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Archive - Millwall Match Reports
Season 1996 / 1997
Click on any one of the links below
to view the match report, then use the <top> link (at the end of
every report) to return here.
Warning: These reports are not
official. In most cases they were written by players or spectators and
no attempt has been made to check the accuracy of the reports, let alone
to remove the swear words!
Citizens on 21st September 1996
Lakenheath on 5th October 1996
Mistley on 19th October 1996
1st XV vs. Fairburn Chigwell 26th October 1996
May & Baker on 9th November 1996
Canvey Island on 25th February 1997
1st XV vs. East London 8th March 1997
Canvey on 15th March 1997
Dagenham on 22nd March 1997
Millwall Albion 12 V 32 Citizens
1 Peter Howard
2 Gareth Bailey
3 Norm Nicholls
4.Chris Underwood
5 Terry Barthram
6 Sean McCann
7 Crispin Payne
8 Tim Parham
9.Paul O’Dowd
10.Nick May
11 Phil Moule
12.Phil Smith
13 Neil Meldrum
14 Dave Clark
15 Truman McCarthy
I thought the idea was to have a nice, confidence boosting run out against
a pile of shite the week before the league game. Did we buggery! What
we got was a very large bunch of blokes who knew exactly what they were
doing. To make it worse they play in Kent 3. Bear in mind that Kent is
stronger than the Eastern counties and you can see what we were up against.
Add to that another poor pre-match, (Lack of full team, lack of opposition,
lack of ref etc..) and the stage was set.
This could be a very short match report because, to be quite honest 1
can barely remember a thing about it. Although probably more than Boris,
but more of that later. From the outset it was plain that we were struggling,
as they pinned us in our 25, (That’s in old money you youngsters!)
a couple of misplaced clearance kicks (no names as one of them was me)
and a blindside move later and we were a score down. One saving grace
as far as the final score is concerned was that their kicker couldn’t
hit a barn if he stood in it. He missed the kick. They scored 2 or maybe
3 more tries in the half, I’m not sure. Thinking about it, it must
have been 3, with one in front of the posts because half time was 22-0.
Peter’s half-time rant concentrated on the forwards unfortunate
failure to win any ball, and although the 2nd half showed no real improvement
(against very able oppo’), there was a marked improvement in the
desire to knock them over and get the bloody thing back. We ran in two
tries which were a testament to support play, good handling and “balls
& bottle~. Tim got the first, sprinting over from 6 inches after the
backs had done all the hard work (!). Boris scored the second in very
similar circumstances, and became the forth member of the Millwall Albion
Memorial Wing, being carted off with concussion. Nick converted one of
these and things were looking rosier. Unfortunately they got two more
late scores and when Chris ‘Bendy’ Underwood had to go off
with a couple of minutes to go, it was time to call it a day.The final
score was 32-12, again a disappointing result but with some good points
against a very good team. Good at rugby they may be, but what a miserable
bunch of tossers. Not one of them came back for a beer, so we had to
get
plastered on our own.
<top>
Millwall Albion 28 v 10 RAF Lakenheath
1 Tony Smith
2.Barrie O’Hare
3. Norm Nicholls
4.Terry Barthram
5. Billy Canaway
6.Tim Parham
7 Crispin Payne
8. Rupert Moreton
9. Gary Robinson
10. Nick May
11 Phil Moule
12. Phil Smith
13.Chris Hannam
14. Rhys Jenkins
15.Alan Cook
16.Chris Underwood
17. Jamie Rockman
As is the way of things, half the team met at Millwall Park, half met
at Island gardens and the other half went straight to Victoria park or
were late. Add to that the 5 mile hike to the changing rooms, the ref
getting lost and being late (Sorry Kevin!) and Cookies arse falling off
during the warm up, and the stage was set for a right ol’ cock up.
But somehow, through it all, we manage to achieve some of the pre-match
growlyness and concentration that had stood us in good stead the previous
week at Orwell. Just as well really cos they were quite large! The early
exchanges showed then to have a musketeer like approach. If one made the
tackle, they all made the tackle. If one missed the tackle, they all missed
the tackle! Direct running seemed the way ahead, and so it proved to be.
After being under a little pressure early on, we worked our way upfield,
and to a line-out. We shortened to a 2 man and Rupert, pretending to
be
the scrum-half, took it at the front and barged over. Sir disallowed
it for something but no-one could quite figure out what. Shortly after
Nick
landed a penalty for 3-0 and things started to look cozy. We pressed
their line for some time, just quite not making the break-through. Until
at
last, from an attack inside their 25, they scored. I’m not sure
how we lost the ball but it lead to their right wing going on a run which
by-passed our entire midfield. He fed their left wing (AKA Michael Johnson)
and that was that 3-7. Were we disheartened? Were we bollocks! From a
scrum just inside their half, Rupert picked up blind and went on a saunter.
Crispin and Gary were able to run slowly enough to stay with him. The
three ran some interesting zig-zags, whilst passing the ball to each
other
and Gary crossed the line for the try. Nick missed the kick. Just Arse.
