"The end of silence"
Millwall 1 Burnley 2, 23rd January
1999
Tim Quelch
Henry
Rollins is not everyone’s cup of tea. His raging metal funk can sometimes wear a bit
thin, especially when entertaining aged relatives. But as a prelude for Millwall,
he’s simply excellent. After all, these are the Souf Londoners who massacre multiple
consonants. Surely,‘There’s no Ls in Mi’wa’ is a more apt name for
their fanzine? Besides, Henry reminds me that being pissed off can be a good earner. I
find that a real comfort.
Anyway, today Burnley played as if infused with
Rollins’ muscular fervour. Today, we could say ‘Burnley defence’ without
trading in oxymorons. Today, the back four all played with strength, skill and resolution,
backed by a scrapping midfield. I didn’t think I would ever be able say that without
the due influence of substances. Sure, Burnley survived a very difficult opening ten
minutes spell, in which Millwall’s quick one touches had them scrambling to cover.
Neill and Cahill went desperately close to putting the Lions’ two goals ahead during
that frantic opening period. But once Glen Little began his jinking, powerful runs, we
knew we could hurt them on the break. The confirmation wasn’t long in coming. After
eleven minutes, a typical Little surge took him to the right by-line. His cross took a
deflection, lifting the ball over the near post defenders. Payton flicked on and Cooke
powered in a header at the unguarded far post. For ten or fifteen minutes, Burnley started
to play. Mellon’s driving run also took him to the right by-line, but a lunging
Millwall defender blocked his low cross. Payton’s control let him down as he had a
chance to get beyond their advanced back line. However, for the remainder of the first
half, Millwall re-asserted their control, forcing Burnley to defend in depth. Crichton did
particularly well, holding onto a series of dangerous crosses under pressure.
After the break, it was more of the same. Mellon
headed off the line, Crichton chested away a menacing through ball and Davis made a series
of timely interceptions. But it was not one-way traffic. With Millwall pushing up there
were good chances to counter-attack. Davis released Cooke, who then bore in on goal with
the Millwall defenders at his heels. He managed to evade Spinks’ charge but in taking
the ball around the Millwall keeper, he left himself with a difficult angle.
Disappointingly, Cooke’s right foot shot screwed wide of the near post. Cooke also
picked up the ball wide on the left and again made for goal. This time his shot careered
well wide of the far post.
Both Little and Cooke were troubling Millwall.
Cooke held the ball up well, but he’s much more than a target man, who can poach
goals. Having added a yard of pace to his considerable physical strength, he’s quite
capable of piercing a back line unaided. As for Little, he seemed totally unconcerned
about the odds against him. He was prepared to take on anyone and everyone who blocked his
path to goal. Only a last ditch tackle denied him on one occasion, but the next time he
tried to break through, on 80 minutes, the referee decided he had been obstructed. The
resulting free kick allowed Davis to blast us two goals ahead.
I really thought we would manage to keep a clean
sheet. OK I must have been on drugs. In fairness, the defence had played so well under
pressure. But it wasn’t to be. Neill’s left wing cross wasn’t cut out as it
should have been and Sadlier headed across Crichton and in. This set up a tense final five
minutes and we had Crichton to thank for finally securing us the three points, when he
dived to his right to clutch Harris’s scuffed shot.
I’m sure that Millwall will have cursed
their luck. For the most part, they played fast, attractive football and seized at least
two thirds of the play. They had enough chances to have gained a point. Again, Paul Shaw
performed well for them. I was sorry we weren’t able to prise him away from London
after his successful loan spell during the last rites to ‘94/95. But although
Millwall had more chances, I thought that Burnley created the clearer openings. This was
also true at the Memorial Stadium two weeks ago. What was different here was that Burnley
defended so much better against an equally skilful, attacking side.
At Bristol, I criticised Steve Morgan for what I
saw as slack marking. Today, he was much improved. He seemed more determined, particularly
when challenging for high balls, which isn’t his strength. The timing of his tackling
has sharpened too (thank God!). Certainly, he made at least two crucial tackles to deny
Millwall. He sometimes dwells to long on the ball, trying to find a footballing option.
However, he looked the part today, which is a relief. Filling the left back role has been
a huge problem all season. Given the quality of certain incumbents, Stan might as well
have fielded a pantomime horse there for some games. Let’s face it, O’Kane was
rock bottom and still digging. He would have been out of his depth in a puddle. And still
there is little or no cover in the left back position. If there’s more dosh around,
we need to sort this out as soon as possible.
Neil Moore also impressed at right back. I was
surprised at his selection instead of the injured Pickering. I thought Brass might be
picked given his greater experience in this slot. But Stan’s choice was well
vindicated. Moore’s heading ability was put to good use during Millwall’s aerial
bombardment and he was much more solid on the ground than before, clinging closely to his
opponents and allowing them less room to turn. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t
keep his place at Lincoln.
Reid was more solid today. He is clearly
benefiting from having Steve Davis alongside him. I hope this isn’t premature but
they appear to forming a good partnership. Davis was of course outstanding. His
positioning, his interceptions, heading and tackling were all spot on. His composure has
begun to spread to the others, who look so much better, individually and collectively now
that he’s back.
As for the midfield, I thought Stan got that
right today, too. There was some doubt about Branch’s fitness although he was on the
bench. I think it would have been a mistake to have played both Little and Branch. That
would have left too few battlers to help out the defence. Armstrong was simply magnificent
in this role. Despite the fourteen stitches in a head wound, he never flinched,
challenging robustly for everything. If Mellon and Ford were less conspicuous, this was
entirely due to his overpowering performance.
Crichton did well, too. I’m still unsure
whether he’s as good a keeper as Gavin Ward, but today he did a lot to challenge my
doubts. Twice, he proved to be a heroic last line of defence and throughout his handling
was impeccable. Remember that this guy was given no defence in his first games. It would
be quite understandable if his confidence had become shot after Bournemouth, Fulham etc.
That just leaves Payton. This wasn’t one of
his more memorable games, but he still did his bit, making runs, closing down defenders.
At Huddersfield, he was said to be lazy. I see no evidence of that here.
The Burnley crowd of over 1,000 was superb. Hope
has been restored and didn’t we let Millwall know it. ‘The End of Silence’,
Henry? For sure.
Team: Crichton, Moore,
Morgan, Mellon, Davis, Reid, Little, Armstrong, Cooke (Branch 77) (Maylett 90), Payton
(Swan 77), Ford.
Firmo's report
