Boro sub Patrick Bamford’s goal deep in injury time saw Middlesbrough grab a 2-2 draw against the Blues at Portman Road. Freddie Sears had put Town ahead with his second goal in two games but Stewart Downing equalised for the Teessiders on 71. Martyn Waghorn thought he’d scored the winner with his 16th of the season from the spot after Championship debutant sub Shane McLoughlin had won the penalty, but Bamford headed the leveller six minutes into time added-on.

Cole Skuse, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Sears returned to the Blues’ line-up with the injured Mustapha Carayol and Ben Folami dropping out, while Luke Woolfenden moved to the bench.

Town again started with three at the back with Jordan Spence at right wing-back having overcome the knee injury which had made him a doubt going into the match.

Middlesbrough, who went into the game confirmed in the play-offs but looking to seal fifth spot, were unchanged from the team which beat Millwall 2-0 at home last week. Former Blues skipper Grant Leadbitter was on the bench.

Town started brightly and struck the first shot in the third minute, Martyn Waghorn screwing wide after exchanging passes with stand-in skipper Skuse, playing ahead of fellow midfielders Tristan Nydam and Callum Connolly, on the right of the box.

The Blues almost went in front via a freakish goal in the fifth minute when Waghorn scuffed a corner from the right and the ball hit the outside of Darren Randolph’s post.

Confident-looking Town continued to dominate and on seven Knudsen shot wide from distance.

And a minute later the Blues took the lead. Sears outmuscled Teessiders’ skipper Ben Gibson on the right, then brought the ball into the area before smashing a low shot beyond the diving Randolph’s right hand.

The striker gleefully celebrated his second goal in two matches, following on from a 38-game goal drought, in front of the tunnel with kit man James Pullen before the rest of the team joined in.

On 12 Skuse picked up the first yellow card for a game for a foul on Adama Traore, then - after Muhamed Besic had curled over for the visitors on the quarter hour - the midfielder scuffed a shot wide from distance.

Boro had got more into the game after Town’s goal and in the 22nd minute Ryan Shotton’s low cross from the right was deflected into the side-netting.

The Teessiders continued to dominate possession and were increasingly threatening to get on terms. On 34 Webster diverted Stewart Downing’s low cross only an inch or so wide of Bialkowski’s right post.

Tony Pulis’s side went close again from the resultant corner, Daniel Ayala stabbing a low effort from beyond the far post which Connolly cleared off the line.

The players briefly came off for a drinks break on 35 on what was a very warm Portman Road afternoon, then soon after they returned to the field Waghorn shot wide.

Boro seemed to lose their momentum following the delay, then just before the half-time break Nydam was yellow-carded for a foul on Traore and Sears joined him in the book for kicking the ball away.

Neither team threatened again before referee David Coote’s whistle signalled the end of the half, prompting applause from the Blues support.

Town had started strongly and grabbed their goal through a rejuvenated Sears. Boro came more into it after the goal and will feel they deserved to level but the Blues defended resolutely and on a couple of occasions desperately to maintain their lead.

Chances were rare in the opening minutes of the second half. On 54 Ayala headed well over from Traore’s corner on the right.

The Blues’ first real scare of the half came on 56 when a corner when Carter-Vickers half-cleared a corner to the edge of the box and Besic hit a low shot which Adama turned into Bialowski’s arms from close range. Either side of the Blues keeper and the scores would have been level.

But almost immediately Town twice went close to increasing their lead. First, Sears ended a flowing Blues move by crossing from the right for Waghorn, whose shot at the far post was brilliantly diverted over by Randolph.

From the resultant Waghorn corner, Skuse met the ball perfectly on the volley at the back of the box and only an even better save from the Irish international prevented the midfielder from netting a stunning second goal of the season.

Boro failed to make anything of a break which saw them two on one in the Town half following a Blues corner, then Waghorn sent Sears away. The earlier scorer outmuscled Ayala but was crowded out by Gibson.

Bamford was introduced for Jonny Howson on 61, then seven minutes later the sub tried to punch in a cross from the right but referee Coote spotted it, although surprisingly didn’t show a yellow card.

