We lined up (15 minutes late as a result of "crowd congestion" – how can this be with a crowd some 8,000 down on the usual gate?) in the familiar 5-3-2, (Myhre: Cleland, Materazzi, Unsworth, Ball, Ward: Oster, Hutchison, Grant: Barmby, Cadermarteri) with some familiar, though recently untried, faces on the bench in Simonsen, O'Kane, Branch, Milligan and Jevons.

The introduction of Mike Riley as the "Man in Black" had to be a portent of doom, given our propensity to attract yellow cards and the overblown criticism of him for his recent leniency with regard to that charming M Ginola and his tendency to collapse in the box.

First Half

It was a lively start. For a full three minutes we were camped in the Ipswich half, playing neat, but not particularly penetrative, football. Yet Ipswich nearly made the scoresheet first as they broke quickly only to see a shot go wide. An early free kick on the edge of the box gave them a second opportunity, which they again spurned, as the ball whistled harmlessly passed Myhre's left hand post, after a deflection.

That incident, though requires more explanation. It had arrived as the result of a rash tackle from Materazzi who, failing to get the ball, took his man. He was rightly booked. A four-man wall lined up to face the kick. David Johnson the Ipswich number 9 (a familiar name and number for the visitors, as well as us) joined the wall and succeeded in moving the final man further right, obscuring Myhre's view and leaving a clear route to goal. Myrhe failed to warn his team-mates and the free kick was taken. Fortunately, it wasn't a very good shot as it careened into the wall, missing the gap, and blazed wide, by no more than 6 to 9 inches.

This seemed to enliven us even more. We pressed hard, Oster running the width of the field, dragging the Ipswich defence all over the place, while Cadamarteri had the central defenders back-pedalling and worried. Cadamarteri was being hampered by the attentions of the defence, however, as time and again he was leaned on from behind, pulled away from the ball and felled at the first opportunity. His, and the crowd's, calls for justice went unheeded, however, as Mr Riley was unconvinced of any wrong doing by the burly defenders.

This lack of being convinced was to be a problem for Danny as later, having been felled in the box and calling for a penalty, Mr Riley reached for his pocket and showed a yellow to the disbelieving Cadamarteri. Goodison erupted. Ginola had been allowed to get away with blatant diving throughout the recent game between Spurs and Wimbledon, for which Mr Riley was the senior official, only being shown yellow for his dissent when the final dying swan routine failed to produce a whistle. The subsequent pillorying of the referee seemed today to have swayed him the other way. As Danny's name went into the book, Mr Riley pointed to the various incidents around the ground where he "witnessed" Danny falling rather than playing on.

Oh that Messrs. Ginola, Owen and Shearer were to suffer the same fate!

Still, though, we were playing with a degree of fluency which belied our recent form. Ball had almost scored from a header which drifted past the keeper's left-hand post; shots from Hutchison and Grant tested him too. In the end the pressure paid off, as a run from Oster produced a cross, which Cadamarteri flicked on, beating the keeper, only to see the side-spin on the ball take it away from goal and, incredibly, away from the bye-line. Hutchison chased it, catching the ball just before it went out for a throw. The ball was crossed back into the middle and bounced around, seeming to hit the post, before it popped out again for Barmby to score from close range. Cue scenes of boundless delight as Barmby was carried by his teammates at the Park End.

A few flurries from both sides just before the half-time whistle, but no more goals. 1 - 0 flattered Ipswich. Mr Riley was accompanied from the field by an escort, to the sound of boos ringing around Goodison.

Second Half

The second half started well as we pressed forward again. Cadamarteri was causing no end of trouble in the Ipswich defence, twice getting himself clear in wide positions, but falling on the greasy surface as he tried to turn the ball across.

Finally a swift move from defence saw Oster feed Cadamarteri, who again turned the defence and went for the bye-line, two of them in tow. As he cut inside, Grant hared in on goal only to see Wright in the Ipswich goal deflect the cross. The ball, nevertheless, bounced out to Grant who correcting himself saw his effort deflected past the post. Ipswich were creaking.

Again we came forward, another terrific ball from Cadamarteri found Ball in the clear three yards out coming in like a steam train. The keeper was beaten, the Gwladys Street rose as one to welcome the first goal of the season at that end, as the ball was struck by the young defender. The force field which protects the goal these days, stood firm and the ball rose and clipped the top of the bar and went out, from the Ipswich point of view, to safety. The only ball in the back of the net was Michael, who, along with 25,000 Evertonians, couldn't believe he'd missed.