8-7. The forwards began to look more dominant Under no pressure on our
scrums, Banle was able to take two or three
against the head. Rupert was able to disrupt their huge bloke at the
front and we took most of our own line ball Gary was having a belter
at scrum-half.
For once I think it is safe to say that the backs, as an attacking force,
were a bit of a let down. A few nice breaks were made and had a couple
of passes been held or gone to hand, we could have been in. Some work
needed In training, me thinks! Especially with half the Kiwi nation waiting
to get registered!! The tackling however was a great improvement and
with
the exception of the one fly, they didn’t look all that They plopped
over a penalty to make the half time score Millwall 8 V RAF Lakenheath
10.
Two scores early in the 2nd half really finished them off. Some good
forward pressure near their line was rewarded when Rupert went on a one
man rolling maul and ploughed over from 5 yards. From the kick off we
gained a scrum. There was a blind side move and Phil evaded all tacklers
for half the length of the field to touch down. He was also good enough
to do so somewhere near the posts. Please take note the rest of you!
Nick
landed the kick and suddenly we found ourselves 20-10 to the good.
Enter tackling practice as they realised they were losing it. Everything
got very frantic and it needed an injury to Billy the Fish and some calming
words over the top of Terry’s retching to restore normality. The
100 mile an hour, don’t panic Captain Mainwaring, passage of play
thankfully came to an end. Penalties were deliberated on before being
dispatched to the crowd, (Yes, there was one!) allowing breath to be caught,
minds to be focused and time to be wasted. One nice handling move should
have seen Rhys in at the corner but he saw fit to lose IL (Much as he
did some 8 hours later. Gary’s harassment of their scrum-half reached
a climax when, from their scrum 5 yards out, he robbed the poor sod and
darted over. In the corner again! 25-10. With us cruising and the skeptics
showing no inclination to trouble the scores, there was just time to add
one more penalty to make the final score Millwall 28 V 10 RAY Lakenheath.
All in all an excellent performance which I am pleased to say was ,arched
in the club later.
Rupert was awarded the MOTM by them and celebrated
by demonstrating the fine art of pint disposal
<top>
Mistley 21 v 70 Millwall Albion
1. Tony Smith
2. Andy Mason
3. Norm Nicholls
4. Terry Barthram
5. Chris Underwood
6. Tlm Parham
7. Sean McCann
8. Rupert Moreton
9. Gary Robinson
10. Daye Sçath
11. Nigel Webb
12. Chris Hannam
13. Neil Meldrum
14. Phil Moule
15. Nick May
16. Billy Canaway
17. Crispin Payne
“And on that Saturday, Coach looked down and saw that it was good.
And he said unto them Keep this up and you’ll put 50 points on this
lot. And lo, he was right”
Flipper
Chapter 1,Verse 1
The trend of failing to leave on time was, somewhat worryingly, adhered
to, giving Bill all we time he needed to kidnap Mike. Fortunately plenty
of the players had got lost on the way to the ground, hardly surprising
bearing in mind the directions, and so, following a bit of rush changing,
we kicked oft at 2.45pm.
Earlier worried requests from the fish-like one, not to take Mistley
too lightly were obviously noted (Or were they fust crap?) as Millwall
took
an early strangle hold on the game which they never really lost. Quick
tries from Rupert and Phil saw us into a healthy looking lead, before
the first of three similar lapses. We defend well all over the pitch
except,
recently anyway, the oppo’ get a penalty 5 or 10 yards out. For
some reason we take this as an opportunity to have a breather, they take
a quick one rather than setting up any particular move, and they get in.
ln terms of the result on a day like this It doesn’t matter. In
terms of our overall play and possible points difference at the end of
the season, the sooner we sort it out the better. 12-7!! The grip returned
and a second try for Rupert and one each for Neil and the Doctor saw us
in 31-7 at half time.
More of the same was asked for and more of the same we got. (We know
a song about that, don’t we) within minutes of the restart Rupert
had blundered over for his Jug try. Phil and Nell got their seconds and
Flex remembered why he was there and scored as well They then had the
temerity to capltalise on another of our lapses in concentration which
made it 53~14 before Phil got his Jug try and Flex decided he liked It
and bagged his second. The last two scores came from them, and another
bloody short penalty, and Mad Dog McCann snarling under the posts. You’ll
have to forgive the lack of description of the tries, but I had enough
trouble rememberingj who got them all, let alone what they looked like.
Having said that a few things tend to stand out in the memory. On a personal
note, being tackled by their winger was fun! I’m not sure his name
was David Coppeifield, but I suddenly found myself floating horizontally
four feet from the ground. (I’m suing for whiplash!) The forwards
are getting better every game. I suppose ‘gelling’ is the
word. Everyone flew, seeming to be in the right place at the right time,
whether its In support of each other or at nicks. (Thankfully we are mauling
less and less) The backs, despite constant ribbing from the forwards for
dropping the ball, are attacking well with tries from the wings and eight
in total last week, God help the team we play when we stop dropping it!
