Sport

MILLWALL WEATHER STORM

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19 November 2009

Jim Lucas at Griffin Park
jim@southwarknews.org

Brentford 2 - 2 Millwall

WITH A couple of minutes to go at Griffin Park, Millwall fans were all too ready to blame the elements for their side's first defeat in eight games.

Although the torrential rain that had battered the capital for over 24 hours managed to cease just before kick-off, the accompanying gales had not and their role in Brentford's two first-half strikes was plain to see.

Just nine minutes in, the Bees' Lambeth-born debutant John Bostock was on hand to sweep in a cross that deceived the slipping Lions defence, though captain Paul Robinson dived into a mud-bath in front of the opposition goal to nod the Lions level six minutes later.

In the 25th minute Lions players were left shaking their heads and pointing fingers as Bostock's right-sided corner curled inside the front post - thanks in no small part to a well-timed gust of wind.

But, with time running out, Millwall also managed to take advantage of the conditions, as substitute James Henry saw the wind carry his free-kick from all of 35 yards, past Lewis Price, to draw the Lions level with a minute to go and maintain their recent unbeaten run.

As Kenny Jackett debated changes to the team that saw off AFC Wimbledon five days earlier, he will have surely had one eye on whether Saturday's match would go ahead at all.

And once Bees bigwigs and referee Keith Woolmer had given the tie the go-ahead, he opted to give Jason Price his first start since September 1 after his brace on Monday - the Welshman replaced Steve Morison alongside Neil Harris up front - while Andy Frampton made a surprise return to the bench on his old stomping ground.

The roles the pitch and weather were to play were evident from the start. With players slipping and sliding all over, Bees new boy Bostock looked to torment Jack Smith from the outset while Lions keeper Forde went down with an injury that delayed proceedings for a few minutes.

Not long after, Bostock received Ryan Dickson's low cross and held off Abdou, Robinson, Smith and Tony Craig to fire low to Forde's left with the Irish stopper stationary.

Millwall did not dwell on their lacklustre start, though. Danny Schofield picked up Forde's long throw and ran at the opposition defence on the break, as is becoming his trademark, before rifling a right-footed effort against the Bees' crossbar.

That led to a throw-in that, in turn, led to the Chris Hackett corner that would be turned in by the diving Robinson at the far post. As the Lions skipper, caked head-to-toe in mud after only a quarter-hour's worth of football, celebrated in front of the 1,700 travelling Lions fans, he and his team must have sensed a swift revival.

They would have been disappointed 10 minutes later, then, when Bostock's corner swerved awkwardly and snuck between Forde and Price to put the Bees back in front.

There were chances later in the half for Schofield and Price, but the overriding feeling at half-time would have been that this match would require a real effort to win. This was no place for the brand of football the Lions had been promoting in their three successive home victories before the journey to Griffin Park.

But Andy Scott's side continued to deal better with the conditions after the break, with Charlie MacDonald hitting the post five minutes into the second half.

The Lions did begin to assert themselves on the half as it went on but genuine goalscoring chances were at a premium. Harris saw an effort ruled out for offside when he fired Marc Laird's dinked pass into the net, with the forward claiming Bees left-back Dickson had played him onside.

Enter Henry. The midfielder was relentless in his attempts to claw his side back into the match, chasing every lost cause and supplying corners that prompted genuine panic in the home area - fellow sub Darren Ward, Laird, Harris
and Craig all going close.

But it was a set-piece of a different kind that earned the Lions their valuable point. When Abdou was felled not far inside the Bees' half, Henry stepped up to hit a long cross-cum-shot toward the back-post, beyond the stranded Price and into the inside netting, sparking delirious scenes behind Forde's goal at the other end.

It was a bold decision to shoot from such a long distance but Henry threw caution to the wind. Perhaps the
conditions weren't so bad after all.

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