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A trouble free journey down to Suffolk, made better by our driver finding our favourite pub stop on the way, saw us arrive at the ground in good time, a ground where there is a reminder of better times with statues of their two former England managers Sirs Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson.
Once inside we quickly learned that Tyrone Mears was not in the squad, needless to say sparking off wild speculation. Yet no one came up with the correct reason for his absence; a shin injury sustained on Thursday.
That saw David Edgar come in for him at right back whilst, as expected, Clarke Carlisle replaced the injured Michael Duff in the centre of defence. The rest of the team remained unchanged from that which beat Nottingham Forest with Kevin McDonald and the latest arrival Jack Cork going on the bench.
Once the horse, I kid you not, had been paraded round the pitch we were ready for kick off and the first few minutes saw the ball in the Burnley box a few times too often for our liking. There were a couple of scrambles, but the two central defenders won their headers and that early push from Ipswich came to nothing.
Burnley were soon into their stride though, and overall we were much the better side in the first half. Ross Wallace was the pick for me in that first forty-five minutes. Time and again he gave the home side problems and it was he who set up our best chance for Wade Elliott.
Having broken down the left he squared the ball for Wade who saw his effort saved by Marton Fulop. Good save or bad miss? Roy Keane thought it was a brilliant save, but later evidence shows it bounced off the Hungarian's head and away to safety. Even so, I think Wade should really have scored.
After that first five minutes we rarely looked in any trouble, apart from one effort that Edgar cleared close to the line, and there was no doubt who were the more productive side. Wade and the very impressive Dean Marney were pushing Burnley forward at every opportunity and by half time we really should have been in front.
We weren't, it was still goalless, and as was the case last week, the second half wasn't quite as good as the first. Not as though we were ever in much trouble. I can't recall the home side for the most part causing us any problems.
But we weren't able to get Wallace into the game quite as much and as a result life was somewhat easier for the home defence. Eventually Brian Laws changed things. He brought on Chris Eagles for Martin Paterson and then replaced Chris Iwelumo with Steven Thompson.
Would the changes have worked? Unfortunately we didn't really get the chance to see because soon after the second change we were reduced to ten men when Edgar was dismissed. My first reaction was, given he'd been yellow carded in the first half, that referee Grant Hegley had little option. On seeing it again though it does look harsh. You can see why the referee has taken the action he has, but I'm sure on many occasions we wouldn't have seen a red card for that.
Wade dropped to right back in a 4-4-1 formation and it never looked as if we were in much danger. Then, four minutes from time, disaster struck from a corner. Hoisted the far post it was headed back in for Jonathan Stead, and no wonder there aren't many takers for him on this showing, who headed down for David Norris to back heel it in from close range.
So close, and it now looked as though it was going to be a defeat. Four minutes of stoppage time were added on and Elliott got down the right and saw his cross shot tipped over by Fulop for a corner.
The chants of 'We're gonna score from a corner' soon became 'We've gone and scored from a corner' as Carlisle's header hit the net to give us a much deserved point. A defeat from this game really would have been a travesty.
Perhaps that equaliser was no surprise given the recent record in these games, see the footnote below, as it gave Clarke his first goal since our last away game in the Championship at Southampton in April 2009.
There were some very good individual performances again. The two central defenders were again very impressive. Wallace had an outstanding first half and the midfield pairing of Elliott and Marney were in control for much of the game.
Many won't pick him as man of the match, but Marney for me was as good a player as we had out there. If he can continue to play as well as that he'll prove to be a real bargain.
It's four points from two games , and that's certainly a good return from those two games. We can get better, there is no doubt about that, but we are already looking as though we are going to be a very good side in this Championship.
The teams were;
Ipswich: Marton Fulop, Jaime Peters, Gareth McAuley, Tommy Smith, Shane O'Connor, Luke Hyam, Grant Leadbitter (Colin Healy 45), David Norris, Andros Townsend (Ronan Murray 72), Tamas Priskin, Jonathan Stead. Subs not used: Daryl Murphy, Tom Eastman, Reggie Lambe, Jack Ainsley, Conor Hourihane.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, David Edgar, Clarke Carlisle, Andre Bikey, Danny Fox, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Dean Marney, Martin Paterson (Chris Eagles 67), Chris Iwelumo (Steven Thompson 74), Ross Wallace. Subs not used: Lee Grant, Leon Cort, Jack Cork, Kevin McDonald, Jay Rodriguez.
Yellow Cards: David Edgar, Danny Fox.
Red Cards: David Edgar.
Referee: Grant Hegley (Hertfordshire).
Attendance: 19,317 (including 829 Clarets)
Footnote:
Perhaps we shouldn't have been too surprised to see a goal in stoppage time earn a point for one side or the other in this fixture.
Since Ipswich were relegated in 2002, this is our eighth league visit to Portman Road. Six of them have ended in draws with no less than four of those draws being grabbed with a stoppage time goal.
The stoppage time goals
2002/03: 2-2 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos equalised for Burnley
2004/05: 1-1 - Matt Richards equalised for Ipswich
2006/07: 1-1 - Alan Lee equalised for Ipswich from the penalty spot
2010/11: 1-1 - Clarke Carlisle equalised for Burnley