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).

Photo: Matchday Images

Eeyore added 22:18 - Dec 2 In the last half an hour there were a few players not closing down and not pressing, this got worse and worse as we went into extra time. It's obvious that players are resting, thinking that other players will put in the effort in the last few minutes. It doesn't work that way!
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Nomore4 added 22:18 - Dec 2 Bringing 2 subs on of L2 standard didn't help the cause.
4

HopefulBlue69 added 22:18 - Dec 2 The whole team have a psychological / mental problem that they can't get over. The doubt themselves in these tense situations and fall apart. Forget signing big money players in Jan, they NEED to get in a superb psychologist to work with players.. we must get a grip on how to deal with pressure situations...
9

Pezzer added 22:19 - Dec 2 Simply not good enough.
7

Karlosfandangal added 22:19 - Dec 2 I still think the chopping and change players is not helping. The injuries that Town have just goes to show the square is not as strong as we would like. Needs some players in the transfer window The injuries are nothing new to Town this has been going on for years, We all blamed Lambert and his team and it goes back to McGoldrick always injured. Is it the pitch. On a plus point 4 points behind Plymouth now only 1 on the down side Sheff W win tomorrow we are 3rd

1

churchmans added 22:21 - Dec 2 Utter garbage
8

blueboy1981 added 22:22 - Dec 2 The writing has been on the wall for weeks - we have some ability, but we have no spine to compliment it. I keep saying it - MUCH TO DO - it's there for all to see, game after game, week after week - but we will not keep scraping through. The Players should havr sweat Blood for those extra two points - Where was it ??
4

Cadiar added 22:23 - Dec 2 Very disappointing however we are still 2nd with aa better goal difference than Plymouth. No one in this league is infallible but we are still in an excellent position that most of us would have been thrilled with a year ago. Just waiting for the usual whinges for their words of wisdom, ie Lueou & Arniem who should be managing in the Prem as they are such brilliant readers of the game. The number of people talking on Radio Suffolk who are slagging off KM is unbelievable, perhaps they'd like Mccarthy back.

2

Marinersnose added 22:24 - Dec 2 After an excellent start we appeared to lose our intensity in the game. Second half Fleetwood controlled the possession and we appeared to get rattled by their physical approach which wasn't at anytime in the game ,managed by the poor referee. Those of us who were there probably all felt that it was just a matter of time before they equalised albeit it was slightly fortunate. Davis saved a certain goal minutes earlier. My worry is that our substitutions no longer improve the team as we haven't strength in depth imo. I'm still concerned by are frailty and nervousness towards the end of games. We cannot manage to put the game to bed. This type of performance is becoming too frequent against teams at home. Yes they nearly all play a low block but we have to play through it. Reinforcing the squad in definitely needed with the number of injuries. Disappointing night

6

KMcBlue added 22:25 - Dec 2 Afraid to say I called it after the first 20 minutes, which we totally dominated and failed to kill the game -----yet again.....
6

DeliasMashedPotato added 22:25 - Dec 2 Fleetwood are a tough nut to crack but that wasn't the problem. We cracked them within 2 mins and then we fell under pressure. Was excited we would be 1st tonight but now we will be 3rd after tomorrow's games. Fine margins and really need to capitalise on our rivals falling short.
3

DeliasMashedPotato added 22:25 - Dec 2 Fleetwood are a tough nut to crack but that wasn't the problem. We cracked them within 2 mins and then we fell under pressure. Was excited we would be 1st tonight but now we will be 3rd after tomorrow's games. Fine margins and really need to capitalise on our rivals falling short.
0

