Ipswich Town 1
Burns 14
Town 1
Morris 75 (pen)
A second-half Carlton Morris penalty earned the Hatters a draw against Ipswich in their first outing in front of fans in 59 days since the play-off final victory at Wembley.
Trailing at the break to a cross-cum-shot from Wes Burns the Hatters edged their way into the game in the second period to earn a draw with Morris converting from 12 yards after Chiedozie Ogbene was upended in the area.
The game also saw Tom Lockyer skipper the side and play an hour on his return to the Hatters line-up since that incident early in the Wembley win.
Hatters boss Rob Edwards went strong to start with. Seven players who started here at Colchester were involved during the play-off final and three – Tatith Chong, Ogbene and Mads Andersen – were new summer arrivals.
But it was Ipswich, about to embark on their first season back in the Championship after a wonderful campaign in League One last season, who led on 14 minutes. Burns found a pocket of space deep on the right and swung in a delicious left-wing cross that was so tempting it curled its way past everyone in the penalty area, including the outstretched gloves of James Shea.
As the Town struggled to find that final key pass to go with their possession to threaten the Ipswich goal, the Tractor Boys came close to doubling their lead before the break.
Firstly, a left-wing cross from Leif Davis saw Cameron Burgess’ crashing header cannon back off the crossbar on 39 minutes before Tom Lockyer got himself in the way of Marcus Harness’ shot on the turn two minutes moments later.
A lung-busting break from Chong nine minutes after the restart showed the midfielder’s ability to burst forward, however his cross from the left was unable to pick out Carlton Morris in the box.
Clear-cut chances continued to be few and far between as both sides traded possession although the Town almost had a sniff on 63 minutes when Jordan Clark raced through – only for Christian Walton, the former Hatters loanee – to race out the penalty area to clear the danger.
But with 15 minutes left on the clock the Town were level. Ogbene used his pace and power to surge into the penalty box but his progress was halted by George Edmundson’s foul and Morris made no mistake from the spot.
A minute later, with their tails up, Cauley Woodrow headed a Ogbene cross at Walton as the came on strong in the latter stages.
Ogbene came within inches of finding Woodrow again for what would have been a tap on 85 minutes but Ipswich came close themselves on the counter only for Freddie Ladapo to drive narrowly wide of the target – and that was the last meaningful action and the spoils were shared.
Next stop for the Town in their pre-season is a trip to Hillsborough to face another newly promoted Championship side, Sheffield Wednesday.
See you then.
Town: Shea (sub Macey 76); Ogbene (sub Taylor 86), Doughty, Andersen, Lockyer (sub Francis 61), Doughty; Chong (sub Campbell 61), Clark (sub McAtee 86), Berry (sub Watson 61); Adebayo (sub Johnson 61) , Morris (sub Woodrow 61).
Subs not used: Nelson, Luker, Odell-Bature.