Talk about leaving it late.

Derek Davis

There was barely enough time to take the restart before referee Tony Taylor blew the final whistle after Ipswich had snatched a late, late draw.

Mexican Giovani dos Santos came off the bench to beat substitute keeper Stephen Henderson from the penalty spot in the fourth minute of time added at Ashton Gate.

It was just about deserved for Town who had gone behind to a Marvin Elliott goal four minutes after half-time and survived a barrage of attacks from City.

Richard Wright pulled off a series of top saves from Lee Johnson, Nicky Maynard and Michael McIndoe, while Alex Bruce made some top tackles to thwart Dele Adebola.

With Neil Warnock the latest to be mentioned in the national press as a possible successor, Jim Magilton needs a strong finish to the season.

He was fortunate owner Marcus Evans was not at Portman Road on Saturday to witness the debacle against Doncaster Rovers and the unequivocal reaction from the supporters who made it clear they want Magilton gone.

The Town boss will point to the away form being better than the home form, one win, two defeats and two draws in five matches, compared to one win at home in nine league games, but the bigger picture shows Town are a long way off the play off places.

Only the home game with Norwich City keeps the season alive and this trip to Bristol was meaningless in terms of league position.

It was important for Magilton to get a reaction from his players after the 3-1 loss by Doncaster Rovers and to a large extent he got that, although it was substitute dos Santos that provided the spark

Both teams made three changes from their respective losses on Saturday.

For Town Iv�n Campo, Owen Garvan and dos Santos were all dropped with Alex Bruce, Alan Quinn and Kevin Lisbie all started instead.

Skipper Gareth McAuley remains sidelined with a hamstring problem while Jon Stead has a back problem. Midfielder Tommy Miller is said to be fit but was once again not included in the 16.

Cosmopolitan bench

It meant a cosmopolitan bench for Town with young Englishman Connor Wickham, Irishman Owen Garvan, Mexican dos Santos, Pole Bartosz Bialkoswki and Spaniard Iv�n Campo.

City, who reached the play-off finals at Wembley last season straight after winning promotion the year before, have consolidated this time round although former Newmarket Town manager Gary Johnson still felt disappointed they fell short of the play-offs.

They mad ether changes from their 3-2 loss at Nottingham Forest and were forced to make another just eight minutes into the game when keeper Adriano Basso twisted an ankle after landing awkwardly and back up keeper Stephen Henderson was given his chance.

Henderson had one good save to make in the first half when he pushed away a blistering shot from David Norris who had been cleverly set up by Pablo Counago.

But on the whole it was Richard Wright who was the busier keeper.

The Town skipper made a terrific tip-over save to deny Lee Johnson who had curled in a shot from the edge of the area.

He was also down sharply to deny makeshift left back Cole Skuse who had combined neatly with Dele Adebola.

The giant striker had been a menace to the Town defence and he played a good ball in for Nicky Maynard who drove wide from eight yards when he should have at least been on target.

Alex Bruce shuffled across to left back when David Wright's hamstring went in the first half. The out of contract defender made a stunning tackle to deny Adebola and he was setting himself up to shoot

Michael McIndoe hit over the bar from a 25-yard free kick and City showed even more attacking danger in the second half.

Four minutes after the break Campo failed to clear with a bread and butter header and as the ball bobbled around Gavin Williams pounced.

Wright was the busier keeper for a while as he tipped over from a wicked Nicky Maynard cross shot and needed Bruce's help to clear danger from another Maynard cross.

Bruce denied Adebola as he looked to be ready to head in a Bradley Orr cross.

Moments before the end of normal time Kevin Lisbie was pulled back by Jamie McCombe on the edge of the area with the City skipper escaping a red car and Henderson tipped over Campo's free kick.

In time added on Campo went over under a challenge by Peter Styvar and dos Santos sent Henderson the wrong way to secure a point.

Perhaps it was because neither side could do anything league wise that the game lacked real edge and little quality but it was plain to see why both have fallen short of the top six so soon.

derek.davis@eadt.co.uk