Ipswich fail to seize the moment

IT MAY not have brought the win that Portman Road craved, but Massimo Luongo’s equaliser did at least take Ipswich Town top of the Championship.

The midfielder’s spectacular volleyed goal earned a draw against an impressive Middlesbrough side.

A third successive game without victory felt like a missed opportunity but, with just three nerve-shredding fixtures remaining, it does mean that Ipswich’s fate now rests in their own hands.

After rivals Leicester and Leeds both lost, Kieran McKenna’s side knew that victory over Boro would open a threepoint gap. McKenna said: ‘Frustration isn’t my feeling at the moment. Maybe it will be tomorrow. Right now, it’s pride around the game.

‘I thought it was a brilliant game, we created plenty of chances to win and I really like how we went about our performance against a great side.’

Ipswich fell behind to a slick Boro move involving the impressive Finn Azaz and Isaiah Jones before Luke Ayling curled a perfect cross on to the head of Emmanuel Latte Lath, for his fifth goal in as many matches.

If that goal flattened the atmosphere around Portman Road, Luongo reignited it when he stole in at the far post to volley home a Leif Davis corner.

Jeremy Sarmiento then struck the post for the hosts before the second half resembled a basketball game, as both sides chased the win.

By the final whistle, Ipswich were indebted to keeper Vaclav Hladky for a brilliant one-handed tip over of a Matt Clarke header.

The draw all but ends Boro’s lingering hopes of a run into the play-offs. Manager Michael Carrick said: ‘It’s probably a decent point in isolation. But we came here to win and we wanted to win, so it’s a bit of mixed feelings really overall.’