The Blues fell to a Worthington Cup second round first leg defeat as they failed to take chance after chance as well as making errors at the back. Town kicked off with Martijn Reuser in a four man midfield with Matt Holland on the bench. Gary Croft came into the side for Fabian Wilnis, John Scales for the injured Titus Bramble and David Johnson for Marcus Stewart. Rain lashed the New Den throughout and made the surface difficult at times.

Town started the brighter and passed the ball about neatly. Hreidarsson and Clapham were getting a lot of space down the left and Jim Magilton was dictating things in midfield. The first real chance came when David Johnson found himself one-on-one with former Town trialist keeper Tony Warner after a lovely pass over the top of the Millwall defence. The Town striker ran in on the keeper before hammering the ball a foot or so over the bar. It was the first miss of several on a bad night for the Town striker.

The first half was a fairly even affair with both sides having chances. Tim Cahill came close with a header and Neil Harris nearly got to a cross for the home side while the Blues had a couple of shots from Scowcroft saved by the keeper and a Reuser special flew by the post. The Dutchman had earlier been on the end of one of several very poor challenges. His from David Livermore may well have led to more than the yellow card it received had the referee been less lenient.

Town fell behind when the Lions put in a corner and Richard Wright failed to come for the ball and also seemingly did not alert his defence to the lack of imminent danger. Hermann Hreidarsson attempted to head the ball away but only got the ball as far as the edge of the area. It was headed back in and the Icelander and John Scales failed between them to get the ball away before Ifill nipped in to slip the ball past Wright.

It didn't seem too worrying a moment for Town fans. The Blues weren't playing at their best, but were creating chances and a goal seemed on the cards. However, this seemed to be the way the players were thinking as chance after chance was spurned.

The Blues lined up for the second half with Matt Holland replacing Martijn Reuser and Fabian Wilnis on for Gary Croft, who looked particularly out of sorts.

Immediately there was an improvement and the Blues spent much of the next twenty minutes encamped in the Millwall penalty area. However, the goal they needed just would not come. The Millwall defence was strong and Northern Irish international Joe Dolan looked especially solid. Johnson was having one of those nights while Tony Warner was pulling off superb saves whenever he needed to, stops from Matt Holland and Jamie Clapham particularly spring to mind.

Millwall had been restricted to just two Neil Harris attacks during the second period, until they went even further ahead. Town, by this time were pushing well forward and were caught. Tim Cahill rifled home from the edge of the area as the Town defence failed to close him down.

Town continued to try to push forward, but the second goal gave Millwall new impetus. Marcus Stewart, who had replaced Johnson, tried to work some magic and Jim Magilton got to the by-line before putting in some lacklustre crosses. James Scowcorft headed over when it looked easier to score and Herman Hreidarsson bulletted a header wide.

The whistle went on an evening that could, and should, have been so different. The Blues had chances enough to have killed the game early on, but there seemed to be the attitude that a goal would eventually come, even when one behind. Unfortunately a goal did come, but it was for Millwall.

Still this is only half-time and we're not too bothered about the Worthington Cup anyway, oh and we can always bounce back against Arsenal on Saturday.

Photo: Action Images

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