Dale Stephens sees red in Portman Road bore draw
Brighton had Dale Stephens sent off but held on to stretch their unbeaten league run to four games following a forgettable 0-0 draw at Ipswich.
Chances were always at a premium in a poor advert for the Championship, Brighton's Shane Duffy spurning the best chance of the match by shooting over the crossbar from 10 yards.
Ipswich endured their second consecutive goalless draw at Portman Road and were unable to take advantage of Stephens' 81st-minute dismissal for two yellow cards.
The match will not live long in the memory with early half-chances the best either side could muster.
But both Tom Lawrence for Ipswich and Brighton's Glenn Murray failed to trouble the target when trying their luck from distance.
The home side had the ball in the net after a fine passing move ended with an offside Jonathan Douglas slotting the ball past David Stockdale before the game finally woke up in the final few minutes of the half.
Cole Skuse was allowed time on the edge of the area to fire a shot that was too hot to handle for the Brighton keeper before Ipswich left-back Jonas Knudsen rifled another shot from range that had the home crowd on their feet but hit the side-netting.
Brighton looked to bounce back at the start of the second half and they almost took advantage of some weak Ipswich defending in dealing with Sebastien Pocognoli's deep cross, which allowed Anthony Knockaert to shoot straight at Bartosz Bialkowski.
Despite a little lacklustre, Brighton should have opened the scoring in the 63rd minute when Knockaert's corner was only half cleared by Douglas but Duffy fired the loose ball well over the crossbar from inside the area.
Substitute Jamie Murphy fired a half-chance wide of the far post for Brighton while Ipswich were restricted to periods of possession in the opposition half without truly threatening in the final third.
The home fans' hopes were raised when Stephens was sent off with nine minutes remaining after a trip on Douglas, which had followed a yellow card in the first half for dissent.
But Ipswich still struggled to break down Brighton, their best chance coming when Lawrence's free-kick on the edge of the area was charged down following some silky footwork by Teddy Bishop.
Source : PA
Source: PA