A second half equaliser from Leon Cort earned the Tigers a deserved point at Portman Road this afternoon as they held Ipswich Town to a 1-1 draw.

There were four changes to the side that beat Crewe Alexandra last week. Manuel Rui Marques, signed on loan from Leeds United during the week, was handed his debut at the back as Damien Delaney moved into the centre of midfield at the expense of Mark Noble.

As expected, Andy Dawson and Kevin Ellison came in for Alan Rogers and Stuart Elliott, who were both ruled out through injury. The other change saw Billy Paynter replace Craig Fagan who dropped to the bench.

City created the first opportunity of the game inside two minutes when Ellison played in Stuart Green, but he sliced his shot wide from the edge of the area.

Ipswich could have taken the lead a minute later when a Marques header fell at the feet of Alan Lee. His shot was parried by Boaz Myhill but the ball came out to Matt Richards who took a touch before firing goalwards. Once again, Myhill was equal to the shot.

Good work from Green earned the Tigers a corner in the seventh minute. The ball was delivered to Leon Cort who headed wide at the far post.

City were given a let-off on 12 minutes when a low cross from Richards on the left was fumbled by Myhill. The ball came to Lee who got his shot on target, only for it to be brilliantly headed off the line by Dawson.

Two minutes later, Jon Parkin lost the ball in the middle of midfield and when a cross came in from the left, Ian Westlake saw his header go narrowly off target.

The Tigers were awarded a free kick on 20 minutes when Ellison was fouled by Sito Castro, but the opportunity was wasted.

Ipswich took the lead in the 23rd minute. Green fouled Westlake on the left and when the free kick was floated in by Darren Currie it evaded everyone and nestled in the far corner of the net.

City had a chance to hit back straight away when Keith Andrews found Green with a well-weighted through ball, but a poor first touch took him too wide and he fired over.

Shortly after, a Green corner dropped to Andrews on the edge of the box but the City captain volleyed narrowly wide.

A good move involving Parkin and Green ended with Scott Wiseman bringing the ball inside before dragging a low shot wide of goal.

The home side should have doubled their lead seven minutes before the break when Richards played the ball into the path of Lee, but he fired over.

Ipswich were then forced into a change as Dean McDonald came on for Westlake, who had been injured after a clash with Marques [pictured].

Half Time: Tigers 0-1 Ipswich.

Ipswich almost scored a second within three minutes of the second half starting. Wiseman brought Currie down on the edge of the box and when the midfielder curled the free kick around the wall, it hit the bar and went over.

City had a chance in the 52nd minute when Parkin played Paynter in but his left-footed shot lacked power and was easily stopped by Shane Supple in the Ipswich goal.

A wicked cross from Currie on the left drifted over Myhill on 53 minutes and Marques had to head over his own bar under pressure from Lee.

City equalised on 57 minutes. Green played a short corner to Dawson and when he returned the ball, Green crossed and Leon Cort [pictured] rose above his marker to head home into the bottom corner for his fourth goal of the season.

Currie tried his luck from another free kick three minutes later, but this time he was well off target.

Ipswich wasted a great opportunity on 62 minutes when a cross-field ball found McDonald, but he scuffed his shot into the hands of Myhill.

Seconds later, Delaney was booked for a late challenge on Scott Barron.

Ellison went close to putting the Tigers in front in the 68th minute before Peter Taylor made a double change. Fagan came on for Green and John Welsh replaced Delaney.

Ipswich could have re-taken the lead in the 72nd minute when Currie found McDonald with a cross from the left and the substitute struck the foot of the post with a volley. The rebound fell to Lee who saw his goalbound shot blocked by Cort on the line.

The home side then made a change as Danny Haynes came on to replace captain Jim Magilton.

Neat play by Ellison on the left saw him race down the wing before delivering a teasing cross towards Parkin at the back post, but he was denied a tap in by a superb challenge from Barron.

Ipswich made their final change 11 minutes from time when Barron, who had injured himself while making that challenge on Parkin, was replaced by Chris Casement.

Myhill had to be alert a minute later to keep out a Lee effort at his near post and from the resulting corner, Fabian Wilnis headed wide.

Another superb cross from Currie on the left found Lee who saw his header fly back across goal and wide of the post with five minutes remaining.

Ipswich pushed for the winner in stoppage time and Myhill had to pull off a terrific save to deny Lee from close range.

At the other end, Ellison fired in a ball across the face of goal but neither Fagan or Parkin could get onto the end of it.

That was the final action of an entertaining game as the Tigers extended their unbeaten run to three games.

Tigers (4-4-2) Bo Myhill; Scott Wiseman, Leon Cort, Rui Marques, Andy Dawson; Stuart Green (Fagan 69), Keith Andrews [captain], Damien Delaney (Welsh 69), Kevin Ellison; Billy Paynter, Jon Parkin.

Subs: Matt Duke, Alton Thelwell, John Welsh, Darryl Duffy, Craig Fagan.

Bookings: Delaney 64

Ipswich Town (4-4-2) Shane Supple; Sito Castro, Fabian Wilnis, Jason De Vos [captain], Scott Barron (Casement 79); Owen Garvan, Jim Magilton (Haynes 75), Matt Richards, Ian Westlake (McDonald 39);  Alan Lee, Darren Currie.

Subs: Lewis Price, Dean McDonald, Chris Casement, Vemund Brekke-Skard, Danny Haynes.

Bookings: Nil