A Riley Scott goal 12 minutes from time saw Ipswich Town U23s come from behind to draw 1-1 with Colchester United at Playford Road in the Professional Development League Two South.
The draw keeps the young Blues eighth in the league and one place above Colchester on goal difference and sees the team regain form after a 3-0 defeat to Watford earlier in the month following three wins and a draw in October.
Liam Gibbs, who made his senior debut against the U’s in the Leasing.com Trophy last week started the game along with Kai Brown, who was an unused sub. Thirty-six-year-year-old Jamal Campbell-Ryce played the entire match for Colchester at left-back in his role as player-coach for the U’s.
Ipswich had an early opportunity when Lounes Foudil’s freekick found Kai Brown at the back post, but his shot hit the bar before going over.
And the Blues struck the woodwork a second time in the 15th minute when Connor O’Reilly cut in from the right wing towards the edge of the box and sent a slow looping shot towards goal, but it bounced off the bar and over.
Just after the half-hour mark, O’Reilly made a vital contribution in defence, with the right-back just getting to the ball before Heinz who would have had a routine finish from 10-yards.
Colchester’s grip on the game continued to tighten towards the end of the half, and they finally broke through the Ipswich defence. Dunne played a fantastic ball to Michael Fernandes on the right side of the box and he took a couple of touches before curling beyond Alley into the left corner.
Ipswich regained their attacking intent at the start of the second half and came close to a leveller with the ball bouncing to Foudil in the box, but he couldn’t keep his shot down, and it went out for a goal kick.
Foudil again looked to trouble the Colchester defence in the 64th minute, but after making his away across the edge of the box with the ball from the right side, his shot went wide of the left post.
With 12 minutes remaining Ipswich finally drew level. A cross to the centre of the box from the right wing was met by Scott who calmly stroked the ball into the bottom left corner after making a perfectly timed run into the area.
Colchester had an opportunity to snatch the game nine minutes from time, but Ipswich goalkeeper Jake Alley reacted quickly to push a close-range shot away from danger. Ipswich then had their own chance for victory, but Brown guided his shot from inside the box directly into the hands of the U's goalkeeper.
The final chance of the match fell to the visitors in the shape of a free header from a corner, but Collinge headed over from the centre of the box with four minutes remaining.
U23s: Alley, O’Reilly, Smith, Stewart, Fehrenbach (c), Henderson, Foudil, Scott, Z Brown, Gibbs, K Brown. Subs: Bort, Ruffles, Oppong, Healy, Alexander.