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Leeds strike late to overcome Millwall
Leeds strike late to overcome Millwall
Sunday, 20th Apr 2008 21:42

Millwall 0 Leeds 2

Millwall might feel aggrieved to come away from ths game with nothing, but Leeds came good at the end and won with goals from Prutton and Hughes.

 

Leeds made three changes from the side that started at Huddersfield in midweek, one of which was enforced, with Prutton coming in for the suspended Douglas. Sheehan returned from his own suspension to reclaim the left-back slot, and Macca made the change I’d been waiting for all night on Tuesday, with Elding coming in for Kandol.

 

For much of the first half we were forced to defend quite deep against a Millwall side who needed the points for different reasons, to make sure they stayed well clear of the relegation positions. They went close with a couple of free kicks, but their best chance of the half came from Ali Fuseni, who turned well inside the area but shot just over the bar.

 

We did manage to create a couple of opportunities ourselves, the best of them falling to Elding after Freedman had set him up, but after a good turn his shot went wide of the post. It had all been a rather scrappy 45 minutes, but at that stage Millwall could feel they’d had the better of the game up to that point, and our midfield seemed to be struggling.

 

And we continued to ride our luck as the home side came close to taking the lead a few minutes after the break, with a well struck shot from Karacan that hit the bar. Simpson also shot wide, but Millwall’s threat began to fade the longer the game went on, and our central defensive pair managed to get grips with the Millwall strikers.

 

And as Millwall tired we started to take control at the other end, with the hard-working Freedman shooting just wide from a corner. After 70 minutes we took the lead, after Johnson sent over a good cross from the left flank, which a defender headed out under pressure from Elding, but only as far as Prutton. ‘Jesus’ caught it on the volley 25 yards out, and it bounced past the keeper into the corner of the net.

 

Mc.Allister decided to shore things up in midfield to make sure we didn’t let the lead slip, and Hughes came on for Elding. Elding had shown some nice touches at times, but at others he had looked a little bit out of his depth, though for much of the game he hadn’t had a great deal of service from midfield. We killed the game off with the second in the 79th. minute as Millwall’s heads dropped, and the goal was an absolute shocker from a defensive point of view.

 

We passed it around the area with the Millwall defence standing around watching. Short to Hughes, out to Johnson, and back through to Hughes in the middle, still not tracked by the defence and untroubled by anything resembling a challenge. He had the simple task of nodding the ball across the line, and the Leeds end went wild, with some of the Millwall making a half hearted attempt to cause a bit of bother before being pushed back by the police.

 

In the closing stages we could have embarrassed Millwall even more, with a trademark Sheehan free-kick which forced Evans into a decent save. Our final two substitutes came on as the game moved into the 90th. minute, but Sweeney still had enough time to get booked against his former club.

 

And that was it. If Brighton hadn’t scored a late winner we would already be in the play-offs, but even without any help from the tribunal we only need two points from the last two games.

 

There was a little bit more bother on the escalators at London Bridge underground station, after some very nice Millwall fans had waited behind to throw things at us. While some Leeds fans rushed back up the stairs to have a go at them, the rest of us took the opportunity to escape from the police escort and make our own way home. With any luck we won’t have to come back here next year. 

Photo: Action Images



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