Chelmsford City 2 Ipswich Town 2SYLVAIN Legwinksi got a valuable 45 minutes of match action under his belt in one of the few bright spots of another disappointing Ipswich Town performance against non-league opposition in last night's friendly.

By Derek Davis

Chelmsford City 2 Ipswich Town 2

SYLVAIN Legwinksi got a valuable 45 minutes of match action under his belt in one of the few bright spots of another disappointing Ipswich Town performance against non-league opposition in last night's friendly.

The Ipswich team was made up of those returning from injuries, like the Frenchman who has not played since March after breaking a metatarsal, and young hopefuls looking to push into the first team squad, or impress watching scouts considering taking them on loan.

It may have been a different outfit than the side that lost 3-0 at Stevenage the night before but slack defending was still the distinguishing feature.

Town were two goals down before the break as the Clarets looked livelier and sharper and exploited defensive lapses.

Kezie Ibe turned inside Fabian Wilnis and lifted a neat curling shot past young keeper Andy Plummer with 17 minutes gone.

On the half-hour Ricky Holmes crossed and Ben Sedgemore took advantage of some hesitant defending to poke home.

Town's best chances fell to Liam Trotter but he screwed wide and was denied by former Colchester United keeper Richard McKinney.

It took an unfortunate own goal by City defender Andy Duncan to give Town hope when he looped a header over McKinney and into his own net while under pressure from Jordan Rhodes.

Sammy Moore salvaged the Town pride with a last-minute belter from 25 yards for his team's equaliser.

The game meandered along in the second half, littered with some bad tackles but Chelmsford, from the Ryman League Premier Division, went so close to recording what would have been a deserved win, with former Town defender Aidan Collins impressing in defence.

Among the watching crowd, made up mainly of Essex-based Town fans, was Blues legend Terry Butcher who is now manager at Brentford.

Last night's line-ups

Chelmsford City: McKinney, Protheroe (Nugent, 79) Duffy (Ainsley, 70), Duncan (Chenery, 66) Collins, Palmer, Sedgemore, England (Hughes, 25) Ibe (Hallett, 66) Holmes, Keeling (Brayley, 79). Subs not used: None

Ipswich Town: Plummer, Casement, Naylor, Wilnis (Smith, 67) Synnott (Reason, 67) Castro, Moore, Legwinski (Rhodes, 46) Roberts (Robinson, 46) Clarke, Trotter. Subs not used: Upson

Attendance: 1,300 (approx).