That was to be a telling miss, though, as straight from the restart, Johnson was racing through towards the Everton box, Materazzi in close attendance. What happened next, I couldn't say for sure. Materazzi was chasing Johnson one moment and was being dragged down by the same player, who was now on the deck. I saw no contact by Materazzi.

Materazzi got up and stood, gob-smacked as Mr Riley beckoned both him and Johnson over. Such was the state of the Everton camp that Hutchison (today's acting Captain) was telling Marco to stay out of it and was pushing him away from the referee. He obviously hadn't seen anything untoward. True to form though, Mr Riley showed both players a yellow and Materazzi was off for a second bookable offence. Johnson was definitely not a crowd favourite after that. And as for Mr Riley........

Ipswich were spurred on by this turn of events as Everton, shell-shocked, backpedalled as they tried to reorganise. The formation changed to a flat back four with Cleland and Unsworth taking the central berths and Ward and Ball the full back roles. Barmby dropped back a little to fill in in midfield as we played a 4-4-1, with Cadamarteri being left up front by himself. Everyone ran their socks off.

Ipswich scented a result and piled on the pressure, but this inevitably left gaps at the back which Danny tried to exploit. However, time and again he showed too much of the ball to the defenders and found himself dispossessed in promising circumstances. This may have been, in no small part, due to him tiring. Eventually he was replaced by Branch. Almost immediately he raced across the Ipswich back line dragging it about. Oster tried to feed a ball through to Branch, but it had too much pace and the opportunity went begging.

Ipswich pressed forward, but they were now wary of the fresh injection of pace which Branch had delivered. Another through-ball from Hutchison (I think!) saw Branch clear of the defence and homing in on goal. He kept his head and slotted the ball through the advancing keeper's legs. Wright instinctively closed the gap and just managed to get a heel to the ball deflecting it past the post. Mr Riley used up any last grace that the home fans might show him at this point. He indicated a goal kick. The Everton players couldn't believe it. The stats will show that Branch missed rather than his shot was saved.

Still, we could have scored again. Barmby, who, along with Oster, had covered every blade of grass, ran from the half way line and jinked into the box, he was forced out again and was then body checked right on the line. Now a penalty it might not have been, but obstruction it certainly was. In the first half Mr Riley had given a similar decision to Ipswich when Unsworth meted out similar treatment to one of their forwards. But this is Everton, we don't get those decisions. Barmy was incredulous. He took up his case forcefully with the official, Hutchison joining in. Mr Riley obviously doesn't like to be told a home truth because Barmby became the third Everton player to receive an undeserved caution.

Branch continued to plague the Ipswich defence, on the break. Twice he was hacked down, shielding the ball as Cadamarteri had failed to do, close to the Ipswich box, near to the corner flag. From one of the resulting free kicks, Hutchison was fed early and struck a terrific shot towards the goal, only for Wright to save at his post. The other was completely wasted.

For all of their pressure though, Ipswich couldn't get through the Everton defence. Even a blatant piece of poor sportsmanship failed to deliver the goods for them. Cleland had been injured and was clearly in pain. But Ipswich played on only to be foiled by a brilliant stop from Myhre. Myhre cleared the ball into touch while Cleland received treatment. Such was the severity of the injury that he had to be carried off and was replaced by O'Kane.

The Everton players stood away from the Ipswich players as they took the throw, fully expecting it to be played back to Myhre, a practice now commonly accepted within the game. Obviously not at Portman Road. Ipswich played on and strenuous efforts from Barmby and Ball saw the ball despatched into touch. This was the final straw for Barmby who chased the guilty Ipswich player, berating him fiercely. Mr Riley strode over. I was fully expecting another dismissal, but he relented, moving Barmby away and having a quiet word with the offender as he passed him later.

Full time came and Mr Riley signalled four minutes extra. I couldn't believe it. I could have accounted for two, maybe, but four?

Ipswich gave it their all at this point, we just wanted it clear. We seemed to be hanging on okay and then suddenly there was a loose ball. Hutchison went for it, so did an Ipswich player. Hutchison was floored, the ball broke loose as the Everton players stopped for the free kick, and suddenly the ball was in the back of the net. Goodison breathed in, the Ipswich supporters were ecstatic and then the referee was noticed bringing play back. He had indeed blown for the free kick! A small redemption.