Overall the support play is brilliant emphasized by Flex’s second
try. They tried a ‘funny’ from the kick off, which Andy caught
and popped to Tim, who advanced before passing to Nick, who gained further
ground. Tim had conthnued his run and took a return pass, drew the defence
and put Flex in at the corner. Simple, effective and impossible if players
aren’t prepared to back each other up. The depth the club also shone
through, with Andy, Flex and the Doctor all making league debuts and doing
well.
With the exception of the three lapses already mentioned and Doc throwing
up In Calders there were only two downers. Flex’s ridiculous attempt
at a reverse pass, for which he was rightly fined, and the return of scoring
in the bloody corners. Perhaps I was too cocky the week before? Still,
if we continue to score 12 tries a game you can put them down where you
bloody well like. Bastards! Just a final thought after the game their
coach was overheard
telling his charges “You could play like that if you trained”.
Seems to make Thursdays so worthwhile?
By the way, the final score was 70-21
So there!!
<top>
Millwall Albion 19 v 10 Fairburn Chigwell
Its a funny old World. The ability of a rugby team. that all qood sociologists
will tell you are usually pretty clued up, to get çompletely lost
when a pub can’t actually be seen. A kindly old lady, fed up with
not being able to read road signs, devoted years of her life compiling
and publishing a road map of London. its called the A-Z and is available
from all good bookshops starting at £4.99. That said, it’s
hardly surprising that some of us can’t read, which in Itself is
eminently forgivable given the tendency to progresslve teachlng. Deciding
to follow Rupert, howeveri not. Unsurprising from Andy, after all he’s
a student and a forward to boot. Norm can hardly be blamed for diving
Into the first car full of players that he comes across. But Neil, let’s
face it, better things are expected of you else you’ll find that
everyone will forget to pass to you.
You may have guessed by now that
Millwall didn’t have the best start possible against a team that
had also survived three leauge games unbeaten. Starting with fourteen
courtesy of all three subs, (One of which had already protested that his
shorts would give out inside twenty minutes), meaning that the downstairs,
sorry, younger Barthram, Ion, gained his first team bidet, sorry, debut.
It was also, nearly, a return to Millwall rugby for Danny Anson whose
chance was lost when the entire second team turned up mainly to wonder,
as It transpired, exactly what they’d done to deserve to be In the
second team, given the kind of rugby that their more esteemed colleagues
In the first’s managed to serve up.
The match got under way amidst
a surge of apparent apathy fronm the Millwall ranks. The ball unfortunately
did not resemble a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale closely enough to be
treated with anything like respect. Stumbling and fumbling around for
a while saw Millwall find their way into Chigwell’s 22, heaven only
knows how, and Chris Hannan, he of the dodgy shins, woke up first. His
run proved that no-one else had. With absolutely no support he was downed
five metres out. Astonishingly, MiIlwall managed to recycle it and it
was spun out to Flex for the easiest of tries. Paul O’Dowd brilliantly
converted. The alarming proportions of the dead ball line were the key
to MiIlwall’s second try. An alert MIilwall player first spotted
it and informed the rest to keep chasing until it went dead. Well, Gary
heard the advice and chased a kick back to touch down. With Paul’s
second excellent conversion from wide out, Millwall found themselves,
fortuitously, 14-0 up. I’m afraid It doesn’t get much better
than this.
Millwall huffed and puffed their weay safely to half time without
suffering any major mishaps. The second half was a little different.
If I had seen the match against Basildon last year when Millwall defended
a three point lead for an hour, I might be comparing the two at this
very
moment, but I didn’t so I won’t. Chigwell stormed back against
a Millwall team completely bereft of either attacking flair or determined
defence. The early exchanges were notable for one of the greatest moments
in the history of the game. The Chigwell fly-half, five yards out and
with a five man overlap, took the most courageous decision of his career,
he attempted a drop kick. Several to date unnamed MillwalI players couldn’t
resist a small guffaw. This was drowned out by an entirely deserved volley
of abuse from all around the pitch and from the touchline. It was, ladies
and gentlemen, truly laughable. In the mirthful aftermath, Millwall let
in two quick tries. Now the joke was over. 14-10 up with half hour still
to go. Don’t try this one at home kids. Now wasn’t the time
to be a spectator. The helplessness on the side of the pitch must’ve
been endemic. Chigweil came in waves. Fingernails were bitten and coach
swore. ChigweIl won penalty after penalty as Millwall continuously stepped
over the line. Knuckles were gnawed. Meanwhile, Coach swore. Then Bill
Canaway put in a tackle that most of us only dream about. It’s illegal,
of course, but it was a turning point. Knees trembled and Coach lost his
voice, so he stuck his fingers up instead. Chigwell took the penalty where
the kick was made and to avoid Rupert’s tackle, they ran sideways
and this is where Neil finally managed to redeem himself for turning up
late by tackling the man with the ball firmly enough for him to drop it.
