Sub Cian Hayes netted a 96th-minute equaliser to deny the Blues victory as Town and Fleetwood drew 1-1 at Portman Road, Luke Woolfenden having given the home side a second-minute lead. Second-placed Town looked destined to leap to the top of League One with Plymouth losing at home to Port Vale until Hayes’s late, late deflected goal claimed a point for the Cod Army, who ended the game with 10 men following ex-Blues loanee Josh Earl’s dismissal for making obscene gestures as he celebrated their goal.
One-time Fleetwood loanee Janoi Donacien and Freddie Ladapo were both fit to start having been doubts ahead of the match, manager Kieran McKenna’s 50th in charge of the club.
Kyle Edwards started in a team featuring one change from Town’s last League One outing a fortnight ago, the 2-0 win at Exeter.
Edwards came into the side for the injured Marcus Harness as one of the number 10s behind Ladapo.
Greg Leigh was on the bench having missed the Buxton FA Cup tie due to a minor knee issue.
Fleetwood’s XI included former Blues centre-half Toto Nsiala and ex-loanee Earl, while Joe Garner was on the bench.
With rain falling heavily, Town went in front in the second minute. Leif Davis sent over a corner from the left, Conor Chaplin shot, Ladapo turned his effort towards goal and keeper Jay Lynch saved, but Woolfenden tucked it away at the far post, the centre-half’s second goal of the season, both in the last three league games.
Having got off to an ideal start against the division’s draw specialists - Fleetwood had drawn 10 of their 19 matches going into the game - the Blues looked to press home their advantage.
On five, Shaun Rooney was booked for a painful-looking challenge on Chaplin midway inside the visitors’ half.
From Davis’s free-kick, Cameron Burgess headed across the face of goal but behind Wes Burns.
In the seventh minute, Woolfenden appealed for a penalty after he had been manhandled by Fleetwood skipper Josh Vela as another Davis corner came over from the left, however, referee Sam Purkiss felt it was six of one and half a dozen of the other.
Two minutes later, Fleetwood attacked for the first time, Callum Morton beating Christian Walton to the ball as he chased a ball into the right of the area with the keeper well out of his goal. Morton teed-up Promise Omochere on the edge of the box but his effort towards the empty net wafted well wide.
On 11, Chaplin shot from the left of the area forcing Lynch to palm away. The ball reached Edwards on the edge of the box but the winger's deflected effort was claimed by the keeper.
Ladapo went close on the quarter hour when he diverted Chaplin’s cross from the left towards goal and Lynch did well to tip over the bar.
Fleetwood were forced into the first change of the evening in the 19th minute when Paddy Lane was replaced by Dan Batty having suffered a knock.
Two minutes later, Burns, facing his old club, was shown Town’s first yellow card of the evening for what looked a fair tackle on one-time Blues loanee Earl.
Town continued looking for their second goal, Edwards hitting a wayward effort from the edge of the box in the 25th minute after an interchange of passes involving Chaplin and Ladapo. Two minutes later, Burns headed a Davis cross from the left over the bar.
Following a series of stoppages, the Blues began to lose their impetus a little and on 38 the visitors had their best chance of the half.
After what looked a high studs-up challenge on Cameron Humphreys just outside the area by Lewis Warrington, Rooney played Morton in on goal but Walton was quickly off his line to block, the keeper and Cod Army striker both left feeling a little sore after colliding but OK to carry on.
As the half moved into additional time, Chaplin crossed low from the right and Davis tried to turn towards goal from a tight angle beyond the far post but his attempt was bundled behind.
From the corner, Burgess looked to be hauled down by Earl as the ball came over but referee Purkiss waved away the protests with the Sir Bobby Robson Stand particular vocal in their claims for a penalty.
Seconds later, Chaplin felt Rooney had handled on the touchline but again with no reaction from the referee, then seconds later the former Pompey man was awarded a free-kick having been fouled to sarcastic cheers from the home support.
There were muted boos for referee Purkiss as he made his way off at the whistle with a number of decisions having appeared to go against the Blues over the course of the half, Burgess appearing to have been pulled over at the late corner.
Having got off to the perfect start, the Blues had dominated and had been close to adding a second on a number of occasions before becoming sloppier and losing their momentum in the final 15 minutes.
Fleetwood, who having gone behind so early offered more going forward than some recent visitors to Portman Road, had had a couple of opportunities and Walton had been forced into one significant save late on in the half.
Town started the second half shakily, Woolfenden’s pass failing to find Chaplin and Batty was eventually crowded out in the area.
But the Blues quickly began to get on top and in the 50th minute Chaplin forced Lynch into his first save of the half when Burns’s cross was half-cleared to the forward, who struck a powerful effort from the right of the box which the keeper palmed across the face of goal.
