Ivar Ingimarsson brought a dramatic end to Reading's Championship goal-drought
with a last-gasp equaliser as an entertaining encounter against the league
leaders burst into life at the death.
With a goalless draw on the cards, Darren Bent fired the visitors ahead in
injury-time before Ingimarsson scored the Royals' first league goal since Boxing
Day.
Shefki Kuqi failed with an early attempt to break the deadlock as the goal-shy
hosts survived early pressure.
Kuqi shook off an ankle knock to take his place in the Ipswich attack and he
tested Marcus Hahnemann in the third minute with a volley from distance that the
Reading goalkeeper was able to hold.
Hahnemann then denied Tommy Miller and Darren Currie as the Tractor Boys made
a lively start, piling forward in search of the breakthrough.
It took the hosts 25 minutes to carve out their first real opening and winger
Glen Little let fly from the left hand side but his drive was held by Kelvin
Davis in the Ipswich goal.
Andy Hughes tried his luck as the Royals gradually worked their way into the
game but his shot from outside the area was too high to trouble Davis.
With Steve Sidwell suspended, Reading manager Steve Coppell handed Ricky
Newman his first Championship start of the season.
Newman slotted into central midfield and volleyed wide from the edge of the
penalty box 10 minutes before the break.
The sides drew 1-1 earlier in the season and the Ipswich scorer that day,
Kuqi, was keen for a repeat performance, clearing the crossbar with a powerful
strike towards the end of the first half.
Kuqi carried on in the same vein after the break and sent a long-range effort
wide of the goal two minutes after the restart.
Bent helped himself to a double as Ipswich beat Coventry last week but he had
a fairly quiet afternoon until he forced Hahnemann into a fine save with a shot
from the right just after the hour mark.
The Royals keeper found himself under a bit of pressure midway through the
second half and held a Kuqi header before catching a shot from the Finnish
international just a minute later.
Reading weathered the storm and mounted an attack of their own but Nicky
Shorey could not direct his header from close range on target as the killer
touch continued to elude Coppell's side.
Joe Royle's Ipswich were equally guilty of poor finishing and Richard Naylor
missed the target after finding himself with the time and space to have a crack
from the edge of the area.
Shorey did manage to get a header on target late on but Davis was equal to it
before defender Ibrahima Sonko blocked a Kuqi shot at the other end as time ran
out.
The 90 minutes were up when Bent fired a shot into the bottom corner after
being played in by Currie but the visiting fans were still celebrating when
Ingimarsson volleyed the equaliser after good work from Little.
Teams
Reading Hahnemann, Murty, Shorey, Sonko, Ingimarsson, Little,
Harper, Newman, Hughes, Owusu (Morgan 59), Forster.
Subs Not Used: Young, Convey, Savage, Brooker.
Booked: Owusu.
Goals: Ingimarsson 90.
Ipswich Davis, Wilnis, Karbassiyoon, De Vos, Naylor, Currie,
Miller, Horlock, Westlake, Kuqi, Bent.
Subs Not Used: Price, Magilton, Counago, Bowditch, Richards.
Goals: Bent 90.
Att: 23,203
Ref: M Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
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