Ten man Bolton Wanderers fought to claim a deserved point at Portman Road as they held Ipswich Town to a goalless draw on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors played the majority of the game without Marc Wilson after the centre half was shown a straight red for bringing down Kayden Jackson on the edge of the box with ten minutes of the first half remaining.
But a solid defensive display from the Wanderers restricted their hosts to only one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes as they headed back north with a well deserved point.
Team News
For Wanderers’ third game in seven days, manager Phil Parkinson made four changes from the side that lost to Middlesbrough in midweek.
Erhun Oztumer, Marc Wilson, Will Buckley and Craig Noone came into the starting XI at the expense of David Wheater, Mark Beevers, Gary O’Neil and Josh Vela.
Goalkeeper Ben Alnwick wore the captain’s armband.
First Half
A half-chance fell for Wanderers in the fifth minute when they broke forward into the Ipswich penalty box. Jason Lowe’s initial headed effort was blocked and the midfielder’s follow-up volley off Josh Magennis’ knockdown just didn’t do enough to trouble Dean Gerken.
Alnwick was pressed into action for the first time moments later when he charged off his line to gather the ball before Kayden Jackson could latch onto it in the penalty area.
Wanderers won a free-kick over on the left hand side which was taken adeptly by Oztumer but although Magennis got his head to the ball his was flagged for offside.
A dangerous move forward Wanderers involving Grounds and Buckley culminated in a corner for the visitors. From Oztumer’s set-piece the ball fell to Wilson who stabbed wide whilst under pressure.
Some excellent tracking back from Wiliams robbed possession off Jackson whose pace threatened the Wanderers defence.
Hobbs then showed some resilient defensive work when he got in front of Jackson to clear for a corner from Gwion Edwards’ whipped in cross.
The hosts had a free-kick on the edge of the box after Noone had brought down Jackson. Edwards’ direct effort went straight into the arms of Alnwick.
This was a good spell from Ipswich who were starting to get a grasp on the game.
Wanderers suffered a serious blow on 36 minutes when Wilson was shown a straight red after bringing down Jackson on the edge of the box after the striker had shown him a clean pair of heels to charge on goal.
Before the free-kick was taken, Parkinson made a tactical change with Wheater coming on for Oztumer.
Ward’s well taken free kick defelcted off the Wanderers wall at the expense of a free-kick.
A late rally from Wanderers as the half ground to an end saw both Williams and Buckley have shots blocked.
Second Half
The hosts made their first substitution of the game during the break with Tayo Edun coming on for Trevoh Chalobah.
Full back Jonas Knudsen saw his right footed effort deflect for a corner as Ipswich looked to start the second half on the front foot.
Some good play on the edge of the Wanderers box saw the ball fall to Jon Nolan, whose right-footed curling effort cleared Alnwick’s cross bar by some distance.
Wanderers were defending stoically with Alnwick seldom troubled courtesy of the four players in front of him.
Ipswich made a double substitution with Walters and Graham on for Skuse and Graham with 20 minutes of the contest remaining.
The visitors immediately earned a corner after some good play between Magennis and Williams saw Noone’s cross cleared behind.
Former Wanderers youngster Walters only managed to last seven minutes before hobbling off the field after lengthy treatment. Both sides were now down to ten men for the final 12 minutes.
Wanderers then enjoyed their best chance of the game after Olkowski’s cross was knocked down into the path of Wheater by Hobbs with the sub’s blasted volley being deflected for a corner.
Alnwick made a world class save with five minutes remaining to keep out a flicked header from Chambers off Graham’s in swinging free-kick. The Wanderers’ was at full stretch to keep out the effort.
With three minutes of normal time remaining, Wildschutt came on for Buckley as Wanderers looked to get a late winner.
Although Clayton Donaldson came on for Noone during injury time to give Wanderers an extra attacking impetus, the game ended without a goal.
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