Northstandveteran added 22:26 - Dec 2 October. We're going to win the league. November. We're in the top two. December. We're in the play offs. April. We can still make the play offs. May. There's always next year. Rinse and repeat.
6

blueboy1981 added 22:28 - Dec 2 Dissboyitfc - I'm beginning to Question if you're one, if you condone that ? Surely you can see where this is heading ? - top six will be fortunate carrying on like this. You may accept it - but I won't, neither will many other ‘real Supporters' who want success after far too many barren years.
2

warwickblue added 22:28 - Dec 2 No more or less than we deserved after that second half display. You just knew Fleetwood were going to get a late equaliser.
7

ThaiBlue added 22:29 - Dec 2 We are a powder puff team.physical teams dominate us and we aint got a clue how to deal with it.poor result again fair play fleetwood,changes needed and needed asap.
6

atty added 22:30 - Dec 2 Just to mention Fleetwood had more possession. Thought that was a given for us.Like many on here I feared the inevitable. We really need to get this sorted but with the injury crisis( so much for squad depth) could be difficult. Js uary seems a long way off.
4

johnwarksshorts added 22:39 - Dec 2 Gutted. What a freaky, lucky goal by Fleetwood. Ref was weak and bottled a couple of pen decisions. But town need to take their chances better, Davis must have thought how many more crosses do I need to put into box for us to score. Cam Humphreys had another great game, the lad has such a cultured left foot.
3

SickParrot added 22:41 - Dec 2 I believe we've now dropped 11 points from 10 home games and dropped 13 points from winning positions this season. Whilst we have been unlucky with injuries, I believe the current group of players share an anxiety about being unable to kill teams off and being unable to hold on to a lead. I hope that KM can start to address this issue by signing a couple of quality players with calm and confident personalities in January. If not, I fear that we will miss out on automatic promotion and face the nerve shredding playoffs, where the afore mentioned anxiety is likely to scupper our chances.

6

dannyrr added 22:42 - Dec 2 Why do we have to try and defend a 1 goal lead for 90 minutes. We keep losing leads by being lethargic. Losing the ball giving it back again. Having no energy or desire to go win it back. Fleetwood wanted the ball they kept the ball and made us look second best. When we get chances to go top of the league we blow it. That's at least 6 points we've lost from winning positions.

7

bringonbrazil added 22:58 - Dec 2 Gus Ahadme looks like the worst investment of £200,000 ever seen. Never a footballer. Cannot run. Trots around like a beach donkey.
1

RobsonWark added 23:02 - Dec 2 So frustrating! We were 1-0 up and Plymouth were losing 1-0. We were top of the league and what does Kieran do? He brings on Jackson. A game we needed to win and he brings on Jackson. Why? I can only think Kieran was settling for a 1-0 win. What is his obsession with playing Jackson? Please no more Jackson.
0

cat added 23:07 - Dec 2 Proper kick in the nads that one. You can blame the ref or any other fecker but if you sit back and invite the opposition on then you only have yourselves to blame.
5

midastouch added 23:08 - Dec 2
1

EssexTractor added 23:11 - Dec 2 Not quite halfway through the season which has promised much and the pints we have would have been a target on day one .but as much as we would lover to go up playing clever pretty football , now I am hoping that Kieran knows that sadly some of them” qualities” shown by Fleetwood tonight need to be discovered. Not the thuggerish moments which they had so many of but an inner strength that saw them gain a point which after two minutes was something they must have thought would have been impossible Mick Mills said tonight he would rather have many players who know how to score than a real centre forward who could get 25, believing Freddie might get 15. Well Mick cannot agree , I like Freddie but not so much that I Believe he is the “ central striker “ that will frighten too many centre halves. Tonight Toto had him in his clutches. Toto! We need that man upfront to worry those central defenders. So we certainly never got going in the second half and although there were some Fleetwood antics that were despicable , including Rooney at 26 who bossed the referee , amazing he was not the one red carded Yet they went for the goal , and though lucky got it , because we just , as has been said before could not do want Championship pretenders should do..dominate the game having gone 1-0 ahead so early on. We move on and finally although praising our thousands of marvellous travelling fans, applause tonight for the 66 souls who ventured out of Lancashire.

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