Millwall 0-2 Hull
Match Report
‘E I E I E I O up the football league we go’
What a team. What an owner. What a manager. What a night. This result made every long hour of that gruelling journey down to London worth it. Everyone wrote us off this season, and all the odds were in favour of us going down. They laughed at us when we all predicted we would have a good season. Well, they’re not laughing now. Transfer embargoed? Who cares? That did not stop us. We’re Wembley bound!
Millwall were the stronger and more dominant team on Friday night, and we really could have done with scoring and having some sort of advantage heading into the second leg. The Den is known for being notorious, and if the Lions got off to a good start, our players would struggle to cope with the toxic and wild atmosphere. It certainly was deafening in the stadium, but most of the noise was coming from the away section, which was packed with around 2,200 travelling fans. They did have some form of control over the game in the first half, as they held the ball well and had a few chances themselves. But, we did well to soak up the pressure, keep composed and reserve our energy for the second half. That is when we pushed on, scored a couple and silenced the Den. Great tactics from the manager.
Speaking of which, when the line-ups were announced at 6.45, I was sceptical with the team he fielded. Unlike Friday, Sergej went more conservative in this one, putting five at the back and taking a more defensive approach to the game. He made two changes: Ajayi and Joseph started over Belloumi and Gelhardt. That meant, in a 3-4-2-1 formation, we lined up as follows: Pandur between the sticks; Hughes, Egan and Ajayi as the backline, with Giles and Coyle as wing-backs; Crooks and Slater as defensive midfielders; Millar and Joseph down the flanks; with McBurnie leading the line.
The home side controlled the game early, which was par for the course. They had the majority of the stadium on their side, whilst we had to suffer the pressure. My stress levels were extremely high as they got close on a number of occasions. Thierno Ballo’s header from the centre of the box in the 17th-minute was blocked by our defenders. There was a scramble in the box to clear it, but we miscued the clearance and the ball came out to Neghil on the left side of the box. His left-footed shot fired wide of the post. Two minutes later, they had the ball in the box again: Ballo’s right-footed shot was saved by Pandur, who was called up again seconds later to parry a strike from Azeez. The ball was recycled into the box again, but Leornard’s header steered wide of the left post. Early warning signs.
As Millwall were holding the ball well, the only chances we created were on the break after a mistake from their side. This happened on a number of occasions throughout the half, and we managed to conjure up some goal scoring opportunities. The three chances we had were from headers. The first was in the 33rd minute after Egan’s glancing header from the centre of the box was too high and sailed over the bar. McBurnie had his chance in the 35th minute as his threatening header from the left side of the box forced a save from Patterson, who tipped it over the bar. Egan then had another try from the subsequent corner, but this time his header went wide.
It ended up being an equal half regarding opportunities, but it felt like Millwall had more quality over us, especially in the passing department. We still looked nervous. Joseph also picked up an injury towards the end of the half, and Belloumi replaced him. How crucial this change was.
The second half was sensational. The manager’s tactics were spot on, and the team executed it perfectly. Again, the home side saw more of the ball, but they actually did very little with it. We went into attacking mode, and went all out in this half. Our first goal came in the 64th-minute. Starting from a counterattack, Crooks spotted Belloumi on the right-channel and threaded the ball through to him. The number 10 held the ball up well, cut into the box and whipped a beautiful ball into the far left corner of the net, giving the keeper no chance. Cue pandemonium in the upper tier behind the goal.
The home side were looking for a response after this, but this goal startled them. They also looked fatigued as they had been on the front-foot for the hour, and were struggling to cope. They could not rely on their supporters to drive them either, because The Den was silenced, as they were all fearing the worst. A few attacks were created, but nothing to trouble Pandur.
We sealed the deal in the 79th-minute as we doubled our advantage. One minute after making substitutions (Millar was replaced by Gelhardt), we made a fast break, started by Belloumi. He drove down the right wing, with McBurnie and Gelhardt powering down the middle of the pitch, calling for the ball. He passed it to the latter, who took a touch and curled it towards the bottom-right corner. The keeper got a hand to it, but it was not strong enough, and the ball slowly trickled into the back of the net. Now the party could begin.
We parked the bus after this, and prioritised draining the clock. We made some defensive substitutions, whilst Millwall went all out and tried to find a way back in. But, it was too little too late. We could have actually tripled our lead in the 86th-minute. We won the ball from one of their corners, and Koumas’s through ball released Crooks down the middle. He drove towards the box, and was one-on-one with the keeper. But, he tried to chip it over Patterson, who made himself tall to snuff out the danger.
After seven long minutes of extra time, the referee blew his whistle, and the away end erupted. We had done it. It has been 10 years since we played top flight football, and we are 90 minutes away from returning. We had a party celebration with the team from the stands and this would continue on the coaches. It did take us over an hour to get out of London, but oh boy was it worth it. We will face either Southampton or ‘Boro at Wembley on 23rd May, and I will be there. Travel and accommodation has been solved, let’s just hope I can get a ticket.
Hope to see some of you there - enjoy the week off.
UTT!