Following an elaborate free-kick played into the area from the left which was cut out, the Blues kept the play in the Fleetwood half and eventually Chaplin shot over from 25 yards to the right.
On 58, Chaplin was felled by Earl as he sought to turn him midway inside the Town half. Referee Purkiss spoke to the former Preston man, who made his apologies clear, but failed to show a card.
Earl and Chaplin, who had evidently felt the challenge, tangled again moments later and both ended up on the floor before Vela and fellow skipper Morsy exchanged words after a strong challenge by the Fleetwood man on the Town midfielder on the byline. Referee Purkiss spoke to the captains but took no further action.
As the hour mark passed, the Town fans raised the volume a couple of turns as news that Plymouth were behind at home to Port Vale filtered around.
However, in the 64th minute, Fleetwood almost carved out an opportunity after Burgess, who moments earlier had suffered a blow to the head when defending a free-kick, gifted possession to Omochere on the right. The forward fed Garner, who flicked into the path of Batty, who slipped as he broke into the area.
Moments later, the Fleetwood sub was booked for a foul on Morsy on halfway, then on 68 Town swapped Edwards for Kayden Jackson.
On 74, Burns drifted a cross towards the far post, Jackson nodded down but failed to pick out a Town player and the danger was cleared.
Three minutes later, a well-worked Town move which started on the left but ended on the right saw Donacien cut back from the byline towards Humphreys breaking to the edge of the six-yard box but the youngster was unable to direct it towards goal.
Town swapped Ladapo for Gassan Ahadme in the 79th minute and Fleetwood replaced Omochere, who looked to have picked up a knock, with Cian Hayes.
Soon after the changes, Burns whipped a low ball towards the far post from the right and Jackson turned towards goal under pressure from a defender but his effort was too close to Lynch, who had had a quiet second half.
With five minutes left on the clock, former Blues striker Joe Garner was introduced for Batty and almost immediately almost levelled.
After a corner had been cleared back out to the right, the ball was returned into the box and the ex-Town frontman headed towards goal but found Davis on the line to clear from under the bar when a goal looked certain.
That was Davis’s last action of the match with Leigh taking over for the final three scheduled minutes, while Kane Vincent-Young replaced Burns, who had taken a blow to the shin when making a block challenge a few minutes earlier.
There was a brief flashpoint as Davis looked to make his way from the far corner towards the dugouts with Rooney pushing him in the direction of the byline behind the goal before Morsy and others stepped across to make their thoughts on the matter known.
The fourth official’s board showed six additional minutes in which the visitors looked for a leveller and in the final minute of injury time it came.
Following a throw-in on the left, the ball ended up with Hayes on the right. The sub cut in and hit a shot which took a deflection off Burgess’s head, beat Walton and hit the inside of the post before nestling in the back of the net.
Portman Road was stunned into silence as Fleetwood celebrated. Ex-loanee Earl took his celebrations too far, making gestures to towards Town fans and as the players regrouped for the restart was shown a straight red card.
There was time for one more unsuccessful Town penalty appeal, Jackson having been bundled to the ground as he looked to get in a shot, before referee Purkiss ended the evening with boos aimed at the official following his whistle and as he made his way to the tunnel.
It had been far from Town’s most fluent performance and Fleetwood - who have now drawn 11 of 20 League One matches this season - showed enough going forward throughout for the danger of an equaliser to have always been there. The Blues got away with Joe Garner’s effort which was cleared off the line, but lightning didn’t strike twice.
Overall, having gone ahead so early, the Blues really needed to have capitalised on their threat in the spell immediately afterwards with chances harder to come by in an unusually lacklustre second half.
Once again, Town showed their tendency to let leads slip, as they did in their previous home game against Cheltenham and twice at Charlton.
With Plymouth losing 2-0 at home to Port Vale, a Town win would have put them top of the table. As it is the Blues are now only a point behind the Pilgrims with third-placed Sheffield Wednesday, two points off Town, at Derby County tomorrow and able to go top of they win.
Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess, Burns (Vincent-Young 87), Morsy (c), Humphreys, Davis (Leigh 87), Chaplin, Edwards (Jackson 68), Ladapo (Ahadme 79). Unused: Hladky, Edmundson, Keogh.
Fleetwood: Lynch, Vela (c), Morton, Lane (Batty 19 (J Garner 85), Warrington, Holgate, G Garner, Omochere (Hayes 79), Nsiala, Rooney, Earl. Unused: Stolarczyk, Wiredu, Johnston, Baggley. Referee: Sam Purkiss (London). Att: 22,801 (Fleetwood: 66).