Sean McCann hacked on and lo, another miracle occurred. I should mention
something about the Charge of the Light Brigade, but there were no cannons.
Perhaps even King Canute, but he failed to turn the tide. Anyway, with
the bail being (and this Is not too strong a word) desperately pumped
forward with four or five MIllwall players In hot pursuit Chigwell players
came there none. Both packs by now were obviously knackered. MillwaII’s,
with plenty of tackling under their belt and Chigwell’s having thrown
themselves against a brick wall for 15 minutes or so It looked like a
stroll, but then a Chigwell player entered the frame. This meant, hideously,
that a Millwall player had to pick the bloody thing up. Flex, heroically,
slowed down, Sean, with his forward background, fell over to set up a
nick and Phil mysteriously stepped Inside the Chigwell back’s angle
of running. After looking around to see if they would do it, Paul O’Dowd
bit the bullet. To the relief of most people present, he managed not to
knock it on and Flex displayed, for the second time in the match, open
emotion by actually jumping into the air with clenched fists. Disgraceful.
Now, it wouldn’t have been so bad to be a spectator. It’s
only a guess but if they weren’t enjoying it as much as the team,
questions should be asked in the house. The reaction of Millwall’s
pack couldn’t be seen by yours truly as they were still in our own
22’, but Chigwell’s were beaten. To see them then was to understand
the word haggard. Everyone always says that the mark of a good team is
the ability to win despite playing badly. If that’s the case, Millwall
are a good team. <top>
Millwall Albion 24 v 29 May
& Baker
1. Tony Smith
2. Barrie O’Hare
3. Jamie Rockman
4. Brian Whitley
5. Terry Barthram
6. Sean McCann
7. Tim Parham
8. Rupert Moreton
9. Gary Robertson (sort of)
10. Paul O’Dowd
11. Nigel Webb
12. Neil Meldrum
13. Jim Wade
14. Phil Moule
15. Nick May
Well, ladies, that was a game of rugby. And enormous fun too. But if I
can indulge myself with a cliché or two. The cat’s out of
the bag, the bubble has burst and the balloon’s gone up. There’s
no reason to be deflated though and not only because all good things must
come to an end. Content yourself with the thought that we could and should
have won had we taken all our chances, most notably in the first fifteen
minutes. Had the previous run-outs been against more suitable opposition,
rather than the agreeable contests to date, I have no doubt we would’ve
won. Alas, the delights of suburban Ipswich and rural Suffolk may have
lured us into a false sense of security. The spectators report that it
was a great game to watch, except for the occasional kick too far or not
far enough, (more later), circumstances permitting. And, I’m guessing
now, it was by far the most physical match that a Millwall pack have played
(although I’ve not seen them all).
Millwall started brightly and
should have been two tries to the good early on. The backs handled fluently
and the pack gained plenty of possession. Immediately following the kick-off
a lovely move was instigated which culminated with Phil Moule downed
inside
the 22’. The ball was being moved at will and Nick May’s incursions
into the line created overlaps which were just not used effectively. One
superb move which saw Flex kick, criminally, with .Jim Wade screaming
for it outside indicated that it’s not merely Flex’s vision
that’s flawed. Soon after, a move, which resulted in Millwall’s
first points from a Paul O’Dowd penalty, Just failed to be a try
because there were too many backs wanting to get a hold of an attempted
miss pass from Neil Meldrum. 3-0. It was already clear that May &
Baker were going to make sure that we’d know we’d been in
a game as the treatment meted out to Gary Robertson demonstrated. I sincerely
hope that by the time he reads this he’ll have recovered his speech,
amongst other things.
The first try by them emphasised this further as
one of their big lumps went over from close range (hereinafter referred
to as OOTBLWOFCR) but not before some cleverly discreet handling on the
floor by their forceful No. 8. The conversion was missed. 3-5.Millwall
bounced back and a lovely move ended with a perfectly good try by Rupert
Moreton, having been fed by Tim Parham, being disallowed. Just before,
Paul didn’t put over a drop-kick which the ref. awarded and then
didn’t. Justice eventually was done. Soon after, revenge was gained
for the ungiven? try when Rupert broke blind from a scrum and put Phil
Moule in for Millwall’s first fly. Paul, Uncharacteristically, blotted
his copybook. 8-5. More of the same followed, May & Baker grinding
their way forward, Millwall running their way forward. No more scores
were posted before halftime.
The second half kicked off and the two teams exchanged kicks to take
the score to 11-8. Both teams combativeness was good to behold, which
reminds
me of Phil Moule’s first half tackle, you know the one I mean. No
quarter was given or asked. Millwall’s strength lay in their running.
May & Baker didn’t have enough men able to keep up and two or
three phases later Rupert sidestepped his way over having resumed his
partnership with Tim Parham in the centres. Er. Paul was successful. 18-8.
