Barnsley sub Danny Rose netted a late equaliser - his first league goal - to deny the Blues three points as the Tykes left Portman Road having claimed a deserved 1-1 draw. Town were fortunate to be on terms at half-time — ex-Blues loanee Marlon Harewood missing a number of chances — but Luke Chambers put Mick McCarthy's men in front in the 56th minute.

Boss McCarthy named the expected unchanged side against his hometown club with new strikers David McGoldrick and Aaron Mclean making their home debuts. Barnsley, playing a 3-5-2 formation, included former Blues loanee Harewood up front.

Aside from patches and piles of snow around the periphery, the pitch itself showed little sign of the recent snowy weather.

The Blues began the game strongly and skipper Carlos Edwards forced Luke Steele to tip over in the second minute with a shot from the edge of the box Guirane N’Daw having played him the ball after a spell of Town possession.

Aaron Cresswell saw a 30-yard strike deflect wide off Stephen Foster in the sixth minute with the Blues dominating the opening stages.

The game was held up on 10 when Barnsley midfielder Stephen Dawson fell awkwardly and after several minutes’ treatment was stretchered off, Kelvin Etuhu replacing him.

Soon after the restart, David Perkins scraped a shot wide from the edge of the area when he ought to have done better.

The break for the injury seemed to benefit the Tykes more than the Blues with the away side suddenly on top. On 20 Harewood beat Cresswell down the right and cut the ball back, Chambers making an important interception.

Town were finding it hard to break out of their half with the visitors now well on top. They should have gone in front in the 24th minute when Jacob Mellis played Harewood in behind the Blues’ backline, but the 33-year-old’s shot was weak and Scott Loach saved down to his right.

Chambers should have put Town in front in the 25th minute. Cresswell sent in a freekick from the left, the centre-half’s flicked header struck Foster behind him and fell at the former Forest man’s feet on the edge of the six-yard box, but he got under the ball and sent it into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

On 28 Lee Martin ought to have found Mclean in space breaking on the right but failed to spot his run. The Blues lost possession and Harewood beat Chambers, cut in from the left and hit a strike across the face of Loach’s goal. It was another fortunate escape for the Blues.

Referee Nigel Miller awarded Town an indirect freekick for obstruction inside the area on the left in the 31st minute after Steele had impeded McGoldrick as they went for a bouncing ball, the keeper having mis-kicked a clearance. The freekick was played to Martin by Cresswell and the midfielder’s shot deflected wide off a defender.

Chambers made an important interception ahead of Chris Dagnall in the 36th minute, the striker having been played in by Tom Kennedy.

Martin hit a deflected effort into Steele’s arms on 40 but it was Barnsley who had continued to have the better of it, the Blues having lost their momentum after the injury interruption.

However, so far, the backline had remained resolute for the most part with Harewood failing to make the most of the Tykes’ two significant opportunities.

As the game moved into five minutes of injury time Harewood was once again played in behind the Town defence unchecked by Mellis. This time the veteran striker beat Loach to his right, but the ball struck the outside of the post and bounced to safety.

The Blues could conceivably have found themselves two or even three goals behind by now had Harewood’s finishing been of a better standard.

McGoldrick shot wide at the other end, then went as close as any Town player had up to then with a far post header from an Edwards cross from the right which struck the bar, keeper Steele getting a touch to it. Moments before the whistle, Harewood backheeled Mellis’s corner from the right wide.

New Barnsley manager David Flitcroft would have been the happier of the two bosses at the break, although would have felt his side should have deservedly been in front.

Harewood had had the best of his team’s opportunities but had finished in a manner which became all too familiar during his loan spell with the Blues in 1999.

Despite being on the backfoot, other than in the opening 10 minutes, Town could easily have had two goals, Chambers having missed a gilt-edged opportunity and McGoldrick hitting the bar.

McGoldrick knocked an N’Daw cross from the left back across the area five minutes into the second half but too far in front of Mclean.

Perkins picked up the game’s first yellow card in the 56th minute for pulling back Martin as the Town midfielder broke down the centre of the field.

