Millwall 3 Oldham 0, League One, Game 45, 30/4/16, att: 12, 419 (584)

That keeps us in 3rd spot but Walsall still have a game in hand

That old lion is once again showing it's teeth

78 POINTS

I can say for certain now that the Lions are in the play-off's but Burton's win over Gillingham makes sure that a Millwall chance for the automatic 2nd spot is not possible. Oldham had only lost one game in the last eight but a visit to the Den spoilt that decent run and it only took four minutes for them to go behind. Bryon Webster got his head on the ball after some good play from Steve Morison and Chris Taylor and sent the Den into orbit as his header hit the back of the net. Oldham were pushing for the equaliser and had chances but supporters player of the year Jordan Archer was on his usual form as he kept them at bay. Steve Morison come close with a lob and Lee Martin hit the crossbar and six minutes before half time the Wall went 2-0 up when a "cheeky" back heal from Aiden O'Brien went to Shane Ferguson and he tucked it away at the back post.

We add another goal to our tally and that is six home wins on the bounce

Jordan Archer was called upon yet again when Oldham had a busy spell at the start of the second half and a combination of Archer's saves and Oldham's woeful finishing meant that it stayed 2-0 and it was the Lions that scored again when Webster scored his second when he got on the end of a Steve Morison headed ball. The Den was rocking and we raised the level further with a ear splitting roar and a ear splitting praise of Neil Harris.

And down to Kent we go. It's Gillingham away for the final game

We finished strong and it's Gillingham away for the final game. Gillingham have dropped out of the Play-off's and are now in eighth spot and they must beat us and hope that other scores go their way. It would be the dogs if we could beat them and go into the play-off with an unbeaten momentum.

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Martin, Beevers, Webster, Abdou, Thompson, Ferguson (0nyedinma 68m), Morison, O'Brien, Taylor (Philpot 86),
subs not used, Forde, Edwards, Craig, Upson, Twardek

 Goals: Webster 4 and 54m,   Ferguson 39m

Oldham: Coleman, Dieng (Winchester 55m), Wilson, Kelly, Croft (Jones 68m), Forte, Gerrard, Holmes-Dennis, Wilson, Main (Poleon 68m), Dummigan
subs not ued, Brown, Cornell, Cassidy, Mils
-----

Supporters player of the year

MSC player of the year took place a few days back and Jordan Archer took the trophy. He has had a blinding season and for a young bloke setting out on his football career he seems to have maturity above his age and deserves the award. Lee Gregory was runner up who I must admit I thought would win it and Ben Thompson got third. There was no place for Steve Morison who has finished the season strong and has lead by example with his intelligence and his skill with the ball, perhaps next year for him.
-----
2/5/16 Walsall won their game in hand today so we get knocked back down to fourth spot

Bury 1 Millwall 3, League One, Game 44, 23/4/16, att: 3,669 (914)

Gigg Lane

Chris Taylor steps up and cometh the man and cometh the goals and a cheeky back heel assist that set up Steve Morison who buries again.

We are one point away of making it certain that we secure a play-off spot and we still have a slim chance of securing a automatic promotion spot. We have been in a play-off position since we beat Chesterfield away back on the 23rd of January and with two games to go it would be a crime if we did not stay there. This win today

The travelling 914 were probably heard all over Greater Manchester

Jordan Archer was called upon early in this game to save and early clearances from Bryon Webster and Joe Martin meant that mid table Bury was going to give us a game but it wasn't long before we got a corner and Chris Taylor scored his first of the game and his second for the Lions when his ball from the corner curled directly into the goal. Taylor was having chances but it was Steve Morison who got our second when Chris Taylor inside the Bury penalty area who was on the ball yet again back heeled to Steve Morison who stroked the ball home. It looked like we were going to finish the first half well on top but football being football meant that it would be Bury who finished the half with their tails up as they pulled a goal back in the 2nd minute of first half extra time.