Town had continued to defend resolutely but in the 71st minute the visitors got back on terms. A corner from the left was cleared to Downing, who struck a low shot through a crowd of players and into the net to the unsighted Bialkowski’s right.

The Teessiders weren’t too far away from a second three minutes later, Assombalonga forcing Bialkowski into a sharp save to his left with a shot from the right of the box.

Town swapped Nydam for McLoughlin, who was making his Championship debut, and then Connolly, who was applauded off after a fine season on loan from Everton, for Luke Hyam.

The Blues continued to have to man the pumps at the back but were increasingly threatening on the break, Spence doing well to cut in from the right on 78 but hitting his shot into Randolph’s arms.

But a second Town goal wasn’t too much longer in coming. Sub McLoughlin chased what looked to be a lost cause on the left and beat Gibson to the ball, the defender upending the former Republic of Ireland U18 international somewhat agriculturally as he broke into the area. Referee Coote had no hesitation in awarding the penalty.

Waghorn took the kick and slammed Town’s first goal from the spot this season to Randolph’s left to grab his 16th of a memorable first season for the Blues. The goal ended a 25-game run of Town having failed to score in both halves of a league match.

The South Shields-born frontman might have claimed his 12th assist of the campaign on 85 having sent Sears away, although he underhit his pass, but the opening goalscorer shot too close to Randolph having done well to work himself the space to shoot.

Besic shot straight at Bialkowski before Woolfenden replaced Spence for the final three minutes plus injury time.

As the game entered five minutes of injury time Sears chipped well over at one end before the visitors put the Blues under significant pressure.

Bialkowski and a number of his defenders desperately kept the ball out during a scramble, then the Poland keeper pawed a shot from Traore out and the ball was cleared.

Boro thought they’d levelled when Ayala turned home from close range after Besic’s shot had hit the bar, but the former Norwich defender had strayed offside. Soon after, Gibson was booked for a foul on Waghorn.

Town appeared to have seen off the worst of the onslaught in what had stretched to six minutes of injury time, but with the final action of the game the Teessiders levelled for the second time, sub Bamford rising to nod past Bialkowski. The final whistle followed within seconds of the restart.

The late goal was tough on the Blues who had deserved all three points from a very entertaining game having withstood periods of Boro pressure and having regained the lead after good work from league debutant McLoughlin.

They also had opportunities to seal it but the Teessiders kept up the pressure in injury time and had gone close prior to their second goal.

The draw and Norwich’s 5-1 thrashing at Sheffield Wednesday means the Blues finish the season in 12th, two places ahead of the Canaries on goal difference with Leeds United between the two East Anglian rivals.

What’s been a fractious season has ended in a positive note with an 18,829 crowd backing the Blues vocally and the 4-0 win at Reading having been followed by a very positive and promising display against Boro if not in the end another victory.

Town: Bialkowski, Carter-Vickers, Webster, Knudsen, Spence (Woolfenden 88), Skuse (c), Connolly (Hyam 77), Nydam (McLoughlin, Kenlock, Sears, Waghorn. Unused: M Crowe, Gleeson, Morris, Cotter.

Middlesbrough: Randolph, Friend, Ayala, Shotton, Gibson (c), Clayton (Harrison 81), Assombalonga, Howson (Bamford 61), Downing, Besic, Traore. Unused: Konstantopoulos, Fabio, Leadbitter, Cranie, Fry. Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire). Att: 18,829 (Boro: 1,874).

Photo: TWTD

RobITFC added 01:11 - May 7 Thank you Bryan, you have brought back the fun and love back to OUR club, sadly MM lost the plot , he did a great job in saving us from relegation to league 1 and over achieved on the budget given to him (not his fault) but all the Ipswich fans want is to be entertained an be honest with, sadly he did not realise this at the end , but well done for understanding if you bring youth in and give every game a go and try to win you will have the fans on your side, huge applause you have won back the fans and whoever is in charge next season will have a good head start. 5 stars for your short term in charge and it is good news you can now continue to bring on the youth.

