Soccer: Ipswich in forgettable draw at Pride Park

Derby 1 Ipswich 1

In the end, the result was meaningless and the match largely forgettable.

But fifth place in the Premiership is still a triumph for Ipswich, and competing in the UEFA Cup a deserved reward for a memorable season.

At Pride Park, however, Ipswich had looked anything but European material in the first half.

Derby harried the visitors mercilessly, with Stefano Eranio, Giorgi Kinkladze and Malcolm Christie running the show.

It was the latter pair who combined for the opening goal, Christie’s clinical finish rocking the visitors.

And it was not until the second half that Ipswich showed anything of the form which has propelled them to the fringes of the Champions League.

At least they did turn it on for the second period, substitute Richard Naylor equalising with a deflected effort which was the cue for a sustained spell of pressure from the visitors.

Liverpool’s victory at Charlton would have nullified any victory for Ipswich.

Before kick-off, however, their task had been simple: win at all costs and hope that Leeds and Liverpool both slip up.

Derby, having escaped relegation thanks to a win at Manchester United a fortnight ago, made one change to the Old Trafford line-up with Thordur Gudjonsson taking the injured Lee Morris’ place.

Ipswich boss Burley picked an attacking team, knowing a draw was, in this case, pointless.

Ipswich’s first chance came in the fourth minute after Chris Riggott had sent Alun Armstrong flying.

Martijn Reuser attempted a shot even though the free-kick was in difficult territory wide on the left and Mart Poom had no problem making the save.

There was an opening for the Rams when Gudjonsson dribbled past Chris Makin into the box and crossed to Stefano Eranio.

The Italian, treated to a standing ovation on his last game for Rams before returning to his mother country, rolled an inviting lay-off to the unmarked Christie but it was just behind the striker.

Christie and Kinkladze linked brilliantly but the Georgian’s final ball was just too strong before another astute Eranio lay-off set up Danny Higginbotham for a powerful strike that was blocked by an Ipswich body.

In the 31st minute however, Derby made their dominance count and again it was Christie and Kinkladze involved.

The little Georgian burst upfield in possession and his pass met Christie’s brilliant run across the Ipswich defenders.

The striker too one touch to knock the ball past Wright before rolling it into the empty net.

To fall behind was a crushing blow for Ipswich, and their cause was not helped when Higginbotham caught Marcus Stewart high and late from behind, earning himself a caution.

The booking was not much consolation for Burley, who was forced to replace his limping top scorer soon afterwards with Naylor.

Derby must have been satisfied with their efforts in the first half, but it took less than a minute of the second for Ipswich to equalise after a comedy of errors in the Rams’ box.

Reuser was given two chances to cross when Derby should really have cleared the danger, and when he did so Horacio Carbonari had yet another chance to clear.

Instead, his weak header found Naylor and the substitute’s shot bounced into the net with the aid of a deflection.

The visitors would have been in front two minutes later were it not for Poom. The Derby keeper dived acrobatically to tip over Hermann Hreidarsson’s header.

There were more heroics from the Estonian in the 54th minute, turning over Reuser’s stinging 30-yard drive.

In a rare attack, Derby spurned a fantastic chance to regain the lead. Christie, full of tricks and twists, thrust into the penalty area and found Gudjonsson unmarked.

The Icelandic striker, playing his last game for Derby, should have at least found the target with only Wright to beat but he pulled his shot wide.

With six minutes remaining, young centre-half Titus Bramble burst forward and tried his luck but still Poom could not be beaten.

When Kinkladze put Christie through again in injury-time, it seemed there would be a winner but Wright pulled off a great one-handed save to ensure Ipswich ended the season on a good note.