Chris Taylor gets his 2nd

Was we going to hold on to the lead as Bury followed on from their late first half goal looking for the equaliser, or would we add to our score? Mark Beevers and Bryon Webster were handling everything that come their way and although Bury had more of the ball we were to score again when Steve Morison broke on the left and travelled into the box before sending the ball back for Taylor to slot it home and the points were ours.
Tony Craig come on for the last few minutes as he has now recovered from his long term injury and looks to be ready for action. Perhaps next season'
A good day out.

1) Wigan 84 pts,   2) Burton 81 pts,  3) Millwall 75 pts,  4) Walsall 75 pts,  5) Bradford 74 pts,  6) Barnsley 70 pts,  7) Gillingham 69 pts

Just two games to go but Walsall have three

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Martin, Webster, Beevers, Thompson, Abdou, Onyedinma (Upson 59m), O'Brien (Philpot 87), Morison (Craig 90+1), Taylor
subs not used, Forde, Edwards, Twardek, Nelson

Goals: Taylor 4 and 83m     Morison 33m
___

Bury: Neal, Hussey, Clarke, Mayor, Pope, Jones, Lowe (Rose 74m), O'Sullivan (Clare 67m), Soares, Pugh, Bolgar
subs not used, Sedgewick, Rose, Lawlor, Brown

Goal: Lowe 45+1

Millwall 1 Fleetwood 0, League One, Game 43, 19/4/16, att: 7,865 (away 83)

TUESDAY NIGHT AND A BIT MORE DRAMA

Promotion chasing but less than 8000, Fleetwood's 83 is our lowest Den away gate for many a season

I was looking forward to this and more so after the defeat at Coventry. I fancied us to beat Fleetwood and I wasn't disappointed but the way the game panned out was ugly but this time in the season a win ugly will do just fine. The first half was poor and well below par on what we would expect for a Millwall side in the play-off mix. Lee Gregory started this game after being on the bench against Coventry and also Jimmy Abdou was back in his usual spot after Shaun Williams red card. Lee Gregory had a early moment but was millimetres away from getting on the end of a cross from Steve Morison and not much more happened after that. Fleetwood are a gritty side and hit the bar and a few minutes after that Mark Beever's had to defend stoutly in the box  " yes, I know it looked liked a penalty but the ref didn't give it so it's not. Fleetwood still have a real risk of being relegated and are giving it ago to stay up, this was their first defeat in six games I do believe.

Lee Gregory was subbed at half time and the injury that he has been carrying for a good few games now appears to need a bit more care and attention and with three more games to go I am wondering what sort of impact he can make to see us over the play-off line. Hopefully we have still a desire on he 2nd automatic promotion spot. Jamie Philpot come on for Gregory and it was his ball to Morison that gave us the only goal of the game.

 GOAL: Steve Morison 52 minutes

What a well crafted goal and a type of quality that can only be scored by somebody who knows what they are doing. Jamie Philpot provided the header and Steve Morison scored. They are calling Morison's goal a lob, calling it a lob downgrades the skill it took to beat the Fleetwood keeper on the angle. It was a master class in finishing and well worthy of his 17th goal of the season. Chris Taylor nearly had a goal but he went wide with a header which was set up by Morison not long after he scored. Morison was subbed on 70 minutes with a hamstring tweak and Fred Onyedinma took his place. Now it got nervous with Fleetwood pressing and making a go of it and we more or less give up on increasing our lead and we dug in and held onto the final whistle.
A big shout for Jordan Archer who was unbeatable and the quality of his double save at the end was something else and a very nervous type of a joy to watch. Other results went our way apart from Barnsley and we move back into fourth spot. It wasn't fancy football but at this stage anything will do and a ugly three points is just as good any other three points. COYL


As it stands: 1) Wigan 81pts,  2) Burton 78pts,  3) Walsall 75pts,  4) Millwall 72pts,  5) Bradford 71pts,  6) Gillingham 69pts  7) Barnsley 69pts


Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Martin, Beevers, Webster, Abdou, Thompson, O'Brien (Upson 88m), Morison (Onyedinma 70m), Gregory (Philpot 46m), Taylor
subs not used, Forde, Edwards, Craig, Twardek

