Enciso cancels out Williams as Ipswich and Forest draw 1-1
Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 at Portman Road, with both goals in the first half. The scoring, the recent meetings and what the result adds.
By Harvey Watkins,
Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest shared the points at Portman Road on Friday evening, drawing 1-1 on matchday 8 of the Premier League. Both goals came in the first half. Neco Williams put Forest ahead in the 13th minute and Julio Enciso equalised for Ipswich in the 41st. The second half produced nothing further.
The scoring
Forest struck first and early. Williams's goal arrived inside the opening quarter of an hour, which left Ipswich with most of the match to find a reply. They were behind for 28 minutes before Enciso levelled shortly before the interval.
The timing of that equaliser shaped the evening. Ipswich went in at half-time level rather than chasing the game, and the remaining 45 minutes passed without either side scoring again. A match that had two goals in under half an hour of each other ended with a goalless second period. That is a fair outline of how it unfolded, although the scoreline alone cannot tell you which side came closer to a winner.
The recent meetings
Before kick-off, Forest were unbeaten in the three most recent meetings between the clubs:
- 15 Mar 2025: Ipswich Town 2-4 Nottingham Forest
- 3 Mar 2025: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Ipswich Town
- 30 Nov 2024: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Ipswich Town
Across those three games Forest had scored six and conceded three. Friday's draw extends their unbeaten run against Ipswich to four matches, and they have now scored in every one of them.
For Ipswich the point carries a little more weight against that background. The last time Forest came to Portman Road, in March 2025, Ipswich lost 2-4. This time they took something from the fixture. Ipswich have also now scored in three of the last four meetings, the only blank being the 1-0 defeat in November 2024.
What the result adds
The clearest thread through these four games is how tight most of them have been. Three of the four have been settled by a single goal or ended level: 1-0, 1-1 and now another 1-1. The six-goal match at Portman Road in March 2025 stands out as the exception rather than the rule.
It is worth being careful about reading too much into that. Four matches spread across almost two years is a small sample, and one draw on a Friday night in October is a single result rather than a trend. My view is that the evidence points to a fixture that tends to be close, with Forest holding the better of it over recent meetings but not by much. Friday did nothing to change that impression.
What can be said plainly is that neither side lost, both scored, and the two goals were the whole story of the scoring. Ipswich came from behind; Forest kept their unbeaten record against them intact.