George Hirst netted a dramatic stoppage-time equalising penalty for Ipswich to earn a 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw with Birmingham at a packed St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
Kieran McKenna’s side were given a reminder that things will not be easy for them back in the second tier but they were handed a lifeline with minutes remaining as they snatched a point from under the nose of Birmingham.
A competitive first half raised the curtain on the new season between two teams who have been tipped for success this campaign.
Sammie Szmodics missed the best chance of the half after Kyogo Furuhashi saw a goal ruled out by referee Andrew Kitchen who blew for 17 fouls in the opening period, which contributed to the stop-start nature of the affair.
Birmingham won 30 more games than the Tractor Boys last season and they thought that winning habit would resume in the 55th minute thanks to Jay Stansfield, who opened his season account with his 37th goal for the club.
But, despite Ipswich failing to register a shot on target in open play, they were able to take a point back to Suffolk thanks to Hirst’s penalty in time added on before tempers flared.
The hosts thought they had taken the lead in the seventh minute when Furuhashi outjumped Jacob Greaves and lobbed Alex Palmer but referee Kitchen adjudged the striker to have fouled Greaves and blew for a free-kick.
Ipswich were allowing the Blues to have possession and they were growing in confidence. Stansfield cut into the middle and slipped in to Furuhashi who dragged wide with the best chance of the opening quarter.
Szmodics won the Golden Boot the last time he was in this league, and he should have opened his account in the 25th minute.
Goalkeeper Ryan Allsop lazily gifted it straight to Szmodics on the edge of the area, he took his time to set himself but blasted it wide of the target to spare the keeper’s blushes.
Both teams seemed to switch into their groove and started to show their quality, Stansfield received a pass from Tomoki Iwata but rifled over the bar.
It took 39 minutes for the first effort on target of the match to arrive but Keshi Anderson’s tame strike from outside the box was easily collected by Palmer and he was soon called into action again to stop Demarai Gray’s free-kick in routine fashion.
The roof came off St Andrew’s 10 minutes after the break.
Furuhashi latched onto a ball over the top which Ipswich failed to deal with and he dinked a finish over Palmer and onto the post but Stansfield was waiting to pick up the scraps and blasted high into the net.
Ashley Young was among a number of substitutes in the second period, Hirst failed to connect with his delivery as time began to run out.
Ipswich were given the chance to equalise after the referee pointed to the spot after a ball was headed onto the hand of Lyndon Dykes inside the area and Hirst confidently sent Allsop the wrong way to snatch a 1-1 draw.