May and Baker trundled back upfield and more solid Millwall tackling consistently
set them back on their heels. Flex partially redeemed himself, according
to the crowd, by dumping their No. 8, or so I’m told. As it turned
out, Millwall were merely delaying the May and Baker pack as they kept
charging up field and eventually OOTBLWOFCR. It was converted. 18-15.
Millwall responded immediately with a penalty almost from the kick-off.
Paul tucked it away. 21-15. May and Baker then came back strongly. They
pulled another try back when OOTBLWOFCR which was converted. 21-22.
Millwall were behind. A funny kick-off was attempted, (remember the 1991
World Cup Final) and to coin a phrase, it all went horribly wrong. The
ball must have been hacked forward by a May & Baker back but Neil
Meldrum appeared to have it covered. The ball then chose to stop about
two yards from our line. I’m still not sure what I would’ve
done but the end result was a five metre attacking scrum. Sean McCann
got a timely unnoticed boot in but it just wasn’t enough as OOTBLWOFCR.
Again it was successfully converted. 21-29. There are two ways of reacting
whenever you find yourself two scores down and only ten minutes left.
One way is honourable, the other isn’t. Millwall reacted honourably.
Adopting all out attack, Millwall stopped kicking the ball. Finally heeding
Gareth’s increasingly strident demands. Back they went and immediately
got three points back through Paul O’Dowd. 24-29. The crowd were
on their feet. Millwall pressed continuously for the remainder of the
match and Terry Barthram came damn close to scoring again but the ref
decided that he wasn’t having any of that and called Terry’s
charge back for a forward pass. The crowd thought he had. He’s still
probably having nightmares. And then the ref. blew up for full-time. It
was a tribute to May & Baker’s defence, hewn out of competing
in higher leagues, that they had kept us out.I’d like to express
my admiration at this point for the performance of the tight five. They
were big buggers and, until there’s a breakthrough in classical
Newtonian physics or you’re armed with a 35 pounder, it is physically
impossible to stop any BLGOFCR. Aye and there’s the rub. We will
meet teams who will put 4 or 5 tries past us without defending badly,
as on Saturday. The trick is to score more ourselves. If we want to win
that is. On occasions like this it is essential that you take every chance
that presents itself and, with the league positions not leaving much room
for mistakes, we can thank E.C.C for providing us with an extra week’s
friendly with which to practice before next year’s league resumption.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day and at least the skipper’s
instructions concerning the orange whips were strictly adhered to.
N.B. During a long and, occasionally, illustrious rugby playing career,
yours truly has never managed to be on the winning team, whilst playing
with demonstrably better XV’s, against two sides. Those with long
memories may remember that Gravesend Gannets are one. The other, which
I perhaps should have told the selectors about on Thursday, is May and
Baker. The bastards. <top>
MILLWALL
ALBION V CANVEY ISLAND
1. T. Smith
2 G.Batley
3.J. Rockman
4. C. Underwood
5. B. Lancaster
6. N. Meldrum
7.T.Pubafll
8 R. Moreton
9. G. Robinson
10. P.Antenbring
11.W. Preen
12. M. Cooper
13. P. O'Dowd
14. Phil Moule
15 N.May
Sometimes, when the fog lifts, majestic countryside rears up revealing it’s
olling hills and meandering rivers. This time it wasn’t the countryside
that was majestic. Millwall ~pack finally showed the value of training, putting
together a performance that, I’m sure, must have astonished Gary. The
line out was performed with all the nonchalance usually only found in a training
session with no opposition and was thus dominated from start to finish. The
set-piece scrums were won comfortably with one or two against the head. it
was almost unbelievable. Canvey island are In London NE 3, and this is their
second team. Millwall’s pack suddenly appeared capable of disciplined
forward play. Unsurprisingly, they laid the foundation for an (eventually)
convincing victory. This performance gave the new-look three~ quarter line
time to bed In. The return of Martin Cooper, coupled with both Phil Antenbring
and Paul O’Do4wd having to feel their way In new positions, was the root
cause of the only criticism l can find ft In my heart to make. This was the
alignment of the backs at second phase. Far too many times a glance at the
wide open spaces revealed a surplus of Canvey players. But thats enough of
that The first try was straight of the training pitch. Gary broke blind from
a scrum drawing Canvey’s winger before sending Phil Moule on his way.
Phil Motile Casually drew the fullback before returning the compliment and
Gary cantered over for the try.
Canvey’s equalising (and only) score followed soon after. It was the
result of a cock up In Millwall’s backs and the mistake was capitalised
on in the most fruitful way. it was the only time that the travelling support
were rendered speechless, not counting refereeing decisions it didn’t
matter. There were no more scores in the first half. A half that had seen the
Imposition of a pattern that continued throughout the game. Canvey punted upfield
and Millwall worked it back upfield etc etc etc. It swayed to or fro for a
bit with Millwall creating the best chances. One run by Phil Moule appeared
to mesmorise Canvey’s defence but at the last possible moment someone
woke up ( unless it was Phil falling asleep) and forced the ball to be dropped.
