Millwall 1 Gillingham 1

Match 61/07/678 - Saturday, 5th April 2008 - League One

Millwall (0) 1 Robinson 75
Gillingham (1) 1 Southall 26
Att. 10,006

Entrance: £20
Programme: £3
Mileage: 80/5,488

Match Report

The New Den might be a sanitized environment in comparison to its Cold Blow Lane predecessor but it is still a scary place to visit as an opposing supporter. It may well be that Millwall are tarnished by past reputation not representative of today but previous problems dictated that we parked my car at my work, a 20 minute walk to the ground. It was a untroubled stroll to the ground, these days through relatively nice, modern housing, but you still have that nagging feeling that something sinister is around the next corner.

Over 1,300 Gillingham fans had made their way to South London for this relegation six-pointer and they were determined to make themselves heard, lessening the intimidating atmosphere that could have been generated by the home crowd. Millwall fans can make it an uncomfortable afternoon for visitors with their threatening gestures but they also have a very low tolerance level of their own players and can turn very quickly from support to derision if events on the field turn for the worst.

Gillingham struggled to make any early impression and were thankful that a couple of early chances had gone begging and they had quitened the crowd, or so it seemed amongst the din that was being produced by the Gills faithful. When Gillingham were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box on 26 minutes there was a sense of injustice as Barry Fuller had kept his feet under a challenge and seemed to be making his way into a scoring opportunity as the referee blew. This was forgotten seconds later as Nicky Southall curled the ball beautifully into the top corner, evoking memories of his goal against Sheffield Wednesday in the cup run of 2003. Millwall were shaken and their play became untidy and passes started going astray much to the anger of the home support.

At the half-way point, possession wise there had been little in it, but the feeling was that Gillingham were in control of the game. Adam Miller, who is struggling with a hernia, was replaced at half-time by Leroy Griffiths and Dennis Oli replaced by Georges Ba. Realistically I think we all knew that Millwall were not going to take this lying down and they came at Gillingham from the first whistle of the second half. Personally I think Mark Stimson made a mistake with Griffiths’ entrance and Kevin Maher would have been a better choice. The Lions had been consistently getting encouragement down their right flank from the excellent Danny Senda and with Griffiths not being a natural defender, his protection for Barry Fuller was minimal. From one such situation Senda got a perfect cross into the six yard box for Brkovic to miss almost impossibly with a header that went wide.

The noise levels rose intimidatingly as Millwall took the game to their visitors who were now offering very little threat of their own and on 75 minutes Gillingham's resistance was finally broken. They failed to clear a corner to safety and when the ball was lifted back into the danger area it fell invitingly for Paul Robinson and the Lions skipper drove into the net for the equaliser.

15 agonising minutes finally passed, not without scares, before the final whistle sounded. At this stage of the season, and in our position, it seems almost as draining watching as it must be for the players. News of Crewe’s defeat at home to Southend, for me leaves the verdict that this is a point gained rather than two lost.

All that was required now was a safe passage back to TSO’s car park. It was half-an-hour after the final whistle that Gillingham supporters were allowed to leave the stadium, but the police had done a good job of clearing the area of any potential trouble as we saw hardly any home supporters on our walk back to Mandela Way.

Back at work on Monday night it will be interesting to hear whether the Millwall supporters also view this as a point gained. For both clubs there now seems little chance that either one is going to be safe before the last game.