But they did survive severe second-half pressure from high-flying Premier League opponents Southampton to leave St Mary’s with a hard fought 1-1 draw and place in the FA Cup Fourth Round draw.
Southampton 1-1 Ipswich
FA Cup Third Round
St Mary's
Sunday 4 January 2015
Winners receive £67,500
The teams will replay a week on Wednesday after goals before the break saw Morgan Schneiderlin cancel out Ambrose’s 29th-minute opener with a toe-poke just four minutes later.
The Frenchman got the credit following a dreadful mix-up between Ipswich keeper Dean Gerken and centre half Christophe Berra, who seemingly left a Graziano Pelle flick-on to each other.
That allowed Schneiderlin to nip in... and Berra’s doomed expression said it all.
Ambrose finished off the Tractor Boys’ second meaningful attack with a neat header from fit-again Tyrone Mings’ centre.
Mings, thought to be wanted by Arsenal, Chelsea and Crystal Place, was a constant threat and came up with a pinpoint delivery that Ambrose met perfectly.
Saints will point to an imposing second-half performance that so nearly gave them the edge.
Steven Davis gave an inspired midfield display, pulling the strings that allowed Victor Wanyama and Shane Long licence to pummel away at the resolute visitors with a string of emphatic charges down the flanks.
Mings just about escaped giving Long a penalty for an unhealthy-looking 49th-minute challenge on the £12m striker, and another move involving Long and Pelle ended with more frantic readrguard action.
An error by Tommy Smith let in the dangerous Pelle but when the ball finally reached Ryan Bertrand the left back’s fierce drive was scrambled clear.
Gerken saved from Pelle when he interchanged with Davis as Saints, who had won all four previous FA Cup ties against Ipswich, turned the screw.
Ipswich struggled to make an impression as the game wore on. But earlier, Stephen Hunt had failed to capitalise on Daryl Murphy’s low pass after catching Saints’ defender Florin Gardos off guard.
And some of the early interchanges between Hunt and Kevin Bru caught the eye as the lads from East Anglia gave as good as they got in the opening stages.
But in truth Southanpton, the 1976 Cup winners, also made most of the first half running with Wanyama, Pelle and Davis going close, the latter forcing a great save from Gerken with his legs.
Southampton (4-3-2-1): Fraser Forster; James Ward-Prowse, Jose Fonte, Florin Gardos, Ryan Bertrand; Morgan Schneiderlin, Steven Davis, Victor Wanyama; Shane Long, Dusan Tadic; Graziano Pelle.
Subs: Lloyd Isgrove for Tadic 66.
Unused subs: Toby Alderweireld, Harrison Reed, Jason McCarthy, Matt Targett, Ryan Seager.
Goal: Schneiderlin 33.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Dean Gerken; Luke Chambers, Tommy Smith, Christophe Berra, Tyrone Mings; Darren Ambrose, Kevin Bru, Luke Hyam, Stephen Hunt; Daryl Murphy, David McGoldrick.
Subs: Cameron Stewart for Hunt, 63; Cole Skuse for Ambrose, 70; Conor Sammon for Bru, 87
Unused subs: Bartosz Bialkowski, Jonathan Parr, Balint Bajner, Matthew Clarke.
Goal: Ambrose, 29
Referee: Martin Atkinson