From the resultant freekick, the Blues went in front. Cresswell wafted a freekick into the penalty area, McGoldrick’s back header fell to Smith, whose attempted overhead kick fell to the feet of Chambers, who made up for his earlier miss by lashing the ball past Steele and into the net.

A Martin shot from 20 yards deflected to the Barnsley keeper on 59 before Frank Nouble replaced the largely quiet Aaron Mclean up front alongside McGoldrick.

The Blues had finally regained the ascendancy having gone in front and in the 66th minute McGoldrick cut in from the right and hit a low strike just wide. Soon after, N’Daw scuffed wide from distance after dispossessing Etuhu when he ought to have brought the ball further forward.

Mellis shot wide in the 68th minute, moments before Daryl Murphy took over from Martin on the Town left.

Harewood had another chance in the 69th minute when played in on the edge of the box by sub Matt Done but scraped well wide.

On 73 Cresswell played a clever freekick into the area into McGoldrick’s path, but Kennedy was alive to his run and blocked his shot on the turn.

The Tykes were close to an equaliser in the 75th minute when Foster headed Kennedy’s freekick from deep on the left wide. Seconds later, Michael Chopra replaced the lively McGoldrick, who had played his part in the goal.

Harewood had yet another chance in the 78th minute when Perkins escaped down the Barnsley left and crossed, the ball striking the ex-Aston Villa in the midriff and bouncing harmlessly wide. The former Blues loanee had had more than enough opportunities to claim the matchball, let alone grab a point for his side.

Murphy saw a shot deflect wide in the 84th minute, then soon after failed to find Nouble with a pass on the edge of the box when the former Wolves man, making his home debut, would have had a chance to shoot at goal.

With two minutes remaining, Loach superbly tipped over Harewood’s header from Kennedy’s corner on the left, but from the subsequent corner, Barnsley drew level. Kennedy again took the flagkick and sub Danny Rose - a 19-year-old striker - stooped to head past Loach close range.

In injury time, N’Daw found Edwards in a promising position on the right but the Town captain screwed his shot wide when he should have done better.

Neither side threatened again before referee Nigel Miller blew his whistle with a draw probably a fair result.

Town hadn’t played particularly well with the Tykes having had enough chances to have netted two or three times before Chambers put the Blues in front.

The Blues hadn’t looked particularly under threat until the two late corners, sub Rose heading home from the second.

After last week’s point away against leaders Cardiff, a draw against second-bottom Barnsley will be a disappointment to boss Mick McCarthy, although on the balance of the game it would have been harsh on the Tykes if they had taken nothing from their trip to snowy Suffolk.

Town remain 19th, six points away from the relegation places with a trip to bottom club Bristol City next Saturday.

Town: Loach, Orr, Smith, Chambers, Cresswell, Edwards, N’Daw, Hyam, Martin (Murphy 69), McGoldrick (Chopra 75), Mclean (Nouble 60). Unused: Lee-Barrett, Hewitt, Kisnorbo, Drury.

Barnsley: Steele, Stones, Golbourne (Done 69), Foster, Cranie, Kennedy, Perkins, Mellis (Rose 85), Dawson (Etuhu 13), Dagnall, Harewood. Unused: Alnwick, Hassell, Wiseman, Cymka. Referee: Nigel Miller (County Durham). Att: 15,513 (Barnsley: 175).

Photo: Action Images

Gazelle added 08:43 - Jan 20 OK we were poor but lets not take any credit away from Barnsley. On a difficult pitch they constantly harried us into making mistakes and gave us no time to dwell on the ball especially in midfield where their man Perkins was the best player on the field. And up front Harewood was far too strong for our back men, lucky for us he couldn't shoot.
0

compton added 09:08 - Jan 20 maybe chops gave the team talk today.all about about horses and hoofing the ball.? lets all stay positive and back the players we have.
0

dirtydingusmagee added 09:13 - Jan 20 a poor performance and a disapointment after the previous game, we just dont seem to be able to get away from that trait.Consistancy and a settled team is what is needed.However i still have no doubts that Big Mick is the man to sort it out,this season is still about survival,we are not out of the woods yet.The only warming thing on the day was to see M M ,doing his bit on the touchline, unlike the two previous managers,who would probably have remained hands in pocket in the dug out .Cant see a future for Martin who again worked hard but showed no end result .

