Cheltenham Town frustrated Town to claim a draw at Portman Road for the second successive season, the game ending 1-1. Luke Woolfenden gave the Blues the lead in the eighth minute but Ryan Broom levelled for the Robins on 34 with the visitors only shot on target and Town dominated the second half without finding a second goal.
Luke Woolfenden gave the Blues the lead but Ryan Broom levelled for Cheltenham to leave the scoreline 1-1 at half-time at Portman Road.
Cameron Humphreys, Marcus Harness and Freddie Ladapo came into the Town team, Kieran McKenna having made three changes from the side which drew 4-4 at Charlton in the Blues’ last League One game a fortnight ago. Dominic Ball and Tyreece John-Jules dropped out of the 18 and Kayden Jackson to the bench.
John-Jules missed the FA Cup tie at Bracknell on Monday with a knock, while Ball also appears to be among those McKenna said was suffering from either injury or illness at yesterday’s press conference.
Humphreys joined skipper Sam Morsy in the centre of midfield with Harness alongside Conor Chaplin as one of the number 10s behind lone central striker Ladapo, while Panutche Camara was among the subs.
Cheltenham, who claimed a 0-0 draw when the teams met at Portman Road in February, made four changes with Charlie Raglan, Elliott Bonds, Daniel Nlundulu and Christian Norton in for Daniel Adshead and George Lloyd, who were on the bench, and Caleb Taylor and Ryan Jackson, who were injured.
Following the Last Post and a fly past with the match Town’s Remembrance Day fixture, the game got under way with Cheltenham setting out their stall early on with five at the back behind a four-man midfield.
Morsy shot wide from distance in the sixth minute but home fans, who included US owners Mark Detmer and Brett Johnson, didn’t have to wait too long for a goal.
From the first corner on the left, Leif Davis’s ball into the box was flicked on by Wes Burns and Woolfenden turned home at the far post from a couple of feet.
The centre-half, who became a father just over a week ago, celebrated his first goal of the season by sucking his thumb with the ball stuffed up his shirt in front of fans in the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand.
Town thought they’d gone 2-0 in front in the 15th minute when, after Janoi Donacien had brought the ball forward from deep on the right, Harness smashed a shot from the edge of the box off the underside of the bar. The Blues claimed it crossed the line as it bounced down - and they appeared to have a decent case - but referee Geoff Eltringham felt otherwise.
In the aftermath Chaplin took a kick to the head inside the box but again referee Eltringham ruled against the Blues.
Town threatened again moments later, Davis crossing from the left and first Chaplin and then Burns saw strikes blocked.
The Blues were forced into a change in the 17th minute when Donacien made way for Kane Vincent-Young, the star man for Town in the FA Cup victory at Bracknell on Monday.
The former Colchester full-back wasn’t far away from scoring Town’s second of the afternoon in the 20th minute, forcing Robins keeper Luke Southwood into a save at his near post with a shot from the right of the area.
The Blues continued to win frequent corners and a minute later the ball ran loose in the box from a Davis flag-kick from the right but was cleared before a Town player could seize on it.
On 23 a Morsy shot was deflected over and from that corner Chaplin struck another effort, which was forced wide. From that flag-kick, George Edmundson stooped to flick across goal at the near post and Southwood did well to palm his header wide.
The game had resembled an attack-v-defence training exercise for the most part but in the 28th minute Cheltenham threatened for the first time, Broom crossing from the right and Vincent-Young nodding behind at the far post.
But normal service soon resumed and the Blues almost scored their second in the 32nd minute. Humphreys crossed from the left, Ladapo pressured Southwood into an error and Chaplin looked set to hook the loose ball home until Lewis Freestone hit it against the Blues forward and it ricocheted over.
Within a minute, Burns crossed from the right to Davis beyond the far post and the former Leeds man headed back but well over the bar.
A second Town goal had seemed only a matter of time but in the 34th minute Cheltenham equalised.
Broom was allowed acres of space on the right and James Olayinka played it into his path and the Welshman shot low from an angle between keeper Christian Walton and his post.
Having scored what had been an unlikely leveller, two minutes later Cheltenham weren’t too far away from going in front.
After Town had failed to clear their lines, Broom worked himself space on the right, Liam Sercombe helped his cross on only just too far in front of Daniel Nlundulu at the far post.
The Blues started to regain their composure following the shock of conceding and in the 39th minute Davis flicked a header wide from a Burns cross from the right.
Robins keeper Southwood took an age over taking the goal-kick and referee Eltringham acted decisively by showing the game’s first yellow card.
Town should have regained their lead in the 43rd minute. Harness took his time before crossing low into the box from the right. Southwood failed to gather it and the ball fell to Humphreys six yards out, but the youngster shot straight at the keeper, who somehow held on.
That was the last chance of a first half which had been dominated by the Blues as the 69-31 possession percentage indicates and in which Town had created more than enough opportunities to have put the game to bed.
However, they had never looked entirely comfortable on the rare occasions when Cheltenham had the ball in their final third with the visitors’ goal another bad one from a Town perspective.
