Ipswich steals point in feisty Championship opener
George Hirst socred a 95th-minute penalty as Ipswich Town came away with a point as its EFL Championship season kicked off with a bad-tempered 1-1 draw at Birmingham City.
A packed St Andrew's saw both sides trade blows in a lively first half without reward, although Kyogo Furuhashi was unlucky to be denied a goal on his debut after a superb finish on seven minutes.
The Japanese, who was so prolific in theScottish Premiership at Celtic, lifted the ball into the net from outside the box, but was deemed to have fouled Jacob Greaves to win the ball.
Kyogo had another chance on 22 minutes, but scuffed his effort wide of the post, while team-mate Jay Stansfield also missed the target when good opportunties came his way, leading to a goalless first half.
But it was that pair which combined to open the scoring 10 minutes after the break, Kyogo finding space and firing a shot towards goal, the ball rebounding off the post into the path of Stansfield, who blasted it into the roof of the net.
Ipswich responded well to that setback, dominating possession for much of the second half but failing to put an effort on target.
Just as the Blues looked to have seen out a win, Ipswich won a corner deep into stoppage-time.
As it came into the box, Lyndon Dykes jumped with a crowd of players and inadvertently handled the ball, leading referee Andrew Kitchen to award a penalty to the visitors, much to the dismay of the home players and fans.
Hirst stepped up to fire home under enormous pressure and a melee broke out as he wheeled away to celebrate, somewhat provocatively in front of the Birmingham support.
Birmingham, which blew away the competition in EFL League One last season to earn promotion, will be disappointed to drop points against the side that was relegated from the Premier League.
But after waiting nearly three months for the Championship to restart, Birmingham and Ipswich delivered an enthralling clash which is hopefully a sign of things to come in what looks set to be the most unpredictable chapter in the second tier's history.
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna cited areas of improvement within his squad moving forward after the match.
"It was a really tough game. It was always going to be that on the opening night. There wasn't much in the game; we didn't impose ourselves," McKenna said.
"It is still early for the group; we improved after the goal. The boys kept going; late goals are good for any successful team.
"Their pressure was good. It is early for our group; we'll get better if we do the right things. It gives us a base and we'll play much better. We have work to do.
"It has been a short turnaround. Our squad needs to be stronger; we are a long way off where we could be."
Blues boss Chris Davies could not look past the decision to award Ipswich its late penalty, labelling referee Kitchen's conclusion as "harsh" against Dykes.
"It was a good game. I was really pleased with how we played, and we're disappointed with the penalty and to concede so late is a sore one," Davies said.
"The penalty is harsh – you can go around the games this weekend, and you won't see many like that given – over the course of the season you hope to get those back your way.
"We didn't let them settle, and the boys were really focused. We were really organised and switched-on. I could see already after the game so many positives.
"We won't play many teams better than that, and we've probably been the better side throughout the game."