Then came the final whistle. Of the 28,854 souls who had passed through the turnstiles, the vast majority were still there at the end. And they stayed. They cheered off the teams. But they vented their wrath on Mr Riley.

His escort of four stewards and three or four police officers might have protected him from physical abuse, but it could not shelter him from the tirade of abuse which descended from the stands. I've born witness to some appalling refereeing displays of late but this one takes the biscuit. It has to have been the singularly most abysmal refereeing display I've ever had the misfortune to see. He should be struck from the Premiership list immediately. The FA Premier League were swift to discipline Dermot Gallagher for a poor display (was it last season?) and Mr Riley should be made to pay for this inept performance.

Team Performance:

1-0 was not a reflection of the opportunities we had. We played reasonably well against opponents with limited capabilities and much less quality. Until the dismissal of Materazzi we were very comfortable. But we still fail to score even when presented with chances on a plate. A better side could have punished us, a better referee might have made a difference. But we can't let that cloud the overall picture. We shouldn't get too complacent about being in the 5th Round, because things must improve if we're to progress any further in this competition and improve our position in the league.

Man-of-the Match:

A close run thing as there were several contenders, Cadamarteri for his efforts up front, Unsworth for his marshalling of the defence after Materazzi was dismissed, Barmby for his all action display which was capped by his first goal for about a year. Hutchison for his endeavour and grit in he middle of the park.

But I'm going to give it to Oster. He covered the whole pitch, front and back. He delivered some telling balls and he made things happen. He can still improve, but today he showed that there is a sparkle under those still rough edges.

To our amazement, he shunted Alex Cleland across to centre-back alongside Materazzi and Unsworth, and brought Mitch Ward in at right back. With Oster and Cadamarteri up front and a non-scoring midfield trio of Hutchison, Grant and Barmby, this seemed to have Everton-0 written all over it.

First Half

Fortunately things didn't pan out as badly as we had first feared. Reservations about Cleland playing out of position proved to be unfounded, helped undoubtedly by Ipswich's diminutive front line he put in an excellent defensive performance. Ward too did a more than creditable job at right-back. Despite yet another rotation of defensive personnel we once again looked pretty solid at the back. People talk disparagingly about Walter and Archie's tactics, yet they are undoubtedly getting it right from a defensive point of view.

In front of the defense we struggled to control the game; we more than matched Ipswich without ever imposing ourselves upon them. We played some nice, neat passing stuff, Cadamarteri was lively and they had to resort to barely legal blocks, pulls and outright fouls to stop him. How ironic that none of their defense got booked yet the man who last week failed to book Ginola for diving booked Cadamarteri for it this week. One of many puzzling decisions, but more of that later. Alongside Cadamarteri, Oster was having a number of good moments. He didn't always select the right options but often he did. He worked hard and even if he drifted out of the game on a few occasions he put in a good purposeful performance.

Throughout the first half, the balance of play was fairly even. Ipswich were organised and disciplined and worked hard, yet they lacked the ability to seriously trouble us at the back. Their vaunted midfielders were something of a disappointment; Kieron Dyer, in particular, was fairly anonymous. Throughout the first half, chances were at a premium. I don't think Ipswich had one, we certainly didn't exactly create a hat-full. Despite this. it was a relatively exciting game, the atmosphere being helped along by the bizarre refereeing of Mr Riley.

Our goal came late in the half, a good movement from the right was repelled by the Ipswich defence. Hutchison retrieved the ball and played it in, Oster met it with his head and hit the post and for once it was an Everton player who reacted first to bang it in the net. Initially we didn't know who had converted it, once again it was at the far end from my Gwladys Street berth (not that I'm complaining about that, these days a goal is a goal). It required the announcer to tell us that it was Barmby.

We reached half time without any scares and it appeared that we were well on the way to completing a professional job.

Second Half

I had hoped for an easy ride in the second half, I should have known better than that. About five minutes into the half we had a spell of play that could have been pivotal. Firstly we fashioned our best breakaway in yonks, it ended with Danny getting clear in the box, where he pulled it across goal, cutting out the keeper, straight into the path of the on-rushing Michael Ball. From about two yards, with the keeper well out of position, he managed to hit the bar. A terrible miss and symptomatic of our troubles in front of goal.

