Match Reports

Nationwide League Division 1

23 Nov 2002: Stoke City 0 Millwall 1 Att: 13,776

CITY LACK BITE AS LIONS MAKE QUIET BRITANNIA THEIR DEN by AndyP

I made the journey alone to this game with most of my regular Leeds Stokie travelling companions having decent excuses to miss the continuing collapse of the Potters. This gave me much time to quietly reflect on the way to the game what was likely to unfold on the pitch, and then relive the frustration on the seemingly long drive back. With reports of all kinds of injuries, and Millwall's recent upturn in fortunes, I wondered if we would manage to get something from this game. I felt with a fit team and another week of hard work by Pulis and the players on the training ground, we might end our terrible run. Also we had the advantage that Millwall fans were banned from the ground, so we could create an intimidating atmosphere. A weakened side however would surely not be capable of getting any sort of result. In the end Stoke fielded a side with no major surprises, they performed better than the visitors, but still left the pitch with nothing for their efforts.

As I watched the warm-up it was obvious that Pulis was returning to the 4-4-2 formation having tried five in midfield away at Portsmouth. All those suspected of being injured were out on the pitch, and the only noticable change was Iwelumo up front with Mooney, with Greenacre on the bench. Marteinsson was rewarded for his display at Pompey with a place on the bench, so finally he looks part of the plans at Stoke. For the second home game running we were "turned around" and forced to attack the Boothen End in the first half. Superstitious man that I am, any cheery thoughts about the team line-up rapidly dispersed and were replaced with dread!

Indeed Stoke suffered a nightmare start. Having kicked off we lost possession, and Thomas gave away his now trademark silly freekick for a clumsy challenge near the edge of the area. From the freekick out wide left, Wise swung in a cross which was flicked into the net by the head of Reid, while the Stoke defence stood motionless and indecisive. Any advantage of no away supporters was immediately lost, as the ground was silenced, the mood shattered, and mumblings and grumblings commenced! One nil down and a minute on the clock!

Stoke were awarded a free-kick on 3 minutes after a defender was all over Iwelumo like a bad suit. The free-kick was well placed, dead centre some 25 yards out. Gunnarsson's effort had power, but crashed off the wall to safety. Two minutes later a decent move led to Thomas pushing up and his cross from the right wing was headed behind for a corner. The set piece was wasted, Millwall broke, and Cutler had to tip over a 20 yard angled drive for a corner to the visitors. This was played short into acres of space but luckily the shot went well wide.

Stoke were huffing and puffing at this stage and any chances were hard to come by. They were going a little too direct, and it wasn't paying off. On 10 minutes a Thomas throw in fell to Mooney and he fired low across the box, but the keeper smothered it at the front post before it could reach the other Stoke players runnning in. Two minutes later O'Connor flattened Wise with a meaty tackle, and was booked for his troubles. The resulting free-kick some 30 yards out was played wide and Ifil's shot was hacked clear by Handyside. The next 8 minutes or so was a really scrappy passage of play with Stoke struggling to construct anything, and the visitors happy to sit back.

With 20 minutes gone Stoke began to produce some decent football. A good ball from Gunnarsson into the box was flicked by a Millwall defender for a certain corner only for the referee to award a goal-kick! On 21 minutes Mooney made a good run and laid the ball off well for Gudjonsson coming in from the right. He hesitate, cut inside and tried a low shot which the keeper smothered. Meanwhile an irate Mooney was letting Bjarni know he'd wanted it back at the far post! More refereeing madness occured a minute later. A Handyside free-kick around half way struggled to reach the edge of the box and the awaiting players, but Thomas managed get off a shot which was blocked for corner by the keeper. Once again a goal-kick was awarded!

This was a better spell by Stoke and another good move on 23 minutes saw O'Connor try a curling shot from 16 yards. It looked destined for the top far corner, but the keeper produced a wonderful diving save to turn it round for a corner (which was given!!) The corner led to nothing but in the next attack Gunnarsson sent in a powerful header from the edge of the area that went over the keeper and dipped too late, finishing on the roof of the net. On 26 minutes O'Connor tried a cabon copy of his earlier effort when he found himself in an similar position 22 yards out. This time his effort flew wildly over. The crowd were getting behind Stoke now as they continued their good spell. On 29 minutes a great build up fed Thomas on the overlap, and his low cross to the near post was prodded wide from 4 yards by Gunnarsson as he steamed in under pressure. Often Stoke were letting themselves down with the final ball after good approach play. On 31 minutes Iwelumo was clambered on again, and Gudjonsson's free-kick was too long and sailed out for a goal-kick. A minute later Millwall won a corner but it came to nothing of note.

