Ipswich Town 1 Preston North End 1 - Paul Gallagher nets an equaliser and ends up wearing the goalkeeper's gloves

Gallagher scored within two minutes of coming off the bench, curling home a low free-kick which brought North End level in the 73rd minute.

But more drama was still to come as goalkeeper Chris Maxwell was sent-off in the 75th minute.

Maxwell had been booked for giving away the penalty on the stroke of half-time from which Freddie Sears had given Ipswich the lead.

He got a second yellow card after coming out of his box and fouling Kayden Jackson as the Town substitute broke clear down the right channel.

As all three substitutes had been used by that stage, Gallagher was forced to pull on the gloves.

And while in the main he was well protected by his back four, the 34-year-old had to pull off a fine late save to tip away a shot from Danny Rowe.

Gallagher played more than 20 minutes between the sticks, the referee having added on seven minutes of stoppage-time and playing eight.

Alex Neil had made two changes to the side which had drawn against Rotherham the week before, Josh Earl and Sean Maguire replacing Andrew Hughes and Lukas Nmecha.

Injury ruled left-back Hughes out of the squad, while Nmecha dropped to the bench.

With new manager Paul Lambert to impress, Ipswich were out of the traps quickly and had the better of the early play without particularly threatening the North End goal.

Lambert was animated on the touchline in an attempt to cajole his side and for a while they had been PNE on the back foot.

But the visitors began to get more of a foothold from the quarter-hour mark onwards, having three sights of goal in the space of nine minutes.

Callum Robinson came inside off the left-wing and tried his luck with a low right-foot shot which keeper Bartosz Bialkowski dived to his left to parry.

Tom Barkhuizen drove an effort over the bar from 20 yards after North End had counter-attacked down the left-wing and then worked the ball inside.

In the 25th minute, Daniel Johnson's inswinging corner from the right was met by Earl at the near post, the teenager getting a firm header on target only to see it blocked in the six-yard box by Trevoh Chalobah.

At the other end, Roberts dragged a shot wide of the near post while Flynn Downes hooked a volley from 20 yards over the bar.

Ipswich went in front of the stroke of half-time from the penalty spot, one in which North End were the authors of their own misfortune.

Earl put far too much pace on a back pass from the best part of 35 yards which Maxwell came to meet and managed to nick away from the lurking Freddie Sears.

As the ball ran loose in the box, Maxwell slid in to challenge Jordan Roberts and seemed to get the ball first before taking the man.

After a moment's hesitation, referee Andy Woolmer pointed to the spot and booked Maxwell - also showing yellow to DJ for a word out of turn.

Sears stepped-up to confidently stroke the penalty into the net.

The game got niggly in the second half as North End looked for a way back into the game and Ipswich went in search of a second goal.

For the hosts, Chalobah cleared the bar with a shot after getting the space to drive forward as the PNE defence backed off.

A corner after an hour was met by Matthew Pennington, the centre-half sending a diving header wide of the target.

Neil made his first substitution in the 61st minute, Louis Moult replacing DJ.

But it was the double change he made 10 minutes later which changed things.

Gallagher and Nmecha replaced Alan Browne and Barkhuizen and within a couple of minutes Gallagher had found the net.

Maguire was fouled on the edge of the 'D', with North End awarded a free-kick.

Gallagher hovered over the ball as the referee moved the wall back the correct distance, before the substitute kept the free-kick low and curled it around the wall into the net.

That should have been the lift PNE needed to push on and win the game but within two minutes they were down 10 men and without their keeper.

When the ball was played down Ipswich's right channel, Jackson set off to chase.

Maxwell chose to race out of his box and try to clear but succeeded only in fouling Jackson, Mr Woolmer producing the yellow card followed by red.

With all three substitutes used, there was not the option of bringing Declan Rudd on.

So the spare keeper's jersey was handed to Gallagher and North End set about the job of holding on to a point.

But they were to nearly net a winner in the 88th minute when Maguire rolled his man and set off towards goal before playing Nmecha in with a fine pass.

The Manchester City loanee took the ball into the box but hesitated with his shot and Pennington slid across to make a fine tackle.

Sixty seconds later at the other end, Gallagher produced a fine save to tip away a shot from substitute Danny Rowe.

Seven minutes of stoppage-time was put on the board and nearer to eight was played, Preston seeing the job through to take a point and extend their unbeaten run to six matches.

Ipswich: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers, Pennington, Knusden, Skuse, Chalobah, Downes (Dozzell 84), Edwards (Rowe 77), Sears, Roberts (Jackson 74). Subs (not used) Donacien, Edun, Lankester, Gerken.

PNE: Maxwell, Clarke, Huntington, Davies, Earl, Pearson, Johnson (Moult 61), Barkhuizen (Nmecha 71), Browne (Gallagher 71), Robinson, Maguire. Subs (not used): Fisher, Storey, Barker, Rudd.

Referee: Andy Woolmer (Northamptonshire)

Attendance: 15,129 (404 PNE)