Seagulls stay up
By James Pearson. Last Updated: January 1, 1970 1:00am
Ipswich Town have been forced to settle for a place in the play-offs following a 1-1 draw with Brighton who have now secured their Championship status.
The East Anglian side have been jostling for an automatic place all season, but have been beaten at the post by Wigan Athletic.
The visitors wanted to exert pressure on rivals The Latics in the opening exchanges and it took just four minutes before Shefki Kuqi drilled the ball past Alan Blayney.
Brighton were not behind for long and levelled shortly after when Kelvin Davis parried Gary Hart's superb header only for Adam Virgo to half-volley the ball home.
Ipswich wanted a penalty when Charlie Oatway fouled Darren Bent, but referee Mike Jones deemed Kuqi's blocked shot as the advantage and did not give the spot kick.
Bent was close to retaking the lead for Ipswich after half time, but his well-struck shot was beaten out for a corner by Blayney.
With Ipswich looking for that all-important winner Brighton found space to run into and substitute Dean Hammond forced Davis into a fine save from the edge of the box.
In the end Ipswich were forced to settle for a place in the dreaded play-offs, although the point for Brighton was enough to send Gillingham down.
Matches
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npower Championship
Table
npower Championship
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnsley | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Birmingham City | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Blackburn Rovers | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Blackpool | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Bournemouth | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Burnley | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Derby County | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Doncaster Rovers | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Huddersfield Town | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Ipswich Town | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Leeds United | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Leicester City | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Middlesbrough | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Millwall | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Queens Park Rangers | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Reading | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Sheffield Wednesday | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Watford | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Wigan Athletic | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Yeovil Town | 0 | 0 |
Adam Virgo
Shefki Kuqi
