IPSWICH Town managed a draw against Southampton tonight despite a lighting failure which threw the Portman Road pitch in to darkness just five minutes in to the game.

IPSWICH Town managed a draw against Southampton tonight despite a lighting failure which threw the Portman Road pitch in to darkness just five minutes in to the game.

The Blues, whose main sponsor is energy supplier Powergen, scraped through for a 2-2 draw against fifth placed Southampton in a bizarre game that was disrupted for nearly 40 minutes by the delay.

The game was halted at 7.51pm, just over five minutes after kick-off, when the lights went out, throwing the pitch and nearly 23,000 people in the stands in to total darkness.

Three of the four lighting towers were switched back on but one remained out even when the match resumed at 8.30pm.

Blues fans sang Monty Python's 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' while ground staff worked to get the lights back on so the game could resume.

For full story see Wednesday's Evening Star.