Ipswich Town Hold Nottingham Forest to Draw at Portman Road
Dara O’Shea spent most of his night under siege, but he walked off with a point and a reminder of why Ipswich Town have become so hard to shake.
Nottingham Forest came to Portman Road with a plan, a dominant performance and a familiar face leading the line. They left with a 1-1 draw, a sense of injustice, and a growing frustration at how little they have to show for their recent efforts under Oliver Glasner.
Forest strike early, Ipswich hit back
The visitors were on the front foot from the start. Ipswich, urged on by a restless home crowd, were pinned back for long stretches as Forest snapped into tackles and moved the ball with purpose.
The pressure told quickly.
On 13 minutes, Neco Williams surged forward and gave Forest the lead their bright start deserved, capping a spell in which Ipswich could barely get out of their own half. It felt like the opening to a long, punishing evening for Gary O’Neil’s side.
Yet Forest, so sharp in open play, undercut themselves with a moment of carelessness.
Four minutes before the break, Nikola Milenkovic under-hit a routine back pass and turned control into chaos. Julio Enciso pounced, racing onto the gift and sliding Ipswich level on 41 minutes. Portman Road erupted, not in relief so much as disbelief at Forest’s generosity.
From a position of authority, Glasner’s team had dragged their opponents back into the contest.
Delap’s muted homecoming
All eyes had lingered on Liam Delap before kick-off. Twelve goals for Ipswich in the 2024-25 campaign had helped launch his big-money move to Chelsea and turned this ground into a personal showcase. His return, now in Forest colours and searching for form, offered a neat subplot.
The script never came.
Delap, with just two Premier League goals since leaving Suffolk, worked the channels and stretched the back line but never truly looked like the ruthless finisher Ipswich fans remembered. When his moment finally arrived, he blinked.
With 16 minutes left, a gilt-edged chance fell his way. It was the sort of opportunity that once felt automatic for him on this pitch. This time, he failed to convert, the miss summing up both his evening and Forest’s wider troubles in front of goal.
For a side with only one league win from eight under Glasner, it felt like a pivotal moment squandered.
Flashpoint and frustration
Forest did not fade after the equaliser. If anything, they tightened their grip. Ipswich, anchored by O’Shea at the heart of the defence, dug in and survived as the visitors pressed for a winner that always seemed just one clean strike away.
Tension spiked two minutes into the second half.
Issa Diop launched into a lunge on James McAtee in the 47th minute, a challenge that had Forest players surrounding the referee in expectation of a red card. It never came. The defender stayed on, and with him stayed Ipswich’s defensive platform.
Glasner and his staff were left simmering on the touchline. A dismissal there would have tilted the game decisively. Instead, Forest had to keep chasing the winner against a full complement in blue.
They kept coming. Ipswich kept scrambling. O’Shea stood firm.
A point that feels very different for both sides
When the whistle went, the contrast in emotions was stark.
Ipswich, having spent long spells on the back foot, could live with the draw. They had been stretched, they had been second best for large parts, but they had not broken. O’Neil’s side took their one big chance, then trusted their defensive resolve to see it through.
Forest walked away with far less satisfaction. One win from eight, dominance without reward, a missed sitter from Delap and a key decision going against them – it all fed into a familiar story for Glasner.
The performance said one thing. The table, and the record, say something very different.