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bobble added 07:58 - May 7 sounds like the curse of mick is lifted..
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lightingblue added 08:05 - May 7 Well done to Brian Klug and his noble assistants over the last 4 games. Thank you to mick for your time here at Portman road. I am not one of these haters mick and fully appreciate how you left the club which playing wise is in a much better state than previous. It just got to a stage where a change was needed. Whoever takes over has a solid foundation to springboard forward. Just a quick one to all the anti mick brigade. Can you please role you necks in and move forward. Mick has now gone, and been gone for a couple of weeks. Personally I wish mick and tc all the best for the future. Now as for the club. If I am allowed to make an assumption. They probably have already started the ball rolling, but we need to get the new management team in asap. This honestly needs to be done swiftly to allow their ways of working to bed in before the season starts. I'm guessing they have somebody lined up already (or won't be surprised at all).

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Swn98 added 09:04 - May 7 Full respect to Geddis and lightingblue a new era begns fot ITFC.
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1RWR added 09:37 - May 7 I can't remember the last time there was so much optimism around Portman Road, I can't remember either the last time there was so much optimism about next season, the next manager, the young players who will take us forward into a new era. The future is bright, the future is blue. Match the above to our cousins up the A140 who are all pulling their hair out, contemplating losing that little sh*t Maddison & all the loan players & all fearing next season already......I love it! By the way "MIND THE GAP!" The sky is blue, the good lord is with us!

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ChrisR added 09:57 - May 7 Great game , never seen so many blocks and great saves, but lucky to end with a point. Need to get new manager soon , Bart and Waghorn must stay , or we could really struggle next season , if MM had averaged 3 points every four games , as BK team, we would have been relegated , bottom of the table !
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midastouch added 10:01 - May 7 Good to see some harmony on the messages breaking out. Sometimes due to our differences of opinions we can forget the most important thing which is we all support the same team and essentially want what is best for them. We might at times disagree on what we feel is best to achieve that end, nonetheless, surely there is more that unites us than divides us. If we can stay united next season and get that atmosphere rocking in Portman Road surely that has to give the team a much better chance of lifting performances and punching above their weight. I know it's not so easy to stick together in the tough times but the new manager will have an initial honeymoon period where fans will rightly be more forgiving, let's hope they can show us enough to keep us united and take the team forwards together rather than seeing it turn all sour again as it did under the false dawns of Keane and PJ. I'm cautiously optimistic but do realise the next manager could make or break whether we become Championship also rans, or worse still relegation candidates, or whether we can get the right blend of youth and experience to get us back up the right end of the table where we all want to see us. None of our opinions are bullet-proof. Sometimes Mick named line ups which I was shaking my head at and they won, other times he named lines ups I was more positive about and they lost. Sometimes I was right and sometimes I was wrong. Mine is just one small opinion of many on here. The only thing I know I'm 100% right about is that we all love Ipswich if not none of us would bother wasting our time posting on here and moreover we stand a much better chance of going forwards being united with a rocking atmosphere inside Portman Road rather than a toxic one. So let's embrace the change and hope the gamble pays off! Meanwhile I can assure you the Norwich fans are not united, they are totally torn over Farke. I know loads of Budgies and several are already turning on Farke. I can't even walk the dog round here without seeing a Budgie and having some banter. Believe it or not they are just human like us, some make me laugh and some drive me insane! But I honestly do see the possibility of the atmosphere going toxic at Carrot Road under Farke (a bit like it did for us this season under Mick with the fans so divided). To avoid that happening Farke really needs to hit the road running next season as big doubts are already creeping in over his playing style which seems to be a lot about possession but less about effective end product. So next season we could be a far more united club than Norwich if we get the right man in place and that could honestly mean we start to finally get the bragging rights again as let's be honest, we haven't had those in some time but the pendulum could be about to swing in our favour. It's by no-means certain but there is an opportunity there for us now and I think deep-down (behind the bravado) the Budgies can sense that the balance of power could be shifting again in our favour. COYB!