Ipswich then went straight up the other end, Materazzi and their number 9 had a coming together, which left Marco on the deck and the Ipswich player seemingly raising his hands to Marco's face. Marco, being an Italian, naturally made the most of it. The referee came haring over, called the two players over, sent off Marco for his second yellow card, and booked the Ipswich player. Interestingly the free kick went our way. Now I'm really not sure what Marco did that was worthy of a red card. He was fouled, the Ipswich player was the aggressor in the ensuing hand bags at fifty paces, yet Marco ends up walking.

It was 1 minute of football that seems to sum up Everton these days. From spurning a golden chance to settle the tie, we then manage to get a player a sent off and have to battle out 35 minutes with ten men. My hoped for easy ride was no more, instead it was more nerve shredding, courtesy of Everton Football Club.

The ten who remained on the pitch deserve enormous credit for holding out for the remaining time. We seemed to go with a flat back four, pulling John Oster back into midfield. We defended very deep, inviting Ipswich to come at us. This they did without ever looking like finding a way through. There were a few hairy moments, some desperate blocks went in, but Ipswich only really looked like scoring from corners, of which they seemed to have an incredible number.

We actually fashioned the best chances. With the pace of Cadamarteri and Oster we could always catch them on the break. We did in fact have a number of breaks, we probably should have scored, but this being Everton we didn't and the tension was kept up to the death. The match did have one final twist to give us when Ipswich had a goal ruled out. They were furious, but I could see the referee blowing, quite rightly, for an infringement before the guy took his shot. Heart-stopping stuff, but we got the win we deserved.

The Players

• Myhre 7 No save of note to make. His kicking was wildly astray today, but his handing was spot on.
• Ward 6 Didn't notice him much did OK.
• Cleland 7 Surprised me with how well he did. Tackled well and used the ball well. Came off with ten minutes to go, with a nasty looking leg injury.
• Materazzi 7 Playing well before his dismissal. Didn't deserve the red card.
• Unsworth 8 Excellent today. A number of his challenges skirted dangerously with the rules, and I don't know how he escaped a yellow. But he defended excellently today and was a large part of the reason why we came through this game.
• Ball 6 Better than of late, should lose a mark for a miss that will haunt him.
• Hutchison 7 Another hard-working performance from Don who was captain again today.
• Grant 6 Good moments from him but I was ultimately a little disappointed in him today.
• Barmby 6 Worked hard and of course contributed a goal. He had his moments but was fairly peripheral.
• Oster 7 Thought he was pretty good today. Showed lots of intelligent running and passing.
• Cadamarteri 6 Had his moments and caused then some problems. Still not too good at holding the ball up, Walter Smith was absolutely livid with him on two occasions in the second half.
• Branch 5 One great chance which went just past the post. A goal kick was given but I thought the keeper got just a touch on it. Didn't do as much running and harrying as I would have expected from the fresh legs of the substitute; too often, he seemed to be just jogging round.
• O'Kane - came on late for Cleland. Didn't see him get a touch.

Team 6 Still nowhere near convincing. But at least we scored and we deserve great credit for the second half performance.

Man of the match - Unsworth.

The kick-off was delayed for 15 minutes – not, as one wag had it, to enable Walter Smith to sign a new striker, but for safety reasons. But the whistle came eventually and suddenly Everton were playing football, of sorts.

Initial home delight at the endeavour of John Oster, the speed of Nick Barmby and, yes, the distributive nous of Don Hutchison was pushed to near hysteria at the prospect of that rare Goodison sighting – a home goal.

Excitement dulled when it became clear that most of Everton's moves were doomed to break down on the edge of Ipswich Town's penalty area. But with the usual excuse of this being an FA Cup tie, both teams went at it with a reckless enthusiasm. Danny Cadamarteri tried to blast his way through, Hutchison walked past Kieron Dyer, and occasionally Ipswich had an attack.

It was the combination of Dyer in midfield and David Johnson in attack that had caused Everton most unease in the pre-match debate, but Johnson received little of the support he needed to put Everton's backline under pressure.

Dyer had an unfortunate day. His passes went astray, his touch betrayed him and his runs through the middle frightened everybody but provided nothing. At least he was thinking.