Goal: Morison

Fleetwood: Maxwell, McLaughlin, Jordan, Jonsson (Hunter 80m), Pond, Bell, Ryan, Burns, Grant (Cole 72m), Sarcevic, scougall (Ball 80m),
subs not used, Gogic, Forbes, Nilssson, Grant

Coventry 2 Millwall 1, League One, Game 42, 16/4/16, att:11,632 (we take 1,862)

There's always drama

PEAR SHAPED

We seem not to be able to beat a team that is playing with ten men and we seem not to be able to beat a team when we are playing with ten men. We must have been able to do both at some time in the past but no game of that kind springs to mind at the moment.

Lee Gregory on the bench

Was the large Millwall away crowd let down? I suppose we need to ask Shaun Williams and the referee. We took the lead in the 19th minute when Bryon Webster powered in a header from a corner and things were looking good. It didn't look good for long due to Shaun Williams hand bagging with the Coventry drama queen Lameiras and the ref fell for it hook line and sinker and Williams walked.
We made changes. Jimmy Abdou replaced Shane Ferguson and Aiden O'Brien moved to the left midfield. I was gutted that Shane Ferguson was sacrificed in the re-structure after the sending off and it seemed a odd thing to do. Coventry sensed that the advantage that they now had was a golden chance to beat a top side and they were putting the effort in but we kept them at bay and went in at half time still a goal to the good.

Can we keep them at bay second half

We all know now we couldn't and a couple of goals from Coventry eight minutes apart made sure we missed out on the points. We had some good chances after the home sides brace and Joe Martin and Steve Morison both come close. A rare away defeat but we were unlucky and we gave it a go right to the end. We had Tony Craig on the bench making his return to the team and Neil Harris did not go down the route of stiffening up by having a extra man at the back.  Fleetwood at home Tuesday night and off we go again.

As it stands with four games to go  (Walsall have five)

1 Wigan 80pts---2 Burton 77pts---3 Walsall 74pts---4 Bradford 71pts---5 Millwall 69pts---6 Gillingham 68pts-----7 Barnsley 66pts

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Martin, Beevers, Webster, Williams, Thompson, Ferguson (Abdou 33m), O'Brien (Upson 58m), Morison, Taylor (Gregory 79),

subs not used, Forde, Craig, Philpot, Onyedinma

Goal: Webster 19m

Coventry: Charles-Cook, Vincelot (Maddison 36m), Fleck, Lamerias (Lorentzson 84m), Armstrong, Cole, Stephens, Rose, Philips, Ricketts (Tudgay 54m), Martin

subs not used. Addai, Birgiriman, Murphy, Fortune

Goals: Fleck 61m,  Tudgay (69)

Ashley Nadesan and other things

A few things going on

The first of the last five games starts tomorrow 

Neil Harris is impressed

We trail a Combined Counties League striker Ashley Nadesan. He plays for Horley Town FC and has scored close on 100 goals in the last couple of seasons. Horley is located down near Gatwick Airport and nearby Brighton has shown interest in him. It seems that a few more clubs are also looking at him such as Norwich, Leicester and Colchester. I am sure that we can't match some of their resources but we had him in a Millwall shirt playing for the under 21s and he scored a goal in his second game against Barnsley. We got in first which may count for something and we have done well dipping into non-league in the past, Neil Harris and Lee Gregory springs to mind.  Time will tell regarding McDonalds worker Nadesan

Club Captain

Long term injured Tony Craig is also playing for the under 21's and looks like he could be on the bench for the Coventry game tomorrow

Sold Out

Alan Dunne's book The Hard Way is sold out and there is going to be a second run anytime soon.

Sold out-Livening up the Ricoh Arena

We have sold close on 2000 tickets for the away game at Coventry tomorrow. I am hoping we go some way of easing the pain of the 4-0 drubbing they gave us at the Den last August

A couple of strays

Lee Martin has returned from his loan at Northampton and Alfie Pavey returns injured from his loan spell at Aldershot Town.