Warren came up against a defence that was far from mesmorised. Twice. It *as
torn who accused the referee of being one brick short of a wall this was just
after Flex was proclaimed a faggot and just before Phil Antenbring shafted
the Canvey defence with a storming run that set up Rupert ( with the help of
Neil) for Millwall’s second try. Remind me never to trust anyone with
a Dictaphone again. This was converted putting Millwall 12-5 up.
It was still
close enough for Nick to ask Paul to take three points from a subsequent
penalty. Paul O’Dowd then crowned his performance In the centre with a quite beautiful
try. The Canvey backs had been put under pressure by the Millwall backs and
one of them eventually fumbled. Paul swooped. He broke the first tackle, avoided
the next with a lovely dummy and then just sprinted away from the rest of the
Canvey team. Great stuff. it was scored at just the tight time and the match
was by now won. Canvey responded by playing some good rugby. Well, fourteen
of them did. Fifteen if you Include the ref. The end of the match bore testament
to Canvey’s dislike of losing. Lose they did though. when the Millwall
support, in football parlance, ‘took their end. In the words of one supporter,
TMBring on Swaffham”. <top>
MILLWALL ALB1ON 57 v EAST
LONDON 0
1. B. O’Hare
2. G. Bailey
3. P. Howard
4. T. Barthram
5. B. Lancaster
6. N. Meldrum
7.T. Barthram
8. C. Morris
9. G. Robinson
10. C. Rea
11. R. Jenkins / A. Bérro*
12. M. Cooper
13. P. O’Dowd
14. L McCabe / J. Wade
15.N. May
Flex had bought his brolly. That meant it was going to rain. The more
lugubrious amongst Millwall wondered whether it would rain first teamers
again. No is the answer to that one. Millwall put their thirds to the
sword. A revenge of sorts was granted after the pre-christmas debacle.
It had threatened to drizzle all day and although the occasional drop
was felt. It didn’t really start until the second half was under
way. Just like Millwall, in fact.
Immediately from the off it was clear that Millwall’s strength would
see the oppo off. What wasn’t clear was whether Millwall would actually
score anything. The dominance of the pack was beginning to instill (in
those who’d seen the first season problems) confidence. Millwall
absolutely caned them in the scrum. There didn’t appear to be that
many line-outs so judgment is reserved. The first scoreless twenty minutes
or so were remarkable for set-piece teamwork and apparent individual crap
everywhere else. Someone created space and ballsed up a pass or the intended
recipient was too busy making daisy chains to score tries given to them
on a plate. Time and time again MillwaIl should have scored and didn’t.
However they managed to put a stop to such profligacy as soon as it seemed
that East London felt that they might have a sniff. Gaty want over first
following a scrum, during which Pete’s and Banle’s cries of
‘its Christmas’, could be heard on the first team pitch. The
ball squirted out their side and Tim, managing not to give away a penalty,
swooped and fed Gary who broke a tackle and then dotted down despite being
held up off the ground. Paul converts. 7-0. The next try was recorded
by Tim failing to fall on the ball to stop a simple pushover score. We
were awarded a penalty from which we infringed and they get the put-in.
Millwall, again took it against the head and drove them back. One quick
feed later and Chris Rea completes the job. Paul converts. 14-0.
The third try began with a big kick from Chris R. which their full back
fumbles over his own line. We get the put-in and a pushover try for Chris
Miller is the result. Paul converts. 21-0.
Half time intervened.
But not for long.
Immediately following the kick-off we win our own ball from a scrum and
its spun wide. It reaches Paul and then it stops. A lovely side step and
he strolls over to score. Paul converts. 28-0.
It was here that East London brought on their secret weapon in the centre.
Coop’s Is sent over by Tim taking advantage of a big hole in East
London’s midfield. Controversially Paul misses. 33-0
A Friday evening 11-30 p.m. prediction was realised when Gary grabbed
his second. Starting from a scrum again. Gary picked up and fed Nick who
scythed his way through the East London midfield, such as it was, committed
the East London full back and then presented Gary with a gimme. Paul converts.
40-0.
It was about now that the symbolic 50 pointer began to be hoped for by
the crowd. Rhys, by this point in the forwards, grabbed the next one after
greed reared it’s ugly head in Gary’s attempt for his hit-trlck.
He was held up and Rhys heroically took the ball on and over. Paul misses.
45-0. The next try was a fine individual effort from Chris R. Taking it
on from the half way line, he ran over EL’s midfield defence and
canters in for his second try and drop-kicks his own. 52-0. Larry McCabe
then performed a trick that could quite easily be illegal. Millwall Albion
are proud to present the first man to be tactically substituted, to then
become a substitute for an injured man and to score a try. All in the
space of about ten minutes. Jim Wade broke the EL’s midfield defence,
who’d wisely given up any hope of a successful tackle, and fed Larry
who went over. Quite why Gary was given the kicking honours, nobody knows,
but he missed. 57-0.