Cadamarteri's performance was becoming more and more frenetic, and this, coupled with Oster's impersonation of a headless chicken, meant the question of just how good is Ipswich's goalkeeper Richard Wright remained unasked for most of the first half.

Eventually Everton enquired. Hutchison chased a loose ball on the left and his cross was fine, but even then Oster managed to hit a post with a header. Luckily, Barmby was quick enough to get his foot in for the rebound.

After falling behind, Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus decided to get more physical with their opponents, but Ipswich did at last show an ability to pressure Everton.

As the second half started, Everton's approach to goalscoring continued - Cadamarteri passed to Michael Ball, who managed calmly to side-foot over the bar from three feet.

The potential importance of that miss became apparent shortly afterwards, when Marco Materazzi squabbled with Johnson and received a second booking.

Bad feeling was now rife, and bad football almost endemic. Barmby and Cadamarteri both ran long distances to get near Wright's goal, but both fell over when they got there.

Everton chose to defend their lead and were finding it increasingly difficult, not helped by the number of free kicks they were giving away.

Ipswich's game plan was simple. Wilnis pushed the ball up the wing, Johnson went to claim it and Dyer to see it given away.

The match, entertaining but exasperating, was more and more filled with the mis-hit and the wayward. Cadamarteri ran through but his shot was blocked by a combination of Wright and Matt Holland.

More of the same followed from Barmby, but his attempts to link with Cadamarteri were negated by the latter's lack of a good first touch. Smith noticed this eventually and Michael Branch was brought on for Cadamarteri.

Branch immediately missed the simplest of chances after Hutchison, whose performance was approaching the imperious in the circumstances, gave him a perfect through-ball.

This should have been the end of the match, but instead Everton - who were proving more effective attacking from deeper than they had in the first half - allowed themselves to be hassled into panic.

Five or six times Ipswich got the ball into the Everton penalty area, five or six times it was blundered away. Eventually, when Everton did fail to clear, the ball came to Wilnis on the right of the area. His shot was low, hard and to the right. It was also disallowed. At least he knew where the net was, unlike the Everton strikers.

It could have gone wrong for Everton straight after half-time when Michael Ball missed the most inviting of open goals and Marco Materazzi was sent off for a second bookable offence. Having lunged at Mick Stockwell in the fourth minute, Materazzi was then apparently pushed by David Johnson and reacted by aiming a kick.

Ipswich inevitably took the game to Everton but produced little more than corners until injury time, when Johnson and teenage substitute Titus Bramble got in each others' way. Deeper into stoppage time a Fabian Wilnis goal was disallowed for a push by Richard Naylor on David Unsworth.

The referee, Mike Riley, was heavily escorted to protect him from Ipswich's protests after the final whistle, but it would have been more than the First Division side deserved if they had come away with a replay pencilled into their diary.

Without their top scorer, James Scowcroft, they packed little punch up front, although Mark Venus had a free-kick deflected into the side netting, and Stockwell and Kieron Dyer had shots blocked before Everton got into any sort of stride.

Everton, prompted by Don Hutchison, who was made captain in recognition of his recent influence, gradually asserted themselves. But they took the lead six minutes before half-time in rather bizarre fashion.

Danny Cadamarteri's shot was heading for the corner flag but Hutchison chased it and put over a dipping cross, which John Oster headed onto the post. Barmby, lively in his role behind the front two, was there to despatch the rebound.

Walter Smith, though worried by adding Alex Cleland to his list of defensive casualties, was delighted with his side's spirit. But he admitted that it could have turned sour in those two minutes after the break.

"I thought it could have been the turning point at the start of the second half. Missing an easy goal and having Marco Materazzi sent off could have turned the game in Ipswich's favour," he said. "But I give credit to our players, who defended well and still contrived to make the best chances after that."

The pick of the bunch came when the substitute, Michael Branch, slid his shot past the far post after being sent through by a splendid pass from Hutchison. Matt Holland also cleared off the line from Cadamarteri. For all the lack of the passing fluency Ipswich have sometimes shown in the First Division, the potential was always there for a nerve-wracking finale.

Predictably, Smith saw a clear push before the ball found the Everton net in added time but Ipswich's George Burley was baffled. "I didn't really see much in it," he said. "But we are out of the cup and there is nothing we can do about it. It was harsh to disallow it, but we didn't create enough chances. We had a lot of corners and free kicks but Everton defended very well. I can see why they've not conceded many goals."

