Mick McCarthy praises Portsmouth display as Ipswich earn late replay

Mick McCarthy admitted his Ipswich Town side probably deserved to be on the end of an FA Cup shock rather than a 2-2 draw after a late Ryan Fraser equaliser prevented lower league Portsmouth from winning at Portman Road.

Against the run of play, after a first half in which they were second best in all areas, Ipswich took a 53rd-minute lead when Tommy Oar, latching on to a rebound following Brian Murphy's block from Brett Pitman. But the lead lasted just 90 seconds when man of the match Kyle Bennett calmly found the bottom corner.

The shock was on in the 86th minute when substitute Conor Chaplin drilled a low shot beyond Bartosz Bialkowski, before Fraser grabbed an equaliser two minutes later, somewhat fortuitously finding the far corner direct from a free-kick.

Portsmouth assistant manager Leam Richardson praised the performance of his side - and he was joined by McCarthy, who conceded Ipswich were fortunate to survive a shock.

The Town boss, who pre-match admitted he did not want a replay, said: "I wanted that result on 88 minutes when we were losing 2-1. At that point, I didn't want to lose the game.

"I think they probably deserved to win - I thought they were excellent. I was relieved to go in at half-time 0-0, though I did think we were better in the second half.

"It was disappointing to concede almost straight after scoring, but it was testimony to my players that we kept going and didn't get beat.

"We were below par, but they are one of the better League Two teams and they have a lot of quality."

Before the four goals were shared out in an enthralling second half, Portsmouth dominated the first 45 minutes, only letting themselves down in front of goal.

Bennett was a constant thorn in the Ipswich defence, while former Town players Gary Roberts and Marc McNulty were both guilty of wasting good chances to open the scoring.

That all changed in an end-to-end second half, culminating in a freak equaliser by Fraser.

Speaking after the match, Richardson said: "Of course, the result will always be the first and foremost, but I thought we gave a very good account of ourselves.

"There will always be a tinge of disappointment when you go into the final few minutes leading, but it is still a positive result.

"Ipswich are doing very well in their league and they have an excellent manager with some excellent players.

"Like with them, the league is our bread and butter, but we will look forward to a replay, our fans will look forward to a great match at Fratton Park, and it will be good for the club financially."