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MILLWALL ALB1ON 31 V 61 CANVEY
II (mmmmmmmmmm)
1. A Smith
2. G. Batley
3. J. Rockman
4. T. Barthram
5. 3* LUCaSt~I
6. N. Meldrum
7. S. McCann
8. C. Underwood
9 L McCabe
10. P. Antenbrlng/ Key
11. A. Barrow
12. R. Jenkins
13. P. O’Dowd
14. W. Preen
15. N. May
A sparkling performance from a below strength side. By no means does the
opening sentence confer any disrespect. But with some of our best players
missing, this performance against the talents of a team five or so divisions
higher, deserves a mention in dispatches. Which is what this is.
The beauty of this game was the gloss put on the result by Millwall’s
31 points. When up against teams of this calibre, Millwall had tended
to leak plenty and not register many scores themselves. The matches against
the Kiwis and Old Cooperians being two recent examples. Admittedly, going
28 points down is not the best of starts. Whilst the debilitating cries
of ‘where were the forwards ?‘ or ‘where were the backs?’
echoed to and fro behind the tryline, who amongst us thought we’d
score 31. (lncidentally, if I hear that kind of whinging again I’ll
scweam and scweam until I fall off my barstooL) It appears, according
to my notebook, that Chris scored the first try after contributions from
Phil and Nick. It should be pointed out here that all particulars are
courtesy of D. Clark.
Paul’s conversion drew us closer. Soon after
Phil added another, hacking through and getting the nod from the ref.
by a short head. Paul repeated the dose and we were halfway there. Canvey’s
first team, whoops, second team were shaking In their boots. Nick then
scooped over an unforgivably flash drop goal bringing the score to 28-l7
and the rubber was back on offer. Canvey remembered why they were here
and stepped in with two more goals before half-time which was reached
with the score 42-17 against.
Apparently Paul got the next following another hack through. it’s
not often that we score using such haphazard tactics, but if you have
to, please don’t forget them. He converted himself. Natch. Canvey’s
next try deserves special mention. Even If It was scored by their scrum
half, the lead up play contained some breathtaking Inter-passing from
thelr front row which was a joy to behold. They subsequently got a little
selfish and scored a couple more before Gareth plunged over to score Millwall’s
last
Ah well, at least this match serves as a useful reminder to where we’re
playing this week. Dagenham’s the opposition and the eagerly awaited
return of Perry Munton. Remember lads, they don’t like it up ’em.
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MILLWALL ALBION. V DAGENHAM
1. T. Smith
2. G. BatIey / B. O’Hare
3. J. Rockman
4. C. Underwood / T. Barthram
5. B. Lancaster
6. C. Miller
7. T. Parham
8. R. Moreton
9. G. Robinson
10. Nick May
11. J. Wade
12. M. Cooper
13. P. O’Dowd
14. L. McCabe
15. R. Jenkins
“if you can meet with triumph and disaster, ‘I and treat the
two impostors just the same...
Yeah, right. CHAMPIONS!
They’d come from as far as Gloucester and Birmingham to see the
match. The sidelines heaved. Either Bill’s poster campaign was an
extraordinary success or the sun had come out. Whatever, Millwall’s
biggest ever crowd witnessed the final act of Millwall’s Eastern
Counties Division Five campaign. As any movie mogul worth his salt will
tell you, it doesn’t matter how good or bad it s, send them home
with a smile on their face and you’ll be doing alright. Millwall
did just that. We weren’t treated to a try fest a Ia Rayleigh and
Mistley. We had a typical East London rugby match. Hard, dour and not
a lot in it Dagenham, lust like Chigwell and May and Baker before them
brought a heavy pack. Millwall’s pack had their work cut out defending
the running at the fringe. Millwall’s back row, who had prompted
much of Millwall’s attacking options all season, were successfully
sucked in to the forward melees. If was also clear from the opening encounters
that Dagenham had inside information and that Tim Parham was going to
have his work cut out evading the close marking he was set to receive
from the opposition. Out wide was a lonely place. Dagenham’s tactics
suited them and, once again, when faced with a dominant (Dominant ??%
Ed) pack, MilIwall could not cut loose. It was obvious that Dagenham’s
shirts were the best early tactic. MilIwaIl had been champing at the bit
to get out of the starting block so they’d could land the early
blow and rock Dagenham back on their heels in order to bring home the
bacon only to see Dagenham take the wind out of their sails by finding
their kitbag’s lights were on but no-one was at home. Errrrrr. Nevertheless,
Millwall struck first with a Paul O’Dowd penalty. An unsurprising
voice murmured, ‘miss if you scouse git’ (answers on a postcard
please). The sub-plot provided by Perry Munton’s playing against
MillwaIl, coupled with the baffle of the haircuts he conducted with Coops
throughout, held the interest of some and, personally speaking, I’d
give it to Coops On points. Dagenham struck back with a penalty of their
own. The reliance oh kicks gives you an idea of the qualify of both defences.
Maybe they had started to think twice about how weak the Millwall pack
was and were struggling to gain any clear ball when it became lied up,
who knows. This was shaping up. Not much room for blow-dried hair here.
