Jamie Clapham's own-goal handed Charlton a priceless firstleg advantage after a bad-tempered play-off at Portman Road. Referee Mike Fletcher was the centre of attention as he dished out nine yellow cards and dismissed Danny Mills for a second bookable offence after 73 minutes.

That meant a tense last few minutes for Charlton but they deservedly hung on for an extraordinary eighth consecutive clean sheet.

And they go into the second leg of the play-off semi-final at the Valley on Wednesday with an away goal to defend and Wembley just 90 minutes away.

The visitors started brightly against a nervous looking Ipswich, Mark Kinsella forcing a good save from Wright after just one minute, and there was no surprise when they took the lead after just 12 minutes.

Neil Heaney put Keith Jones clear on the left hand side and when his low cross came in towards Mark Bright, Clapham slid in to clear but only managed to steer the ball past his own goalkeeper, Richard Wright.

At times the play was very scrappy and physical with far too many poor challenges and it was a surprise that only two names found their way into Fletcher's notebook, Jason Cundy for a foul on Bright and Charlton's Heaney for a pointless challenge on Keiron Dyer.

Ipswich looked a shadow of the side that had suffered just one defeat in their last 23 games and they were restricted mainly to shots from distance.

Whatever manager George Burley said at half-time appeared to have had the desired affect and Ipswich started the second half in determined mood.

Johnson should have equalised on 55 minutes. The striker raced on to his own flick-on and into the penalty area but he hesitated too long and allowed Youds to get back and make a last-ditch tackle.

The game had always been on the point of boiling over and it threatened to get out of the referee's control.

Johnson was lucky to escape with a yellow card after reacting angrily to being held down by Mills after a tackle on the edge of the area.

Ipswich Town: Wright, Stockwell, Taricco, Dyer, Venus, Cundy, Clapham (Uhlenbeek 67), Holland, Johnson, Mathie, Petta (Scowcroft 67). Subs Not Used: Sonner. Booked: Venus, Taricco, Cundy, Mathie, Johnson.

Charlton Athletic: Ilic, Mills, Bowen, K. Jones (Brown 85), Rufus, Youds, Newton, Kinsella, Bright (S Jones 65), Mendonca, Heaney (Barness 75). Sent Off: Mills (74). Booked: Mills, Kinsella, S Jones, Heaney. Goals: Clapham 12 og.

Referee: M Fletcher (Warley).