Their problems in scoring many remain, but this time Barmby's rarity was enough.

In the absence of Olivier Dacourt and John Collins on Saturday, Hutchison, promoted to captain, had not only to provide much of the attacking thrust from midfield, but also to anchor it. He did it so effectively that Everton overcame their customary lack of scoring potential plus the added handicap of playing almost half of the game with 10 men with some comfort.

Hutchison made an important contribution to the winning goal, showing great tenacity in pursuing a mis-hit shot from Danny Cadamarteri - who was later booked for diving by the referee who took a more lenient view of David Ginola's tumbles last week - almost to the side-line and then putting in a telling cross that was eventually converted by Nick Barmby.

They were not helped by the sending off of Marco Materazzi for a second booking after tangling with David Johnson. It was his second dismissal of a season during which he has already served three suspensions - a record that has limited his value to his new club.

Everton, in fact, have defensive problems building up. Apart from Fabian Wilnis's disallowed strike in injury time, they kept Ipswich at bay with some ease, but they could find their resources stretched by Materazzi's continuing disciplinary strife and the addition of Alex Cleland to their injury list. Cleland, performing well in an unaccustomed role in a back three, will be out for six weeks with a calf injury.

For all Hutchison's industry, Everton's relative security in the Premiership is based more on defensive solidity than anything else. If they start to struggle in that department, as well as in front of goal, it could yet be a hard winter at Goodison.

At full-time, a phalanx of stewards surrounded Mike Riley as he left the field. It looked like the entourage that leads a boxer to the ring, but they were actually trying to spare the official a punch-up. At least he antagonises on an equal opportunity basis. In stoppage time, Ipswich Town believed that they had equalised with a drive from Fabian Wilnis, but Riley had seen a foul on David Unsworth by Richard Naylor in the build-up.

One might be grateful to the referee for turning an inconsequential match into an impassioned conflict, were it not for the fact that he exceeded his brief by doing so. With Everton 1-0 ahead, David Johnson and Materazzi, in the 48th minute, jostled one another while pursuing the ball and the Ipswich forward reacted by pushing his marker to the ground. Riley showed each man a yellow card and the Italian, who had been booked already, was thus dismissed.

Although Ipswich's prospects had improved, Everton turned the incident into a cause and defended as if each tackle was a righteous blow against injustice. The heedless challenges of Unsworth were alarming, particularly when conducted inside his own penalty area, but the indignant resistance worked. The visitors rarely looked like scoring and George Burley, their manager, may have been recognising his team's inferiority when he made only a mild complaint over the referee's disinclination to award an equaliser.

The most intemperate act of all by the inflamed Unsworth came when he barged Don Hutchinson aside and insisted on attempting a pass himself. Increasingly, Everton are happy to leave distribution to the midfield player. At the start of the season, Hutchison seemed to be a candidate for redundancy at Goodison Park, but the strength, leadership and discernment that he has shown since brought him the captaincy after Duncan Ferguson was sold. After 38 minutes, he chased to keep the ball in play, before delivering the cross that John Oster headed against the post. It bounced back into the path of Nick Barmby, who recorded his first goal at Goodison since October 1997. It was Hutchison, too, whose exquisite timing released Michael Branch with ten minutes remaining, but the substitute fired wide.

Had it not been for Michael Ball's mistake before the ordering- off of Materazzi, when he hit the top of the crossbar from six yards, Everton would have won comfortably. They were without eight players and Alex Cleland, after tearing a calf muscle, will be out for six weeks, but the team's spirit has not been diminished. As in the last round, away to Bristol City, Everton were supposed to be vulnerable. On each occasion, they have prevailed. The vultures must look elsewhere for carcasses.

Those success-starved Everton supporters who were still raging at the end should not forget the courage it took to discount the "goal", apparently because of a foul by Richard Naylor on Dave Unsworth, one of the bricks in Everton's determined defensive wall.

The police escort for the referee at the end was a formality, unlike the win that keeps Everton on course to add to their record 23 appearances in the semi-finals, two more than Manchester United and three ahead of Liverpool, who meet today.

