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Millwall 1 Wolves 0 05/04/2002 |
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| Report by Nero Wolf As all the hype said, they don't come any bigger than this. Win and the pressure's on W*** Brom, with two relatively easy matches to go. Lose and W*** Brom look favourites to go to the Premiership automatically. As it turns out a close match saw Millwall cement a place in the play-offs and Wolves are condemned to a play-off place. It also saw Man City promoted, probably as champions.
The sad fact is that we didn't play too badly in this game. We probably lost automatic promotion earlier in the season - Birmingham away? Grimsby home? - somewhere around there. Surprisingly we started without Blake, who was replaced by Miller. This was a little odd as it meant we didn't have a target man. The game started much as you expect, with fierce tackles flying in from both sides. Millwall seemed intent on the long ball to their Premiership striker Dion Dublin. Lescott had him in his pocket all match, which shows that we have at least one player of Premiership class. I lost count of the important clearances and interceptions Lescott made. During the first twenty minutes Butler sent a half chance way over the bar and Cooper looked bright but reluctant to shoot. I think he isn't able to cope with this kind of pressure, and I'm glad that Kennedy should be fit soon. There were chances at the other end too. Someone out jumped Halle, but sent his header just wide and Claridge headed back to Dublin in the box but he ballooned a shot "into row ZZ". After this we seemed to get more of a handle on the game. Some good work by Newton on the right wing saw Miller spoon a shot high and wide. Then Newton again skipped through their defence from midfield but received no support and finally lost the ball when he got surrounded by five Millwall players. Then some good approach play saw Cameron burst into the box, only to get bundled off the ball and elbowed in the face for good measure. The ref seemed reluctant to give a penalty, at least to Wolves. At the other end Newton did a last ditch tackle which took the ball off Claridge's foot when it seemed glued there. Then came two pivotal moments in the match, and probably our whole season. Cameron nicked the ball through to Rae who got to the ball just before the goalie but his stabbed shot limped agonisingly wide of the empty net. Rae clattered into the keeper and stayed on the ground for a long time. Then a good passing move cut open their defence an drew the goalkeeper out of his goal, but Newtons cross somehow was scrambled wide by the five Millwall defenders on the line. Half-Time 0-0. The second half started much as the first half ended. Millwall were over-reliant on the long ball, and Wolves were playing some of the flowing incisive football which had made us favourites to go up only a month ago. Except we had no final ball or attacking edge. Newton was particularly good. He beat his two markers and set up Cameron whose shot was well saved by their goalie. This was after some excellent work where he beat two defenders and had sent Miller through. Unfortunately Miller was brought down in the area but there was no penalty for Wolves from this ref. Cooper then got elbowed in the head - again in the box - but there was no joy from this ref. Newton was continually being chopped because it was the only way they could stop him. They had a few chances on the break, but at this point we seemed in control. A Lescott long ball almost put Sturridge through, but he couldn't quite reach it. Then Ndah replaced Miller. Miller had been on a different wave length to Sturridge, and both of these strikers had suffered from the lack of a "target man". Then the game turned and Millwall started keeping possession and threatening us more. Then on seventy minutes Claridge was given too much room on the edge of the box and he fell under a challenge from Newton. Watching it again on ITV Digital I think there's no arguing, even if Claridge was playing for it (has he got a bet on W*** Brom being promoted or what?). Claridge stepped up, sent Oakes the wrong way and broke all of our hearts. Andrews came on for Rae, who - worringly - looked injured. Then Blake came on for Cooper. Right at the end of the match a great ball in the box from Blake saw Sturridge send a stinging shot against the post with the goalie well beaten. On such things can whole seasons be decided. There was still time for Blake to have a chance in the area, but his tame shot was straight at their goalie.
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| Millwall away Match Statistics | Back to the top |
Goals:
Wolves:
Millwall: Claridge (p) (73 mins)
Best Player : Newton (2 votes)
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| Average player ratings are taken from a number of newspapers, magazines and web-sites ...more.... |
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