0

ChestnutSe added 11:35 - Jan 20 Agree with the poster who said no future for Martin at ITFC and no future for the club with Martin here. He works hard but lacks an end product. One cross along the penalty area the whole game I think. We need a winger in the mould of Woods, Lambert or Petta. Somebody who can get down the wing beat the full back with pace or guile and get their cross in. Then we can judge how good our strikers are. Carlos had a poor game today but I would not write him off on the strength of one poor game. Defence did well today and Loach made a couple of good saves.

0

RRanger added 13:04 - Jan 20 I agree with all those posting comments about the lack of midfield creativity. I believed at the time and I still think, that after letting Jordan Rhodes go, Roy Keane's freezing out of Owen Garvan was the biggest mistake he made (amongst many). He has proved at Crystal Palace, that although lacking pace ,he more than makes up for that with his creative passing from midfield. He also scored a few goals for us as well. I wish he was still an Ipswich player.

0

lonelyblue added 13:50 - Jan 20 Nice to see that the later posters have turned down the whingeing a bit. Look, taking on this club is a longish term project for MM. Still we have remnants of the awful RK era, who, it seems should be on their way out soon enough according to most of the fans. Lest we forget, his first job was to get the defence looking reasonably solid, since you're not going to stay up shipping an average of two goals a game. He's done a pretty good job of this, both with his defenders, and looking at how the team defends as a whole. Upfront, he's obviously got some ideas, and unless you're signing world class players, new strikers are probably going to take some time to bed in - remember Marcus Stewart had a slowish start! So let's give MM the benefit of the doubt on this one. N'Daw has produced some really good performances, Hyam is always going to be a mixed bag at this stage, and everybody seems to realise that Lee and Carlos are not up to it, but this isn't exactly news is it? The team MM inherited was looking truly terrible, and so in 15 games it's hardly surprising that he's not managed to turn them into world beaters. There's a lot of work to be done. Three months ago, all any of us wanted was to avoid relegation. Give the manager time. Give the players time.COYB.

0

Dissboyitfc added 15:53 - Jan 20 chestnutse....the defense certainly didnt do well today, had it not been for woeful finishing, (Harewood should of been taking the match-ball home) we would have been on the wrong end of a sound beating. We all know where we are at, but lets not sugar coat it....poor all over today...coyb
0

h32 added 16:34 - Jan 20 Gazelle - fair and accurate assessment that.
0

carlisleaway added 19:04 - Jan 20 Who ever coaches our wide players should take a good look at how Barnsley put in some very telling crosses throughout the game. Cannot remember a good wide delivery from a Blue shirt in 90 minutes. Appreciate this is only McCleans 2nd game, but cannot see what he can add to the team.
0

neillrumsey added 19:18 - Jan 20 RK continues to get the blame when things go wrong. Some fans have very short memories regarding some of the quality players he brought in on loan and on permanent deals. Surely it was PJ that brought in lack of quality and the mercenary type of player. Thinking back to Begovic , Rosenior, Colback, Livermore, Collins, Townsend. All players with Premiership quality. Edwards and Martin also have quality and can control a football. This is something many still fail to achieve ie second touch is a tackle. I agree both were below par on Saturday but they weren't the only two. Martin at least works hard. Chops for me did nothing again.... Future is still positive as MM is the best we've had for a decade.

0

JWM added 19:23 - Jan 20 And there speaks the voice of reason! Great post lonelyblue I couldn't agree more.
0

KBsSocks added 20:02 - Jan 20 Hey, guys, a poor day at the office - but so it was for every team in the bottom half. Everybody Derby and below either drew or lost. So, we actually gained a bit of ground overall (even if it wasn't a home win). My 2d, FWIW.
0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls