Tommy Miller's second-half penalty earned Ipswich a 1-1 draw and denied Nottingham Forest just their second win of the Coca-Cola Championship campaign at the City Ground.

Garath McCleary's goal gave Forest a half-time lead for the first time since August but Miller's penalty cancelled out the home side's advantage six minutes after the break.

McCleary lashed home an angled drive from the edge of the area in the 31st minute to temporarily alleviate the pressure on under-fire Forest boss Colin Calderwood.

But after a commanding first half, Forest's fine work was undone in the 51st minute as on-loan Paul Anderson felled Alan Quinn in the area and Miller stepped up to stroke the resulting spot-kick home.

The introduction of Lewis McGugan for Andy Cole gave Forest added impetus but despite a period of late pressure, they were unable to find a winner as both sides shared the spoils.

The home side had the ball in the back of the net as early as the second minute but the linesman raised his flag to rule out McCleary's follow-up to Julian Bennett's mis-hit.

Ipswich took some time to settle but began to play the ball around assuredly midway through the first half and almost took the lead in spectacular fashion but Jonathan Walters' 30-yard piledriver cannoned back off the crossbar 18 minutes in.

But the game finally got the goal it desperately needed in the 31st minute.

After a high-paced counter-attack, Ipswich goalkeeper Richard Wright had to be at his best to tip Anderson's drive around the post for a corner.

But when the set-piece came in, the ball broke to McCleary and the Forest forward smashed home the loose ball from 20 yards out to give the home side the upper hand.

But Ipswich were back on level terms six minutes after the interval.

Anderson, the on-loan Liverpool winger, was the guilty party for Forest as he up-ended Tractor Boys midfielder Quinn in the 51st minute and referee Graham Laws had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Miller stepped up to send debutant Camp the wrong way and give the visitors the equaliser.

But the goal seemed to invigorate Calderwood's Forest and the introduction of weekend goalscorer McGugan added a new dimension to their attacking play.

McGugan's incisive corner wreaked havoc in the Ipswich the six-yard box and required a last-ditch clearance by Richard Naylor to take the ball off the toe of the oncoming Joel Lynch.

Forest's set-pieces were causing the visitors all sorts of problems and Chris Cohen's 74th-minute corner found centre-back Wes Morgan whose header drifted inches wide.

The home crowd urged their side forward, sensing their second win of the Championship campaign but they found Ipswich goalkeeper Richard Wright in fine form as he thwarted Nathan Tyson.

Sportlife.com