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midastouch added 10:11 - May 7 And I'll probably be shot down in flames for saying this but I've got a lot more respect for the Budgies round here (even though I love to see them lose just like they love to see us lose!) as at least they are supporting their local team (as I live in Norf**k) through thick and thin rather than being glory hunters following the likes of Man United or Liverpool. I honestly see just as many United and Liverpool shirts round here than I do Norwich shirts. So at least some aren't so fickle and are sticking with their local team. And I've also noticed a few Man City shirts popping up round here too now. Well years ago you'd never see a youngster walking around in a Man City shirt (unless they lived in Manchester or had moved from there) would you!

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happybeingblue added 10:25 - May 7 Good point Midas about true fans ..been saying that for years,when I meet someone and ask them who they support and they say Man City/Utd/lpool etc yet they live in chantry I chuckle to myself and think oh dear not much point in getting into a convo about our great game as really they are just plastic fans who have no real idea of true passion supporting your local team and they normally know very little about football lol I always watch lge1 and 2 highlights and love watching the way fans of lower league teams celebrate to quote a famous phrase round these parts .....Proper Blokes :)

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warktheline added 11:31 - May 7 @lightingblue, so you get your 'dig' in and thereafter suggest 'anti mick' party to 'role necks in'! .....Don't think so! The majority of your post 'glorifies' McCarthy! Utter 'tosh' ! May I suggest that 'you' 'role the neck in' and accept this club is now 'breathing' once again now 'McCarthyism' is DEAD!!!! A 'new era' so STOP looking backwards!
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lightingblue added 12:18 - May 7 Warktheline. My previous post are more of a token of appreciation of what McCarthy did with limited recourses. For him to get what he did for the apparent Ipswich fans is not the “Ipswich way”. Yes it was time for him to go, but it was more the manner it was dealt withthat it done
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martin587 added 12:18 - May 7 A good game to end the season.Thought we played very well And BK has done a wonderful recovery job.These are a great crop of players and with the injury lads soon to return prospects look very good for next season,providing we get the right man in. Have a great summer posters.See you all next season.👍
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Swn98 added 12:36 - May 7 LIGHTINGBLUE don't bother with warktheline he wouldn't be happy if all mm backers were strung up on the cornhill.Lets all unite and leave the likes of him behind onwards to the next chapter of ITFC.
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midastouch added 13:42 - May 7 Conversation with a Norwich fan while walking the dog this morning. This guy makes me laugh and I have to be sharp with him as he knows his stuff. He said to me why do your lot still run on about winning the FA Cup 40 years ago, it's so long ago now you may as well just forget about it? I then pointed out that my mum and dad buy the EDP (even they say it's a waste of money) and I know in there every year they do a special bit about the Norwich team that reached the FA Cup semi final against Luton many many many moons ago, far longer ago than when Ipswich actually won it. So I just point out to my Norwich dog walker what's wrong with a bit of nostalgia and remembering the good old days? They had their moments to celebrate like the Milk Cup. I don't care if they want to celebrate that or getting to the FA Cup semi against Luton and Sunderland. They always say we live in the past but let me assure you in the EDP they love to celebrate achievements that are just as long in the tooth as ours. When I told him I know they celebrate that FA Cup semi final cup run against Luton from all those years ago he was a bit surprised that I knew! Also, we've reached two league cup semi finals in the not too distant past, one against Birmingham and one against Arsenal. We barely mention those. When did Norwich last reach a semi final in any cup competition? They might reached the semi in the Autowindscreen thing or did they? Or was their last one against Sunderland in the FA Cup? I could be wrong, I don't study them that closely! Neither of us have really got much to shout about in modern history. We've won a Play Off final and so have they more recently. They've done a bit of yo yoing up and down more of late whereas we haven't in recent years. Whereas we've qualified for Europe more recently than them. We had our worst season in 53 years last season but they'd had a much worse season in more recent history getting relegated to league one. Really the point I'm making is neither of us have had that much to shout about in modern history in the grand scheme of things. But it's a bit cheeky to say we only live in the past when we celebrate winning the FA Cup as I know they celebrate reaching FA Cup semi finals in the EDP so if they've got that right why can't we celebrate actually winning it once!? So that turned into another rather interesting dog walk! Oh and naturally I also pointed out that we finished in the top half of the league and they finished in the bottom half and even he saw the funny side of that as it made us sound like we were miles apart but really the truth was we both had seasons to forget but as the saying goes, the league table doens't tell any lies! ;-)

