West Ham 1-1 Ipswich

Pablo Counago scored a second-half equaliser to earn Ipswich a draw.

The Spaniard, restored to the starting line-up at the expense of Shefki Kuqi, was allowed to turn and fire in.

The home side took an early lead when Luke Chadwick, unmarked inside the box after a corner, crossed for Malky Mackay to grab his first West Ham goal.

Teddy Sheringham then screwed a penalty embarrassingly wide after a Kelvin Davis foul, while Darren Bent hit the bar for Ipswich with a wonderful shot.

West Ham boss Alan Pardew:
"We cannot let the penalty miss cloud the issue and say that it was the only reason we failed to win.

"It is a natural reaction for players' heads to drop in that situation, but you must give credit to the way Ipswich played in the second half.

"They are a good side and they showed their quality by playing some good stuff, and we struggled to cope with their narrow midfield."

Ipswich boss Joe Royle:
"At times we defend like happy amateurs.

"The team must learn that all 11 players need to defend, not just the back four and I said at half time that we needed to start defending properly.

"But I thought that we were terrific in the second half and could have nicked it, although a draw was about right."

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West Ham: Bywater, Repka, Davenport, Mackay, Powell, Chadwick (Rebrov 80), Fletcher, Reo-Coker, Etherington, Sheringham (Mullins 80), Harewood.
Subs Not Used: Walker, Brevett, Lomas.

Goals: Mackay 11.

Ipswich: Davis, Wilnis, De Vos, Naylor, Diallo, Horlock, Magilton (Dinning 75), Miller, Westlake, Bent, Counago (Kuqi 75).
Subs Not Used: Price, Richards, Bowditch.

Booked: Westlake, Counago.

Goals: Counago 57.

Att: 28,812.

Ref: R Styles (Hampshire).