Millwall v Scunthorpe United

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Football League One

Millwall :
Forde, Craig, Frampton, Dunne, Robinson (Whitbread 46), Bolder, Harris (McLeod 63), Laird, Grabban (Hackett 26), Alexander, Martin.
Subs not used:
Pidgeley, Abdou.

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Byrne, Pearce, Mirfin, Wright, Thompson (Hurst 90), Sparrow, McCann, Woolford (Morris 79), Hayes (Togwell 76), Hooper.
Subs not used:
Slocombe, Lea.

SULSESC REPORT

by Keith Solomon at New Den

Having decided to take a year out from the joys of being emotionally drained by the Iron, my weekends since August have come to begin just after 2.30 am on Saturday, before heading off to see what German football has to offer.

The opportunity to pay a pittance to watch top flight football and get to games using cheap and often free public transport is easy to take for granted, but then a trip to Millwall always reminds you of how easy it is to forget that certain demons of yesteryear like bulldog-faced neanderthals haven't gone away, they've just colonised in particular neighbourhoods instead.

A pint in the Shipwrights and off we go to South Bermondsey. Two handily placed teams, all to play for, and quite the most dull first 45 minutes of football to celebrate the occasion.

Luckily, the second-half was far better than the first, in terms of diversions from the chill of the afternoon. Suddenly, both teams seemed to realise that the game was there for the taking and Hooper almost gave United the lead with a bumper and trickler that didn't quite bump and trickle in.

Twenty minutes into the second-half, Scunny crafted an opener. Unfortunately, they did so for Millwall, the home team's contribution being to simply watch United make a nonsense of matters at the back and leave Alexander to give them the lead.

1-0 down, Scunny decided not to wallow in self-pity, but to equalise five minutes later instead. The home side failed to realise that Hayes wasn't shooting horribly wide, but was actually firing it in for Hooper to do the rest, Millwall's lapse allowing parity to be restored at 1-1.

The consensus amongst the chilled in the stands was that both sides would probably settle for a point. It's just as well you need know nothing about football to watch or comment upon it, however and that being utterly wrong can be a rather joyous event sometimes too.

When Hooper found himself through on goal with just two minutes left and just the 'keeper to beat, collective breath was held and disbelief suspended. The cool, nay tundra- like, finish from United's front man slapped the ball in Mr. Angry's net and put the Iron ahead.

Seeing out the remainder of the game without any drama to speak of, Scunny took the game and the points. Trying to look hacked off when you are really rather delighted inside is an important skill to perfect when departing from South Bermondsey station and luckily we all pulled it off successfully until the Shipwright's, at which point, emotion was allowed to prevail without a Neanderthal glare to dilute it.

The reality of having to swap theatres of football like The Den for their German equivalents once again is a cross I shall attempt to bear manfully this season. As South East London preserves the nostalgia of the seventies, in the shape of spotty, confrontational youths wanting a fight, even though they are now in their forties, I shall try not to have an aching heart, but as the song goes, no-one likes them and they don't care...poor things.