Kieran McKenna stays positive as Ipswich winning run ends at Cheltenham

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2023 by PA

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna refused to be downcast as his side missed the chance to go top after being held to a 1-1 draw at Cheltenham.

The in-form Tractor Boys had won their previous eight games and kept nine clean sheets in a row, so when Conor Chaplin put them in front after 64 minutes they looked likely to move to the summit with six to play.

But Alfie May snatched a late leveller for the Robins to end Ipswich’s long shut-out and move his side closer to safety.

“It’s another point and hopefully they all matter at the end of the season, let’s see,” McKenna said.

“It’s another game with good things in the performance, creating more chances than the opposition and having much more of the game.

“If we keep going like that and focusing on ourselves, we’ll see what we get in the end, but we were never going to go through the end of the season winning every game due to the unpredictable nature of football.

“We were going to concede at some point and it’s just about being ready for what comes next and we can look forward to Charlton at home on Saturday now.”

Marcus Harness and Wes Burns both missed first-half openings for Ipswich, who had not managed a win in three previous EFL meetings against Cheltenham.

George Hirst thumped a shot against the bar in the 59th minute but the deadlock was broken five minutes later.

Harry Clarke’s long throw-in from the right was touched in from close range by Chaplin for his 22nd goal of the campaign in all competitions.

Ipswich looked set to continue their winning streak, but May smashed into an empty net after Aidan Keena challenged Christian Walton for Ryan Broom’s long ball forward six minutes from the end and Cheltenham are now eight points clear of the drop zone with five to play.

Their head coach Wade Elliott admitted he was a little disappointed to only pick up one point.

“I am disappointed not to have won it,” he said. “I am pleased with a point, really pleased with the performance, the atmosphere and everything else, but their goal was really soft.

“For a really good team and the vein of form and what they’ve been doing to teams, they created very little.

“They had a good opening in the first half but we had two or three really good openings ourselves, so on the balance of the game and chances and the goal we conceded, I am disappointed not to have got all three points.”

“Against a really good attacking set-up, we were diligent and organised and we limited them to very little. It wasn’t passive by any stretch because we went after them and we were bold in the way we went after them and we carried our own threat.”