George Hirst scored a dramatic late penalty for Ipswich Town, securing a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City in their Sky Bet Championship match at a packed St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich discovered the Championship won’t be easy, but they salvaged a point thanks to Hirst’s late equaliser against Birmingham.
The season opener between two teams tipped for success was a competitive affair.
Chiedozie Ogbene returned from injury for Ipswich, while Sammie Szmodics missed a key chance. Earlier, Kyogo Furuhashi had a goal disallowed by referee Andrew Kitchen, who awarded 17 fouls in a stop-start first half.
Birmingham, who won significantly more games than Ipswich last season, thought they’d clinched victory when Jay Stansfield scored in the 55th minute, marking his first goal of the season.
Despite Ipswich struggling to create clear chances from open play, Hirst’s late penalty ensured they returned to Suffolk with a point, although tempers flared at the final whistle.
Birmingham believed they had taken the lead early on when Furuhashi outjumped Jacob Greaves and lobbed Alex Palmer, but the referee ruled a foul on Greaves.
Ipswich allowed Birmingham possession, leading to growing confidence for the home side. Stansfield set up Furuhashi, but his shot went wide.
Szmodics, a former Golden Boot winner in this league, should have scored in the 25th minute.
A poor pass from goalkeeper Ryan Allsop gifted Szmodics possession, but he fired wide, sparing the keeper’s embarrassment.
Both teams improved, showing their quality. Stansfield received a pass from Tomoki Iwata but shot over the bar.
The first shot on target came after 39 minutes, with Keshi Anderson’s weak effort easily saved by Palmer. Palmer then comfortably saved Demarai Gray’s free-kick.
The atmosphere at St Andrew’s intensified after the break.
Furuhashi chased a through ball which Ipswich failed to clear, and dinked it over Palmer onto the post. Stansfield finished the rebound into the net.
Ashley Young was among the substitutes in the second half. Hirst couldn’t connect with Young’s cross as time ran out.
Ipswich were awarded a penalty after a handball by Lyndon Dykes. Hirst calmly sent Allsop the wrong way to secure the 1-1 draw.
Allsop, Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane, Iwata, Paik, Gray (Laird 83), Stansfield (Dykes 83), Anderson (Gardner-Hickman 89), Furuhashi (Doyle 77).
Palmer, Johnson (Young 68), O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Ogbene (Broadhead 68), Matusiwa (Humphreys 85),Taylor, Jack Clarke (Al Hamadi 79), Szmodics (Chaplin 68), Hirst.
Andrew Kitchen (Durham).
