Saturday 20 January 2018 19:12, UK
Joe Garner earned Ipswich a 1-1 draw with an 82nd-minute equaliser to deny Bolton a fourth successive home win.
And Mick McCarthy's side might even have snatched an unlikely Sky Bet Championship victory as Martyn Waghorn slammed a shot against the crossbar in the final minute.
Bolton have not beaten the East Anglian team since 2002. However, that nine-game run looked to be over when Gary Madine netted his 10th goal of the campaign after 53 minutes.
Madine's form has been instrumental in lifting Wanderers out of the relegation zone and his latest strike was his eighth in 14 Championship outings. However, Bolton's Achilles heel is conceding late goals and Garner netted for a third successive match to ensure the spoils were shared.
Wanderers could have been ahead inside 13 seconds as Josh Vela burst into the penalty area before shooting tamely at Bartosz Bialkowski.
A lengthy stoppage then followed as Bolton striker Sammy Ameobi took a blow to the side of his head. The former Newcastle man eventually continued, albeit groggily, much to the relief of the home fans.
Bolton were marginally the better side in the opening 20 minutes as they looked to reverse a 2-0 scoreline at Portman Road last September.
Top scorer Madine headed over from Mark Little's cross while Will Buckley cut in from the left wing to fire wide with an angled right-foot shot. Ameobi also tried his luck with another left-foot effort from distance that Bialkowski stopped comfortably by his near post.
Madine collected his seventh booking of the season for a reckless challenge on Cole Skuse before Ipswich fashioned their best opportunity.
From Waghorn's out-swinging corner, skipper Luke Chambers flicked a shot goalwards only to be denied by Ben Alnwick's smart save low down to his right. The ball broke to Waghorn who fired over from 18 yards as Ipswich finished an overall low-quality first period on top.
Skuse's injury from the Madine tackle saw the midfielder unable to continue in the second half with Stephen Gleeson coming on for a Tractor Boys' debut.
Eight minutes into the half Wanderers took the lead courtesy of Madine's latest goal. On loan full-back Antonee Robinson crossed from the Wanderers left, Vela flicked on and Madine stole in at the back post to convert right footed from five yards.
Bolton continued to press forward and Madine's right-footed free kick from 20 yards was pushed aside by Bialkowski while substitute Filipe Morais fired narrowly wide from the edge of the area.
The Trotters' failure to double their advantage proved costly as the visitors equalised with eight minutes remaining. Clever inter passing between Waghorn and David McGoldrick opened up Wanderers' defence and Garner side footed into an empty net from four yards.
Waghorn then slammed an effort against the bar as Bolton hung on for a point that lifted them to 20th place.
Phil Parkinson: "It would be madness for us to lose [Madine]. He is a good player and there is more to come from him. If you get quality crosses in the box, he will get goals. Gaz took his goal well because it wasn't an easy one to finish as the ball bounced to him quickly.
"Overall, it was a good performance considering we lost Mark Beevers (illness) on the morning of the game. We also asked Karl Henry to play after only two days training. Maybe that cost us with some fatigue in the second half. It's always disappointing not to take three points when you are ahead. However, with the disruption we have had, it is a decent point for us."
Mick McCarthy: "We come up here and people think we are Ipswich Town with Sir Bobby Robson still involved with all his players. They think we are a top top team and should beat Bolton. But that's not the case. Bolton have a lot of Championship experience in their team and they are on a resurgence.
"I have never had an easy game here. And at the end of it I will take the point. Bolton are no mugs and they didn't make it easy for us. They are a big powerful team. We actually played great football from 1-0 down, a football team turned up then and we played well."
