Ipswich fight back at West Ham

Ipswich Town came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to West Ham United and take the upper hand in their promotion playoff semi-final yesterday. West Ham, looking to return to the Premier League after two seasons out of the top flight, made a...

Ipswich Town came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to West Ham United and take the upper hand in their promotion playoff semi-final yesterday.

West Ham, looking to return to the Premier League after two seasons out of the top flight, made a storming start to the first leg at Upton Park with two goals in the opening 13 minutes.

Matthew Etherington raced down the left wing and cut the ball back, low into the middle past diving keeper Kelvin Davis and the unmarked Marlon Harewood turned it home after seven minutes.

Etherington's wing play again provided the punch for West Ham to go two up in the 13th minute, his low cross deflected at the near post into the path of Bobby Zamora who shot into the bottom far corner.

Ipswich pulled one back with an own goal by West Ham keeper James Walker from a free kick seconds before halftime for a foul by Tomas Repka on Shefki Kuqi. Tommy Miller's free kick from just outside the box was deflected by the wall on to the post and the rebound went in off the grounded Walker's leg.

Davis made a breathtaking save from an Anton Ferdinand header on the hour to prevent West Ham from regaining a two-goal lead.

With 16 minutes to go, Kuqi equalised with his 20th goal of the season, blasting home a high ball from close range with Walker and Ferdinand getting in each other's way.

The two sides meet again in the second leg at Ipswich's Portman Road ground on Wednesday.

They are vying for a place in the final against the winners of the tie between Derby and Preston, whose first leg is today.

Play-Off Semi-Finals

The Championship
West Ham-Ipswich 2-2
Preston-Derby today

League Two

Lincoln-Macclesfield 1-0
Northampton-Southend today

Everton are keen on bringing Milan defender Dario Simic to Goodison Park. The Toffees are looking to strengthen their squad in preparation for next season's UEFA Champions League campaign. Moyes has enquired about Simic's availability at Milan. Moyes has already been linked with Inter's Emre and Andy van der Meyde and now he could be ready to raid rivals Milan for Simic.

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