3

warktheline added 14:42 - May 7 Swn, where ever you decide to go, yes please, leave me behind!
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Swn98 added 17:35 - May 7 Warktheline you are one SAD fella
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warktheline added 18:43 - May 7 Swn, if that be the case, why oh why do you 'Private' message me? Face facts, you've grown a 'fond' liking for me haven't you? Especially now my 'predicted' scenarios have materialised! Stick with me, you know it makes sense!!!!😉
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Seasider added 18:51 - May 7 All the remarks so positive, until last few.What a Shame. We all thought that this was most entertaining game of season,and everyone agrees on here; but then the ghost of McCarthy raises dissentions. I think that Brian and his assistants have done a great job despite one dissenter pointing.out that the last four games results would have us relegated He/she incorrectly said Brian only garnered 3points. In the short time he has reluctantly been at the helm he has also conducted civilised interviews in an understated manner,as well as rejuvenating certain players such as Skues, Freddie, and Kenlock,as well as bringing through more youngsters. Most important of all is that he has restored the feel good factor to Portman Rd. Well done Brian and his 2 assistants,as well as Marcus for presumably putting his trust in them Enjoy your break lads,and hopefully with Waggy and Bart still on board together with all the injured players,we can look forward to next season under a progressive Manager

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Swn98 added 19:15 - May 7 Not for you Warktheline but for the other good supporters and users of TWTD i shall be ignoring any more of your MORONIC posts.
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Dissboyitfc added 19:27 - May 7 Chrisr...MM only got 3 points in the 6 games before he left and BK took over!!! what do you say to that?
2

heathen66 added 19:48 - May 7 Gutted by the last kick equaliser, however I think if you looked at it honestly you would say it was a fair result in the end. Some old tendancies will take longer to eradicate as we seemed to get deeper and deeper as the game went on. Positives were again Bialkowski, Webster, Sears and wait for it...our new No.8. I will be honest I am one of his fiercest critics but credit where credit is due, I finally saw a 7/10 (even nearly pushing to an 8) game from Skuse as he seemed to revel in have the shackles released. We may well have been talking goal of the season....from Cole Skuse. Was great to see a togetherness almost from top to bottom, Singing and all round happiness as if a dark grey cloud has been lifted. Looking forward to August already when I can enjoy the games again.

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blueboy1981 added 22:02 - May 7 Swn98 - so infuriated with you, and your attitude towards anyone who has a different opinion, that I up marked you - TOTALLY BY MISTAKE. Truth is - you are hurting so much at the departure of your messiah - at the same time as pretending to be a 'real supporter'. I think it's high time you decided which way your wind is blowing. We're ALL pulling together now - but there is no way I would want to be in the same trench as you and Gcon. I'd rather face the firing squad than hedge my bets on you two. STOP the PRETENCE.

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blueboy1981 added 22:11 - May 7 Swn98 ........ there is absolutely no way that I would ever tell someone to go and support another Club - we are ALL together now, but you make it plainly obvious that you are NOT one of us. Therefore, for the first time ever, I genuinely feel that our Club, moving forward, would be far better off without such so called 'supporters'. Thankfully numbers are extremely few of such characters, amongst us. Thank the Lord for that.

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blueboy1981 added 22:17 - May 7 Enjoy your Summer everyone. Rotten apples in the Barrel - do not make good Cider..... !!! Let's hope there's none left by August. Remember - get behind the new Manager - whoever he is. Thanks for all your dialogue - see you again soon.
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blueboy1981 added 22:17 - May 7 Enjoy your Summer everyone. Rotten apples in the Barrel - do not make good Cider..... !!! Let's hope there's none left by August. Remember - get behind the new Manager - whoever he is. Thanks for all your dialogue - see you again soon.
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