Town came from two goals behind to earn a 2-2 draw with West Ham United in yesterday's Championship play-off semi-final at Upton Park. West Ham were two-goals up inside the first quarter of an hour, through former Ipswich loanee Marlon Harewood and Bobby Zamora and, but for some poor finishing, could have put the tie beyond Town's reach in the first half.

However, the Blue's pulled one back just before the break, when Tommy Miller's free-kick deflected in off the leg of 'keeper James Walker. That swung the game in Town's favour and their was a certain inevitability about the equaliser which came from Shefki Kuqi fifteen minutes from the end. An excellent game, which should ensure that any remaining tickets for Wednesday second leg will be snapped up early on Monday.

BFJ was full of praise for another excellent Kelvin Davis performance and a world-class save with the score at 2-1 that kept out Anton Ferdinand's header. "We have been used to Kelvin turning in some great saves since he has been here but maybe that one was a bit special," said BFJ. "It was similar to the famous Gordon Banks save against Brazil and certainly came at a crucial time for us".

Town's manager had had a spat with his opposite number Alan Pardew after a foul by Fabian Wilnis on Matt Etherington in the first half. "Joe was tense. I was not happy with the treatment being given to Matty, I made my feelings known and Joe took exception to that," said the Hammers manager. Hmm, that would be the same Etherington that cynically took out Ian Westlake in the second period then.

Both managers could at least agree on one thing, the poor performance by referee Uriah Rennie. "In a game like this you need consistency from a referee, and we didn't get it," said Pardew. While BFJ chipped in "I'm a fan of Uriah Rennie as a referee, but when he looks back on the game he will probably be a little disappointed in some of his decisions."

Rennie and his officials completely missed a trip by Harewood on Richard Naylor and a hand-ball by Etherington leading up to the home side's opening goal while Pardew argued that the Yorkshire officials decision to award the free-kick to Town that led to the Blue's first goal was a soft-one.

Elsewhere, Jimmy Juan is to remain on loan at FPR for a further year. The Monaco midfielder joined Town back in January, and while he has yet to make a first team appearance he overcome an injury earlier in the year to put in some decent performances for the reserves.

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