After a scruffy first couple of minutes, the Blues quickly returned the game to the same pattern as the opening half.
On 51, Vincent-Young cut the ball back from the right and the ball was turned behind by a Cheltenham defender ahead of Harness.
Two minutes later, a corner was played short to Humphreys but his shot flew well over the bar.
Soon after, applause rang around Portman Road in tribute to Supporters Club chairman Martin Swallow, who died late last month.
Town continued to win corners and on 56, the ball was cleared to Vincent-Young, who made a direct dribble into the left of the box before hitting a shot which deflected through to Southwood, the Blues claiming that the keeper had taken the ball out of play, a view different to that of referee Eltringham.
The Blues maintained their pressure. A Humphreys cross from the left was stopped and was briefly loose in the area before being cleared, then a Davis ball in from the same flank somehow avoided everyone.
Right on the hour, Chaplin’s cross from the right of the box struck a Cheltenham player on the hand, according the the forward, but again referee Eltringham’s opinion differed.
On 63, Burns was fed in on the right of the box and crossed low to Harness, whose effort was blocked by Broom, then a Morsy effort from the edge of the area was similarly stopped by Freestone.
Two minutes later, Chaplin stood up a cross from the right and Harness rose high to win the ball but headed wide.
Cheltenham defender Ben Williams took the turf ahead of the goal-kick, must to the annoyance of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand with Robins players having started to pick up apparent injuries with increasing regularity. Williams did appear to have a knock, however, and was replaced by Reece Hutchinson, while Norton was swapped for Lloyd.
As the match moved into its final 20 minutes, a ball in from the right just wouldn’t fall for Harness and then Humphreys and it was bundled behind. From the corner, Edmundson’s flick almost led to an own goal but the ball flew the wrong side of the post from a Town perspective.
The Blues really should have gone back in front from the resultant flag-kick, Ladapo’s first header finding Woolfenden at the far post but the earlier scorer nodded over much to his evident frustration.
Town made their first two changes in the 74th minute, Burns and Harness making way for Jackson and Kyle Edwards.
The Blues were left scratching their heads how the ball hadn’t gone in in the 77th minute. Davis crossed from the left and first Southwood saved Ladapo’s header, then the ball fell to Chaplin and his powerful follow-up was stopped by a combination of the keeper and two defenders sliding in.
Inevitably play was held up while the keeper required treatment with the Town crowd again expressing their frustration with the time-wasting.
The Blues kept up the pressure and on 83 Davis lashed over a cross from the left but Jackson was unable to get anything on it as he threw himself towards goal.
On 86 Robins sub Daniel Adshead was booked for pulling Edwards back on the Town left, then three minutes later Jackson was played in on the right of the area but his cross was blocked. Chaplin had been fouled in the build-up and Freestone was yellow-carded when play stopped.
As the game moved into its final scheduled minute, the Blues switched Chaplin and Humphreys for Camara and Cameron Burgess, who went up front. Moments later, the fourth official indicated seven additional minutes.
Town were inches from a winner in the fourth minute of injury time, a corner from the left falling to Camara, who struck a powerful shot which hit the inside of the post and bounced across goal without finding a blue shirt. The ball was hooked back into the box and again Town appealed in vain for a penalty for handball.
With time starting to run out, Edwards superbly checked one way and went the other before sending over a superb ball to the far post from the left but just too far in front of Camara.
Moments later, the whistle went to muted applause from a frustrated home support. The Blues had battered the Robins from start to finish in the second half but without finding the winning goal, the game having followed much the same pattern as the corresponding fixture last season which ended 0-0.
Crosses flashed across the Cheltenham area, shots were blocked and keeper Southwood made important saves when he had to, although Town will feel he should have been forced to make more serious stops than he was.
Overall Town had 74 per cent of the possession, struck 29 shots but only four on target, while they won 15 corners.
While the Robins defended stoically, there were a number of chances Town will feel should have been taken and for the second league game running the Blues have dropped points from a winning position.
Against a side like Cheltenham scoring the first goal should have been the hardest task and put the Blues in a winning position but once again they conceded and allowed the opposition back into the match.
Town remain second in the table still four points behind Plymouth, who drew at Lincoln, while Sheffield Wednesday are now only a point behind the Blues having won 1-0 at Accrington.
Town: Walton, Donacien (Vincent-Young 17), Woolfenden, Edmundson, Burns (Jackson 74), Humphreys (Camara 90), Morsy (c), Davis, Chaplin (Burgess 90), Harness (Edwards 74), Ladapo. Unused: Hladky, Keogh.
Cheltenham: Southwood, Long (c), Williams (Hutchinson 67), Raglan, Freestone, Sercombe, Nlundulu (Chapman 85), Bonds, Norton (Lloyd 67), Broom, Olayinka (Adshead 72). Unused: MacDonald, Bradbury, Brown. Referee: Geoff Eltringham (County Durham). Att: 25,400 (Cheltenham: 175).