Loan players Peter Kennedy and Danny Dichio had given the Rams a 2-0 interval lead after the former had struck from a set-piece in the opening minute of first-half stoppage time and Dichio added a spectacular half-volley moments later.

But the second half belonged to Ipswich with Tommy Miller slotting home a 55th-minute penalty and Darren Bent heading the equaliser 10 minutes later.

The hosts had gone close to opening the scoring early on when, following a corner from Kennedy, Michael Johnson's emphatic header was cleared off the goalline by Matthew Richards in the seventh minute.

At the other end, Rams goalkeeper Lee Grant was off his line quickly to smother a side-footed effort from Bent who had burst through one-on-one before Lee Morris tracked inside and forced Ipswich goalkeeper Kelvin Davis into action.

Livewire Morris was intent on taking the game to Ipswich and embarrassed Fabian Wilnis with a right-wing nutmeg before crossing for Dichio, but the striker could only hack the ball high over the crossbar when he was under no pressure just 12 yards out.

Tom Huddlestone spearheaded the next Rams attack and deserved credit for a cute byline cut-back which found Ian Taylor in the six-yard box only for blue shirts to crowd out the Rams skipper.

But the deadlock was eventually broken in the opening minute of first-half stoppage time when Wilnis was adjudged to have fouled Dichio 25 yards out. Following a short debate between Huddlestone and Kennedy, the latter stepped up to flight a wonderful free-kick into the top corner.

Moments later and Kennedy, making his home debut, set Dichio free and he raced clear from the halfway line and applied a first-time finish which left Davis grasping at thin air.

The visitors made fervent second-half efforts to gain a toe-hold in the match with Grant this time being asked to save at the feet of Shefki Kuqi before referee Keith Hill awarded the Tractor Boys a 55th-minute penalty after Pablo Mills had been adjudged to have clipped Ian Westlake in the box.

And although Grant guessed correctly to his left, the power of Tommy Miller's finish left him with no chance.

The fightback was completed in the 65th minute when an accurate cross from Jermaine Wright found Bent unmarked at the back post where the simplest of headed finishes was applied.

Huddlestone rattled the outside of the Ipswich woodwork after Davis had ignored the 16-year-old's cross from the right and Morris could only drag the rebound wide, Kuqi also guilty of blazing wide with Grant at his mercy 11 minutes from time and then again three minutes from the end.

Ananova