Palace and Ipswich feel play-off frustration

Crystal Palace 1 Ipswich Town 1

The only winners at Selhurst Park last night were all the other play-off contenders who probably heard the result they wanted, a draw, all be it a thoroughly entertaining one which left both Crystal Palace and Ipswich frustrated.

Ipswich remain five points behind Wolverhampton Wanderers, who visit Reading tonight, while Palace's point enabled them to move up four places when it could have been seven with a win. "But we're not going to give up," promised Ipswich's manager, Joe Royle, who bemoaned both his side's long list of casualties – which lengthened with the injuries suffered by Darren Ambrose and Chris Makin – and their first-half performance.

Ipswich did, in fact, look much the better for their enforced substitutions although Pablo Couñago, one of the players belatedly introduced, did blast a decent chance over the top.

Richard Naylor also sent a header flashing past the far post, but Naylor could perhaps point to the fact that he had been operating for the first time as a make-shift central defender as deputy for the injured Hermann Hreidarsson.

Earlier, Cédric Berthelin twice rescued Palace with fine saves. Having sprawled to prevent Darren Bent capitalising on Jim Magilton's perceptive pass, the French goalkeeper bettered that by tipping over Matt Holland's header after Marcus Bent had nodded on Magilton's corner.

Palace responded with a fine move that ended with Danny Butterfield rounding Andy Marshall only to take the ball too wide. But their goal was not long in coming. Andrew Johnson looped a glorious header over Marshall from Tommy Black's cross and almost had another in the next minute with an abortive dash to the by-line. Ipswich survived several other close calls, but were a different proposition after the interval, equalising when Marcus Bent rocketed home a header from Magilton's 67th-minute corner. With the bar keeping out a subsequent header from Johnson at the other end, justice was done.

Crystal Palace (3-4-1-2): Berthelin; Powell, Popivich, Granville; Butterfield, Derry, Mullins, Gray; Black (Thomson, 64); Johnson, Whelan (Freedman, 64). Substitutes not used: Kalinko (gk), Borrowdale, Akinbiyi.

Ipswich Town (4-3-3) Marshall; Wilnis, Naylor, Gaardso, Makin (Cunago, 57); Majilton, Wright, Holland; D Bent (Reuser,85), M Bent, Ambrose (Richards 21). Substitutes not used: Bowditch, Pullen (gk).

Referee: E Wolstenholme (Blackburn).