BY OUR MAN AT PORTMAN ROAD
IPSWICH TOWN showed they have the stomach for the fight as JACK CLARKE kept his cool from the spot to rescue a late point in a four-goal thriller against promotion rivals Middlesbrough.
The Tractor Boys looked to be heading for a costly home defeat until referee Jarred Gillett pointed to the spot in the 87th minute.
ADILSON MALANDA was the villain for Boro, adjudged to have tugged back super-sub GEORGE HIRST as the tension reached boiling point.
Clarke, the man for the big occasion, didn’t blink. He hammered his penalty home to send the Portman Road faithful into raptures and propel Kieran McKenna’s men back into the automatic promotion spots.
In a first half that played out like a chess match with a hangover, it was Boro who drew first blood. Slovakia star DAVID STRELEC silenced the home crowd, ghosting into the six-yard box to turn home a cross from ALAN BROWNE.
But you can’t keep a good Tractor down. Just five minutes later, KASEY MCATEER reminded everyone why he’s one of the brightest sparks in the division. Latching onto a cheeky backheel from IVAN AZON, the winger lashed a thunderbolt into the bottom corner that left Sol Brynn grasping at thin air.
Boro haven’t won in seven, but they played like a team possessed under the Suffolk lights. TOMMY CONWAY looked to have snatched all three points in the 64th minute, pouncing on a loose ball to fire into an empty net and leave Ipswich staring down the barrel of a second home loss in a week.
McKenna rolled the dice, throwing on Hirst and Clarke to find a way through the Boro steel. It worked. The late drama ensures Ipswich stay second on goal difference—a single point ahead of Southampton in the race for the promised land.
STAR MAN: JACK CLARKE (Ipswich Town) – Ice in his veins when it mattered most.
IPSWICH (4-2-3-1): Walton 6, Furlong 7, O’Shea 6, Greaves 6, Davis 7, Matusiwa 6, Taylor 7, McAteer 8, Nunez 7, Philogene 7, Azon 7.
Subs: Clarke 8, Hirst 7.
BORO (3-4-2-1): Brynn 7, Malanda 5, Fry 7, Ayling 6, Brittain 6, Gilbert 7, Morris 6, Targett 6, Browne 7, Conway 8, Strelec 8.
