WITH THE JONES
Kenwyne points the way to promotion for Cherries
ous to stay upright.The visitors were running out of ideas as the match wore on, and they almost left Suffolk with nothing to show for their endeavours when the excellent Luke Varney burst clear but could find no way past Artur Boruc.
It was to prove a crucial moment when Jones burst onto the scene and opened his Bournemouth account with aplomb before the visitors almost snatched all three points, but Bialkowski saved his best for last, brilliantly tipping away Yann Kermorgant’s towering header.
Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy admitted he was pleased with the point though obviously frustrated by the timing of the equaliser.
He added: “It was a fair result, they had a lot of the game. That said, of course I am disappointed to concede like that.
“They put on a very expensive acquisition in Jones and maybe he has started to pay some of that back with that goal.
“There is an irony that we are meant to be a direct, long-ball team and then they put someone on and launch it to him to score.
“It was probably a must-win for automatic promotion, but all we can keep doing is adding to the points and see where it takes us on May 2.
“Regardless, Ipswich have a team to be proud of and we are a real threat to anyone we play against.”
While Ipswich’s focus largely centres on the play-offs, Bournemouth remain very much in the top-two shake-up.
Howe added: “I have never known a league as tight as this or with the league changing so much.
“There could be plenty more twists and turns to come and it will be down to the team that holds their nerves the most.
“It just shows what a great league the Championship is.”