Millwall 3 Shrewsbury Town 1, League One, Game 41, 9/4/16, att: 9,583 (560)

THERE'S A LEAGUE ONE TUSSLE GOING ON AND WE ARE IN THE THICK OF IT

There's now five games to go and the three points won in this game all adds to the thrill of being near the top. We move into the 4th spot after eventually overtaking Gillingham who a few months back were streets ahead of us and looking certain to go up. Walsall have tumbled and Burton don't look like they can handle the pressure. Burton have got six point gap between them and the much improved Bradford City who sit in third place so Burton may be able to hold on but time will tell  We want the second place spot and it's possible and do-able but we need to win, win and keep winning. Wigan sit top with a ten point gap between them and third so I reckon they should hold on to that

LIGHT THE BLUE TOUCH PAPER

According to Byron Webster Neil Harris gave them a half time bollocking. That does not surprise me because the first half we was pony and we needed a shot of reality to turn this game around. We certainly done that and it was a reverse for Aiden O'Brien who was subbed at half-time at Colchester but came on as a substitute at half time for this game and helped to liven things up with the help of the rest of the team who now had a bit more zest about them. After just 12 second half minutes Ben Thompson's first league goal was something to see and the way he controlled the long Shrewsbury clearance with his chest and then from 3 yards outside the box volleyed the ball into the back of the net was quality. He worked his nuts off for the rest of the game and may have got a second.

Goal number two and we take the lead

2-1

With the noise racked up in the Den after Ben Thompson's goal Shrewsbury were now  on the back foot and it did not take long,  just four minutes and Steve Morison wins a header and it flashes towards the goal and beats the keeper's to his right. There was still half hour to go in this game but we out worked and frustrated the opposition creating chances but did not whack in another one until extra time when Lee Gregory took a hit from the Shrews keeper inside the box and got up off the ground and buried the penalty. The keeper got sent off.

2nd half and that's more like it


We now sit in 4th spot with 69 points and with five games to go we are 7 points from 2nd placed Burton and we have a 7 point cushion below us.

It's a good time at the moment following the Wall but the first half display is a bit of a worry
Coventry away Saturday

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Martin (O'Brien 46), Beveers, Webster, Williams, Thompson, Ferguson, Gregory (Upson 90+2), Morison, Taylor

subs not used, Forde, Onyedinma, Nelson, Andou, Philpot

Goals: Thompson 57m,  Morison 61m, Gregory 90+2m penalty

Shrewsbury: Halstead, Sadler (Mangan 64m), Black (Wellens 45+1m), Vassell (Akpa Akpro 65m), Kalkai, Grimmer, Ogogo, Demetriou, Hendry, Cole, Smith

subs not used, Lutiler, Whalley, Wesclowski, Clark

Goal: Cole 4m

Colchester United 0 Millwall 0, League One, Game 40, 2/4/16, att:5,377 ( 1,700)

That's game 40  we were not at our best and we take home a point.

66 pts and six games to go

Recently improved Colchester did not stop us playing, it was ourselves who were off the standard that we have set. We had chances and Colchester were ordinary but our sharpness and awareness was missing. We still worked hard and there was a few individual moments that reached our expected level but in the end we were not consistent enough. Hopefully that all makes sense but it was funny old game and after the Burton encounter this game seemed a bit naff. 

Jordan Archer

The first half was quickly forgotten but what does stick is the half time substitution of Aiden O'Brien. Shane Ferguson come on and he added more graft to the side and although we improved and had chances we could not score. Strong in defence made sure that Colchester also fell short.

Talking of falling short, I thought we were down on the vocal and I did see Lee Gregory urging us to make some noise.

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Martin, Beevers, Webster, Thompson, Williams, Williams, O'Brien (Ferguson 46), Gregory, Morison, Taylor
subs not used, Forde, Nelson, Abdou, Onyedinma, Upson, Philpot

Colchester United: Parish, Brindley (Vincent-Young 59), Kent, Eastman, Shorey, Gilbey, Lapslie (Ambrose 69m), Massey (Wright 77), Moncur, Lee, Porter
subs not used, Bransgrove, Harney, Bonne, Akinwade