CCFC 1 v 0 MILLWALL

CCFC v MILLWALL

Apparently no-one likes Millwall. I can't think why.

Some Dates Dear To The Heart of Every Millwall Fan:

6 November 1965 Millwall beat Brentford 2–1 away at Griffin Park and during the game a hand grenade is thrown onto the pitch from the Millwall end. Brentford's goalkeeper Chic Brodie picks it up, inspects it and casually throws it into his goal.

26 March 1966 During a match with QPR a coin strikes a Millwall player. The stadium announcer warns that the game will be abandoned if there are any more disturbances. As Millwall are losing 6-1 at the time their fans invade the pitch.

28 April 1968 Enoch Powell stops by Billingsgate Fish Market for a pot of jellied eels on his way to make his infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech.

13 March 1985 Millwall lose to Luton Town in the 6th Round of the FA Cup in front of an unprecedented 20,000 fans. Unfortunately the bulk of the crowd is made up of assorted members of the Millwall Bushwhackers, Luton MIGs, Chelsea Headhunters and the West Ham Inter City Firm. Mayhem ensues. In the subsequent Report the F.A. describes the club as 'synonymous with everything that is bad in football and society'. Harsh but fair.

Some Dates Dear To The Heart of Every Other Fan:

19 April 1943 The Den takes a direct hit in The Blitz (giving rise to the song 'Nice One Heinrich, Nice One Son...') causing extensive damage put at almost three guineas.

May 1971 Millwall miss out on promotion to the old Division One by one point. To add to the general hilarity a radio report towards the end of the last game of the season mistakenly announces that their nearest rivals have lost, causing scenes of wild premature celebrations.

11 March 1978 An incensed Bobby Robson, commonly accepted as The Nicest Man in Football and the nation's favourite uncle calls on the police to 'turn the flamethrowers on' rioting Millwall fans during a 6-1 FA Cup defeat against his Ipswich team.

September 2010 During a game between Millwall and Huddersfield Town, a Terriers fan throws a coin at a linesman. Millwall fans intervene and hand the culprit over to the police. The News of the World however reports the incident as "Millwall Thugs Deck Linesman With Concrete". Fair enough.

Not many travelling fans today as the game clashed with the Burberry's Christmas Sale and Nick Griffin's annual White Goods Bring & Buy jamboree. Fewer than 500 geezers braved the elements to join the 24,000 strong Bluebird contingent.

Malky wisely decided to stick with the same eleven that finished the Palace game which meant a first start of the season for Gestede, with Gunarsson & McNaughton deservedly keeping their places. The only complaint from recent games has been that we have taken too long to settle, allowing the opposition to take early control. Malky has accepted this in recent interviews and it was reassuring to witness the team taking the game to the opposition from the start. Noone in particular was looking very lively, making the most of some excellent service from midfield. After 8 minutes he completely wrong-footed the Millwall left-back, twisting and turning and sending a perfectly paced ball into the path of Gestede who stroked the ball past ex-Bluebird David Forde. 1-0.

For a while we looked in total control of the game to the extent that our guest from the Orient (somewhere east of Leyton) commented that it looked like an early rounds FA Cup mismatch. We were impressive going forward, pushing the ball out wide and with Whittingham controlling the midfield we were creating plenty of openings. We were also fully committed to chasing down any Millwall possession and were first to any loose ball. Gunnarsson in particular played as if willing to die for the cause, his exuberance occasionally getting the better of him; one challenge might have seen him red-carded for a Warburton-like spear tackle but Premier League Ref Halsey took a charitable view. The opposition exacted revenge soon after, taking the opportunity to clean their studs on his midriff. He was replaced by Mutch just before half-time.

On the down side, the opposition did open up our back four too easily and created enough chances to get back into the game. But for some excellent positioning from Marshall they may well have levelled the game before half time.

Within a minute of the restart Bellamy, playing his third game in a week and giving no concession to his notoriously temperamental knees, charged down the wing and pulled back to Mutch whose strike was blocked by a frantic defensive lunge. The move deserved more and would have settled any lingering doubts about the outcome.

As the game wore on, apart from an ill-judged lob from Bellamy when he had only the keeper to beat, we didn't create much and allowed Millwall to dictate play for long stretches. We were guilty of losing possession far too easily as anxiety kicked in. Fortunately Millwall failed to capitalise on their territorial advantage and were guilty of some woeful finishing.

A few substitutions in the final quarter didn't help as Noone left the field to be replaced by Cowie in an attempt to shore up the midfield and Helguson came on for Gestede. The ploy was basically to kill the game off by retaining possession and concede any notion of increasing our advantage. It led to a muted conclusion to a game that held great early promise but was ultimately, in footie parlance pretty much an 'ugly' win. Looking at the big picture, if every win from now till the end of the season is ugly and nobody likes us we won't care.

We can bid a fond farewell to 2012, look forward to the New Year with renewed optimism and turn our backs on the likes of Millwall - an old acquaintance to be forgot and never brought to mind.