Ipswich Town put in an encouraging performance as they played out a 1-1 draw with newly-promoted Premier League side Luton Town.
The Blues opened the scoring through Wes Burns early in the first half, but a late penalty from Carlton Morris means that they will head into the Innsbruck Cup in Austria on Friday on the back of a draw.
Town weren’t daunted by the prospect of playing a Premier League side, starting fast in the third minute of the game.
Luke Woolfenden shut down a Luton attack, playing the ball forward to Conor Chaplin. He, in turn, was able to spin further up the pitch, playing George Hirst through on goal before the striker was beaten to the ball by James Shea.
They were, however, prone to making some mistakes, the first of which came in the fifth minute when Jack Taylor gave the ball away on the edge of his box.
It allowed Elijah Adebayo to pick it up and play Morris through the right side, but the former Norwich City striker was unable to test Christian Walton from close range.
Ipswich were passing the ball around nicely without really being able to break down Luton, so it was no surprise to see the opening goal come from an overhit cross.
Burns was afforded too much space down the right flank, allowing him to launch the ball towards the head of Nathan Broadhead.
Whether or not the Wales international got the final touch on the ball remains to be seen, but Hatters’ goalkeeper James Shea was unable to keep it out of the net as the Blues went 1-0 up.
Luton tried to respond quickly but looked disjointed, although Ipswich weren’t able to capitalise from their opponent’s lethargy. Their next big chance came just after the half-hour mark when Burns tried to play Hirst into the box, but the striker was unable to reach the ball.
Leif Davis picked it up instead, but he stopped his run while Hirst continued moving forward, meaning that his cross was easily picked up by the Hatters’ back line.
There was significant concern from the Ipswich camp just seconds later as Broadhead was substituted with what looked to be a thigh injury, but the players on the pitch were in no mood to stop the pressure.
They hit the woodwork in the 39th minute when Hirst clipped the crossbar with a powerful header, before the ball bounced off the frame of the goal to spare Shea’s blushes.
Kieran McKenna made eight changes at half-time, but Town kept their energy and intensity in the early stages of the second half. They looked much better than Luton without really threatening in the final third.
Omari Hutchinson was the real star, taking on Dan Potts and creating numerous openings down the right flank. One of the Blues' best chances came just after the hour-mark when the youngster used his weaker right foot to flash a shot across the face of goal, but nobody was in the box to fire home.
Ipswich's dominance failed to pay off, however, as Luton equalised with 15 minutes to play. George Edmundson looked to be fouled in his own half, but the referee waved play on, allowing Ogbene to rush through into the box. Edmundson ran in to foul him, with Gavin Ward pointing for a spot-kick.
Morris was chosen to step up, calmly dispatching his penalty past Walton and into the bottom right corner of the net.
While the Hatters had improved, the goal came against the run of play. Ipswich pushed forward in search of a winner soon after, but Rob Edwards' men held them off.
Substitute Freddie Ladapo was presented with a fantastic opportunity to win the game in the 85th minute when Kyle Edwards played him into the left side of the box, but his powerful shot fizzed just wide of the target.
He was given a second bite of the cherry a couple of minutes later, but this time he blasted his strike straight into the gloves of Shea, who parried the shot towards Hutchinson. The Chelsea loanee took aim, but was unable to hit the target as the two sides settled for a draw.
Town XI (4-2-3-1): Walton; Donacien (Ball 46’), Woolfenden (Edmundson 46’), Burgess (Baggott 62'), Davis (Leigh 46’); Morsy (Evans 46’), Taylor (Edwards 46’); Burns (Jackson 46’), Chaplin (Hutchinson 46’), Broadhead (Harness 34’); Hirst (Ladapo 46’)
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