Barnsley 1 Ipswich 1: '˜It's the first thing I've ever stolen from here' admits local hero Mick McCarthy

Marley Watkins prodded in the opener just before the hour mark to put the Reds in front but Tom Lawrence struck in the third minute of stoppage time from Brett Pitman’s cross to level the scores, leaving McCarthy in good spirits.

McCarthy, who spent six years at Oakwell as a player, said: “It’s the first thing I’ve stolen from here, actually.

“I was here a long time and never took a paper-clip, pen, piece of paper or anything else, but we burgled a point today.

“It’s part of the game, the game goes for as long as the referee adds time on. We were poor today, they were much better.

“I thought they were so much better when they got the goal – we could’ve scored from the corner, but we concede, which is nonsense. That’s poor on our part.

“The momentum was with them and ‘Barts’ (Bartosz Bialkowski) made a great save. But, you know, the game does last until the referee blows his whistle.

“I thought Adam Hammill was outstanding for them, but they’ll be beating him up because he’s let Tom Lawrence run at the far post. It happens. Did we deserve it? Did we hell, but I’ll take it.”

Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom was left frustrated by his team’s finishing.

While the draw was Ipswich’s sixth in succession, Barnsley have now secured only two points in their last five games.

Heckingbottom said: “I always say it, you only get what you deserve and we didn’t kill them off, simple as that.

“Ipswich showed what they’re all about, why they’ve not been beaten in so long because they’re resolute and keep going to the very end, which I think we like to think we do.

“Our disappointment is we didn’t put the game to bed earlier. We prepared as well as we could for this game and in terms of what we wanted from a performance, we delivered it.

“Ipswich are very difficult to play against, they’re so organised and give nothing away, no matter who they’re playing.

“You look at the attempts and one thing does stand out and that’s not enough on target and that’s why you don’t score goals.”

Barnsley: Davies, Yiadom, Roberts, MacDonald, Jones, Watkins, James, Scowen, Hammill, Bradshaw, Armstrong (Williams 79). Unused substitutes: Moncur, Townsend, Adam Jackson, Mowatt, Hedges, Kent.

Ipswich: Bialkowski, Chambers, Berra, Knudsen, Spence, Diagouraga (Ward 52), Skuse, Huws (Pitman 84), Kenlock (Sears 63), McGoldrick, Lawrence. Unused substitutes: Gerken, Bru, Moore, Smith.

Referee: S Martin (Staffordshire).