Everton fought hard for the single goal (and the success it earned), having failed to score in eight of the 11 Premiership games at Goodison Park this season. The display was a reminder that Everton have yielded only five goals, Manchester United scoring four of them.

"It was a harsh decision at the end," reflected George Burley, the manager of Ipswich, who have won the Cup once and been in only three semi-finals. "But we didn't create enough chances from all the free-kicks and corners we won. You have to say that Everton defended well."

Everton screamed for a penalty in the 72nd minute when Tony Mowbray blocked a scorching run by Nick Barmby in the penalty area and escaped a rebuke.

"I thought it was certainly more than obstruction," said the Everton manager, Walter Smith.

The penalty debate would have been meaningless had Michael Ball not missed from a few yards in the 47th minute and and had Matt Holland's electric reactions not stopped what looked certain to be a goal by Cadamarteri 10 minutes later.

Cadamarteri richly deserved the hero's ovation he received when replaced after 76 minutes of full-throttle endeavour in Everton's cause.

Injuries and suspensions had ripped Everton apart, to make the success even more deserved. John Oster, 20, and Cadamarteri, 19, were the lightweight "Unlikely Lads" who made up Everton's strikeforce, yet it was a rare goal by Barmby that provided the Suffolk punch and sent sophisticated Ipswich back home to concentrate on promotion from the First Division.

Seven players were booked as Everton equalled last season's record of 78 cautions and five sendings-off, which earned a stern rebuke from the FA and a suspended fine of £50,000.

"You get booked for sneezing these days," said a clearly relieved and delighted Smith. "My players could easily have thought it was not to be their day when Marco was sent off and their response to that challenge pleased me most."

It was Barmby's first goal anywhere for a year and his first at Goodison Park for 16 months. He could not have timed it more rewardingly for the team or himself with half of the senior players unavailable.

Everton have not lost in five ties against Ipswich and the last time they reached the fifth round, in 1995, they won the Cup. Now supporters with long memories are linking yesterday's success with the dramatic about-turn that followed the success against Oxford United in the Milk Cup in 1983-84.

But it is unlikely that even at full strength, today's team could match the Howard Kendall-led Everton that emerged from that crisis.

Aston Villa             0 - 2  Fulham                 35,260
                               Morgan 8, Hayward 43   
Barnsley                3 - 1  Bournemouth            11,982
Sheridan 13, Hignett 65,       Howe 51
M Bullock 88
Blackburn Rovers        1 - 0  Sunderland             30,125
Gillespie 67    
Bristol Rovers          3 - 0  Leyton Orient           9,274
Roberts 76,85, Lee 80
Everton                 1 - 0  Ipswich Town           28,854
Barmby 39    
Leicester City          0 - 3  Coventry City          21,207
                               Whelan 16, Telfer 90, Froggatt 90  
Swansea                 0 - 1  Derby County           11,383
                               Harper 81  
Newcastle United        3 - 0  Bradford City          36,698
Hamann 33, Shearer 52, Ketsbaia 86    
Portsmouth              1 - 5  Leeds United           18,864
Nightingale 10                 Wetherall 11, Harte 17, Kewell 50  
                               Ribeiro 73, Wijnhard 82  
Sheffield Wednesday     2 - 0  Stockport County       20,984
Thome 16, Carbone 57
Wimbledon               1 - 1  Tottenham Hotspur      22,229
Earle 61                       Ginola 72  
Wrexham                 1 - 1  Huddersfield Town       8,714  
Connolly 6                     Allison 22
 

Manchester United       2 - 1  Liverpool              54,591
Yorke 88, Solskjaer 90         Owen 3
Wolverhampton           1 - 2  Arsenal                27,511
Flo 37                         Overmars 10, Bergkamp 69 

Oxford United           1 - 1  Chelsea                 9,059
Windass 52                     Leboeuf pen:90
    

Sheffield United        4 - 1  Cardiff City           13,296   
Devlin 13, Holdsworth 53       Nugent 19
Morris 58, Stuart 67

Tottenham Hotspur       3 - 0  Wimbledon              24,049  
Sinton 2, Nielsen 56,84

Huddersfield Town       2 - 1  Wrexham                15,427  
Stewart 20, Thornley 28        Russell 27
Chelsea                 4 - 2  Oxford United          32,106  
Wise 12, Zola 39,              Gilchrist 5,
Forssell 46, 53                Windass pen:77