Cameron Burgess' red card proved extremely costly as Ipswich Town were pegged back late on in their draw at Shrewsbury.
It looked as though James Norwood’s goal on six minutes was going to be enough for the Blues to win in Shropshire, as Town came under little danger in a second half of few chances.
But Burgess’ dismissal, which saw him pick up a needless second booking for a wild lunge on home keeper Marko Marosi, left Kieran McKenna’s men vulnerable.
And so it proved, as Shaun Whalley launched a superb shot which looped over Christian Walton and into the back of the net, as Town dropped points.
Boss McKenna looked extremely frustrated for much of the second half as his side struggled to raise their game, before eventually shooting themselves in the foot.
The Blues’ hopes of reaching the League One play-offs are now over, with the gap to sixth remaining at eight with only 12 left to play for. Many of Town’s rivals still have games in hand.
Next up is a trip to automatic promotion hopefuls Rotherham on Saturday.
McKenna made three chances to his side, restoring Tyreeq Bakinson to the midfield in place of Tom Carroll, giving Matt Penney a rare start at left back in place of Dominic Thompson and replacing Bersant Celina with Sone Aluko. All three players dropping out of the starting XI made the bench.
Town were on the attack early, as the Blues probed down the flanks and tested home keeper Marko Marosi when Janoi Donacien’s cross was met by Conor Chaplin. Sadly, the forward’s header was too close to the goalkeeper.
The same route came up trumps a few minutes later, though, as Donacien’s cross picked out Norwood perfectly, with the striker doing the rest with a well-placed header.
Town were on top but were stopped in their tracks when assistant referee David Hunt went down injured, prompting a long delay while fourth official Lisa Rashid took his place on the line while Hunt received treatment before returning to manage the technical areas.
When play did finally resume, Chaplin was quickly involved, sending in a shot which Marosi fumbled, with the hosts just able to bundle the ball away before Norwood could pounce to turn home.
Town kept trying to work openings but couldn’t find the final ball until Wes Burns cleverly slipped Aluko in behind, only for Marosi to get out well to block as the Ipswich attacker turned the ball towards goal.
There was a let-off when Penney gave Josh Daniels far too much space at the back post, as he met Daniel Udoh’s cross and thankfully headed over the top.
Another Donacien ball into the box was headed into Marosi’s arms by Sam Morsy, at the beginning of 10 minutes of added time, before Luke Woolfenden’s advance freed Burns to cross for Penney. The left-back was crowded out, leading to muted penalty appeals as the ball flew through the box.
Town went in a goal up at the break, with the opening 20 minutes of the second period seeing Ipswich have plenty of the ball as neither side managed to create anything of any note.
Ipswich were nearly two up when Chaplin sent in a teasing cross which left Luke Leahy confused, as the Shrewsbury defender opted to strike the ball towards his own goal. Thankfully for him, it hit goalkeeper Marosi and bounced clear.
McKenna was about to turn to his bench and replaced Norwood and Aluko with Macauley Bonne and Bersant Celina for the final 20 minutes, but the plan changed when Burgess picked up his second yellow card of the game as he sent in a wild lunge on the Shrewsbury goalkeeper as he closed him down.
It prompted a reshuffle, with Dominic Thompson brought on as the left-sided centre-half as Aluko was withdrawn, before Bonne did eventually replace Norwood for the final seven minutes.
Within seconds, though, Town were pegged back as Whalley connected with a bouncing ball in the middle of the pitch and launched a superb strike which flew over the top of Walton and into the back of the net.
From this point only one side looked likely to come out on top, though Town were able to see the game out and secure a point.
Shrewsbury Town: Morosi, Bennett, Pennington, Flanagan, Nurse, Leahy, Vela, Fornah, Daniels (Whalley, 64), Udoh (Bloxham, 90), Bowman
Subs: Burgoyne, Pierre, Craig, Caton, Janneh
Ipswich Town: Walton; Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess; Burns, Morsy, Bakinson, Penney; Chaplin, Aluko, Norwood
Subs: Hladky, Thompson, El Mizouni, Carroll, Celina, Bonne, Pigott
Burgess sent off
Att: 7,682
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