Kuqi makes Palace pay for blunders

They needed a late, late show, but Ipswich Town stretched their run to eight wins from nine matches last night. The Tractor Boys, bottom little more than a month ago, now sit pretty in the top five.

A minute after Palace had equalised from the penalty spot, Shefki Kuqi kicked over the onrushing Cedric Berthelin for the killer goal on 89 minutes. Ipswich's white shirts piled high.

Pablo Counago's goal on 78 minutes, stabbed in from Ian Westlake's centre, had seemed like the winner. But the hosts dragged themselves level through Dougie Freedman's penalty, awarded for substitute Tommy Miller's clumsy trip on Wayne Routledge.

In a hectic opening Palace were two ahead after 16 minutes, both goals coming from comedy Ipswich defending.

Soft goal one: Richard Naylor, dithering in the fifth minute, was pick-pocketed by Freedman. Andy Johnson had the flash finish. Soft goal two: Ipswich would not clear their lines and Freedman jabbed a shot inside the right post.

There was also a theme to Ipswich's renaissance before half-time. Both goals were sourced from dead-balls, both from Naylor's little sub-plot of personal redemption. Palace, remember, are low on confidence; they have now won just one from 11.

For the first, Jim Magilton made and took the corner on 25 minutes and Naylor looped a header beyond Berthelin. Twenty minutes more, and Jermaine Wright thwacked Magilton's free-kick against an upright and Naylor tidied up from point-blank range.

Mark Hodgkinson (Daily Telegraph)