaries in either of the two outings earlier in the season, and that pattern would continue once the play-offs got underway.

The Irishman was kept out the game by the likes of Russell Martin and Sebastien Bassong at the back, and even when he did force an opening, his cutback for Freddie Sears was kept out by John Ruddy, as was Luke Varney’s rebounded header.

Quickfire Jonny Howson and Paul Anderson goals cancelled each other out before the first-half in the first leg at Portman Road, leaving everything to play for in the return leg at Carrow Road days later.

Once again, Murphy couldn’t get into proceedings in Norfolk, and when Christophe Berra saw red for handling a shot on the line, the writing was very much on the wall for the blue side of the divide.

Even after Tommy Smith equalised, the Canaries came flooding forward time and time again, with Nathan Redmond getting the second, and Cameron Jerome adding a third with 15 minutes left to play, leaving Murphy and his teammates disconsolate at the full-time whistle.

For the 32-year-old, it was a dreamlike season that ended in a nightmare. He had the Midas touch for nine glorious months, with the Championship running scared of his unerring accuracy in front of goal.

It says a lot that the Irishman failed to match that season’s goal tally in the four years after his Town departure in the summer of 2016. This was a season of a lifetime, and although it ended in heartbreak, it was one hell of a ride to get there.