On 33 minutes Thomas launched a long punt into the box and it missed all the defenders and picked out Mooney on the edge. He controlled it well and sent a low shot goalwards which was smothered by the keeper. Millwall were limited to long range efforts, and while most were harmless, Cutler took two attempts to catch a long range free-kick on 37 minutes. On 40 minutes some dogged hassling in midfield setup Clarke for a cross into the 6 yard box from the left, and his decent ball had to be headed behind for a corner with Iwelumo moving in for the kill. The corner by Gudjonsson was over hit and a chance wasted. However, he did better a minute later. Stoke earned a corner when Mooney's prod was turned behind, and the set-piece was taken short and played to Gudjonsson. His chip was goal bound until tipped over by the keeper Warner. This time it was Hoekstra's turn to deliver a poor corner. Hoekstra was in the wars 3 minutes later when he was hacked down on a run down the left. He hobbled away after taking some time to get to his feet, but no free-kick was awarded!

In the last minute of the half a long ball from defence was flicked on by Iwelumo, and collected by Mooney 8 yards out. He swivelled and dragged his shot across the box and wide, claiming a corner from a deflection which was debatable, and of course not given! In stoppage time Thomas did earn Stoke a corner when his cross was blocked. Here Stoke had their best chance of the half to equalise. Hoekstra whipped in a hard cross, and Mooney stooped 10 yards out to power a header towards goal. I was in line with the goal-line and despite the desperate low save by the keeper the power and spin looked certain to take it over the line. However somehow it stayed out, and Iwelumo followed up only to see his effort from a yard hacked away. The whistle went seconds later, and we'd done enough to be on level terms after the early Millwall goal, but sadly hadn't taken the chances.

Having come so close at the end of the first half, we did it again at the start of the second. A minute in, a good move set Hoekstra away on the left wing, and his danagerous cross was met by Gunnarsson's header very close in, and he hit the bar! The melee that followed seemed certain to end in a goal, but once again it was hacked clear for a Stoke corner. Four minutes later Gudjonsson had the ball in space and his first shot was blocked but it fell to him again, and this time his shot from 16 yards was straight at the keeper. Gudjonsson was lively again on 53 minutes when he put in a great tackle, won the ball, advanced menacingly before feeding Mooney whose shot from the right edge of the area curled over. Mooney tried a chip with the outside of his boot from the edge of the area on 58 minutes, but it was well over. On 62 minutes Gudjonsson's run was ended by a foul, and the free-kick led to O'Connor earning a corner on the left. It was taken short, and a low cross struck a defender, but the appeals for handball and a penalty were ignored by the referee.

A minute later a rash challenge by Thomas earned him a booking but the 40 yard freekick was harmless. Two minutes later Millwall had a rare corner, but Stoke coped with it and danger was averted. On 67 minutes Clarke put in a decent cross which Iwelumo headed down well, only for a defender to nip in and head back to the keeper with Mooney looking slow to pounce. In the same minute confusion between the defender and keeper following a backpass nearly let Gudjonsson nip in and take the ball around the keeper, but he recovered well and snatched it from Bjarni's feet. In a bid to shake things up, Pulis took off Iwelumo on 71 minutes and replaced him with Greenacre. Within seconds a good move with Gunnarsson and Gudjonsson combining well, ended with a fine ball across the box, but there was no head on the end of it. It was just the sort of delivery Iwelumo needed and had not received all game! On 72 minutes a long punt forward towards Greenacre saw keeper Warner race out of his box and head clear. It dropped to Hoekstra who sent a 30 yard chip back towards the empty net which just missed the target.

On 75 minutes a good build up and Hoekstra run down the left earnt a corner which was fruitless. The same player earnt another corner 4 minutes later with a similar move. Again we could not take advantage of the corner. With Millwall being no real threat for much the game Pulis sacrificed Thomas and brought on Cooke on 83 minutes. Meanwhile Wise was booked for time-wasting. Gudjonsson appeared to drop back to right-back, as Cooke worked behind the front two. It was Cooke who had our last meaningful effort on goal on 88 minutes. Greenacre managed a good flick on, and Cooke shot wildly over from 16 yards at the angle of the box. The spoiling tactics and time wasting by Millwall only counted for 3 minutes added time for us to rescue something, but we were unable to mount anything tangible in the dying stages. Like the fans streaming for the exits the team seemed to sense once again it would not be their day. Sure enough the final whistle went, and one moment of early madness had cost us dear. A section of the crowd booed, but like against Grimsby we had battled, created more chances than our opponents, but lacked the ruthless touch in front of goal.