The tackling almost without exception was excellent as MiIlwall’s
forwards started to come into the game. Tim started to shake off his markers
and was starting to hurt the Dagenham defensive line with short darting
runs. Although Dagenham had the better of the scrummaging Jamie, Gareth
and Tony did well to keep the front row as tight as they did and Dagenham’s
advantage came to very little ball retention or clear open chances. The
line-out, however, was another matter. Rupert and an under the weather
Chris Underwood were truly dominant and Gareth had little trouble finding
one of the pair with every throw. The fineness of the Millwall Line was
a clear advantage and with the rest of the pack sucking onto the ball
we started to maul if up the pitch and make inroads to Dagenham territory.
K That didn’t stop the crowd getting edgy though. Coach apoplectically
r
watched. I’m sure I’ve heard coach say a good word or
two but I can’t remember when. Millwall were 4reciting their support
to a peformance that would put them on the edge of their seats, if they’d
had any. Millwall reached the half time point 6-3 up by way of another
successful Paul O'Dowd penalty. I have to tell you now, during my long
experience of running the line, I have rarely seen a kicker quite as good
as Paul. You can stick your flag up as soon as he boots it. It’s
that good. (Three Rousing Cheers for pout, Hip, Hip. Ed) The second half
was altogether more interesting, containing as it did two tries and a
tackle that would have had Bill MacLaren reminiscing about J.P.. Millwall’s
full back of the day has Two of those initials and at times you could
have been forgiven for thinking he’d swapped places With the great
man for a day. Rhys’ performance of full-back deserves special mention
because he played a blinder, so there. (My, my, another back singled out
for praise. Is there a pattern developing here? Ed) I would imagine that
if Dagenham were to allow a Millwall player to score a try against them,
they would rather, on the whole, prefer it not to be Larry McCabe. Sorry
folks, isn’t life a bitch. The flying Scotsman, as is his wont,
danced his way under the posts, giving Paul the extra points on a plate.
The thronging crowd heaved a collective sigh of relief. At last it looked
as if the Rolls Royce (Not including the forwards, of course, Ed) of Millwall
had finally clicked info gear. Were we now to see the smooth acceleration
into the distance. Hmmmm. The 2CV that was Dagenham was a little quicker
away from The lights. If I may digress for a moment ~and ask you to conjure
up a vision of the Dagenham front row tootling down a French county lane
wearing a beret or Two and discussing the finer points of haute cuisine.
Well, it trade me laugh. Leaving a hapless Millwall frantically wiping
the spray from their windscreen, they pulled an unconverted try back.
I should mention that there isn’t a great deal of action being reported.
This is because most of it was unbelievably turgid. (Except for the dazzling
pieces of play performed during this period by the Millwall forwards in
their own 22. Vision spring to mind of Rupert tackling an oncoming Dagenham
back to ground and coming up with the ball in hand and turning defence
into attack. Of Tony Smith spinning off the back of a maul sidestepping
one tackle drawing the next player towards him and popping the ball inside
from the tackle to Bill Lancaster in close support who in turn feeds Tim
Parham who makes another 20 yards and takes the ball to safely And who
could possibly forget Bill Lancaster(s kick for touch from well within
his own 22 that had the supporters from the Midlands reminiscing of Zinzan
Brooke.. Ed) The neutral onlooker would have lasted about 15 seconds although
they may have paused to wonder what on earth was the problem with that
guy screaming at the MillwaIl players behind the Touchline. Coach was
giving his team a piece of his mind, and a very forthright piece it was
too. It was 13-8now.
The memory is inexorably drawn back to a superlative MillwalI defensive
effort. The battle for Gardiners Close is the distant past for many and
for others it doesn’t exist dl all. Millwall defended a three point
lead for an entire half and the final whistle blew immediately after a
failed penalty kick by Basildon. Then, the ball dropped into the grateful
hands of d Millwall captain, and that catch was the last ‘play’
of the game. Nick May was Millwall’s captain on Saturday, he probably
still is but that’s not the point. Coach was screaming for the ref.
to blow the whistle and Dagenham, frankly, looked like they were going
to, at least, equalise. Nick May pulled off one of those tackles that
you should tell your grandkids about. Bundling the Dagenham man into touch
who a little earlier was debating whether to run under the posts or not.
The ref, all the way over from Germany, lifted his whistle to his mouth
and blew it. That was that, barring a 150-0 victory to Chigwell, Nick
May’s tackle (and an enormous team effort. Ed) had won the league
for Millwall. Wahey!
Editors Note You may have noticed that quite a bit of editing has gone
on this week In the match report This is because it was written originally
by a back and as we all know, Backs haven’t got a clue about how
hard it is to be a forward and what constitutes good and bad play for
a member of the pack. So in order to fully reflect the fact that it is
ALWAYS your forwards who decide whether you win the game or not, and it
is the backs who then decide by how many you win by. I have added my own
comments - Ed.
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