Team Marks:

GK Cutler (6) One really good save, not at fault for the goal. Largely unemployed for most of the game.

RB Thomas (6) A silly mistake again proved fatal. Other than that he defended pretty well, and pushed forward to support the attack. However some of his crosses were woeful!

LB Clarke (7) Much better than of late. His one-on-one training work with Hoekstra seems to have paid off as he was not beaten by his man this week!. Stayed tighter to his man overall. Got forward well. A step in the right direction.

CB Shtaniuk (7) Commanding in the air. Some hoofing for distribution. Largely untroubled.

CB Handyside (7) Better from Handyside and the defence as a whole, except for the lack of concentration in the first minute!

RM Gudjonsson (7) A tad rusty earlier on, a bit slugish, and wasted possession. Improved as the game went on, and was very good in the later stages of the first half, and throughout the second. His corners and free-kicks let him down though. Prepared to get the ball and run with it, and it unnerved Millwall.[STARMAN]

CM Gunnarsson (7) Much more like it. Looked fitter and chased the ball more, winning it well in midfield. Linked well with Bjarni, and was also unlucky with a header against the bar. One noteable incident was three tough challenges in a 10 second spell to win back the ball, and make something from the move.

CM O'Connor (7) A good showing. Never tired, got stuck in, chased everything, and was involved in good attacking play. Very unlucky with his curling shot to the far corner. A real shocker of a challenge on Wise to earn him a booking.

LM Hoekstra (7) Not as good as against Grimsby. He struggled to get in the game early on, and received little service. Like Bjarni he came into the game as it went on and began to influence it. When he was involved his runs troubled Millwall and his crosses were decent enough, but no one got on them. Corners a tad disappointing with the exception of Mooney's headed chance.

CF Mooney (6) Looked half-arsed, although was unlucky with his header. The rest of the time he was not sharp enough, and never looked like scoring. The actions of a man who knows his time is nearly up? Also I wonder if the poor decisions of the ref made him think "what's the point?"!

CF Iwelumo (6) Received little decent service to use his head. Somehow missed from a yard following up from Mooney's header. Won some decent flick-ons but his partner was not usually on the same wavelength. Received a slide rule pass into the box in the second half, but showed the first touch of an elephant, "trapping" the ball 5 yards so the chance went begging when a clear shot from 10 yards should have been on the cards. Would have liked to see Greenacre in the same situation.

SUBS

Greenacre (6) Ran around willingly and chased defenders forcing errors. No real chance fell to him.

Cooke(6) Came on too late to change the outcome. If anything the change altered the shape of the team to our detriment, and we looked less likely to threaten in the closing moments..

Conclusion

Once again I have mixed feelings about this game. I am of course bitterly disappointed that we failed to beat an ordinary Millwall side who scored from their one meaningful chance, and sat on their lead for the rest of the game. However there were some positives to take from this game. Like against Grimsby we created plenty of chances and on another day could have beaten Millwall by 2 clear goals. Football is cruel at times and luck does not go your way. Added to that we are not lethal enough up front at the moment. The strikers created half chances, but they have to be finished at this level or you get punished. Meanwhile at the back we looked better this game overall but still committed a silly defensive mistake, and we cannot keep gifting opponents these goals. The early goal reduced all the hard work on the training ground to nothing, and silenced a home crowd looking to roar the team on. Despite the various cheap seat schemes it was a poor attendance and sadly the atmosphere was lacking even when Stoke were on top.

Overall I felt the Stoke performance had some passion and fight about it, and indeed some of the build up play was good. At times the long ball game crept in early on probably out of frustration, but we did use the flanks, and looked better when we did. We had quite a few corners, and crosses from open play to score from. They kept going for about 85 minutes, but seemed to fizzle out at the end. Probably in resignation. We have played a lot worse than this. It is clear that Tony Pulis has a difficult job on his hands. So far I've been impressed with the improvement he has brought. On this showing our major problem at the moment is self-belief. We need a few new faces to strengthen the squad, and Pulis to keep organising them well. We also need to start finding the net. This game was another small step in the right direction, even if it was our eighth straight defeat. We've looked better than Millwall and Grimby in the last two home matches, but without some luck on our side and a few goals to show for our endeavours, we'll be doomed come May.

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