Millwall 2 - Cheltenham 0 (Back to Report Lists) My old room mate at university, Cass Elliott, used to sing a little ditty that went something like “..and it’s getting better, growing stronger…” and so on and so forth and God rest her big fat soul she knew what she was on about because that is how it feels at Millwall these days. Money in the kitty (alright, I know it’s not real money for spending on new players and jumbotrons for the east stand to watch the replays, moreover a lump of money to stop the regeneration plan from falling on its collective arse), but nevertheless, money in the kitty, the team playing well, the fans drifting back, top half of the league…yes, it’s definitely getting better, growing stronger. One gripe though. Kids in the east upper with cheap tickets. What is that all about? Cheap tickets for kids should be for the family enclosure first and foremost then CBL lower after that. I know HPS was not amused either with this arrangement and rightly so. We pay a premium for our seats in the East Upper. They are the most expensive priced tickets you can buy and it doesn’t bode too well when our club off load tickets for a fiver in the same area. I had to chuckle though when HPS admonished about nine of the little fuckers who were sitting along the back row of the East Upper. “what the fuck are you lot doing here? Silence. “Where are your fucking tickets for?” even more silence and slightly worried looks. “Listen to me, if any of you lot start playing up and fucking about, or swear or upset me I’ll throw you through the back of the stand, OK?” silence of biblical proportions followed the sound of arseholes tightening. We never heard another peep out of them all game. And so to business, but first a quick apology for the late publishing of this report. I was kept away from my keyboard for a very good reason. I had the pleasure of popping down the M20 to see Neil (Nez) & Lauren’s new baby, Sophia. I am glad to report that she looks like her mum and not her dad!! What a relief!! So, Saturday at Cold Blow lane (figuratively speaking, of course) and we all came down to cheer on the resurgent Lions who took to the field with a swagger of confidence that told its own story. Pidgers, as usual, in goal, a now solid looking back four with the very impressive Danny Senda, Shaw, Robbo and the much improved Tony Craig creating a feeling of security that has been somewhat lacking for the most part of this season. The midfield is now becoming very competitive with the superb Dave Brammer ably assisted by Neil Ardley with Elliott and Brighton finishing things of nicely. Neil Harris and Baby Boy Byfield were the strike partners and as the rain ceased and a rainbow or two appeared over the ground, referee Penn got proceedings underway. There were, naturally, a few fears that another Orient could happen but those fears were soon dispatched to memory banks as Millwall took the game by the scruff of the neck, tightened the belt, pulled up the socks, licked the handkerchief and wiped the dirt of its nose and taught the upstarts from Cheltenham a thing or too about how to run a game of football. Baby Boy was all over them like a rash and was a constant threat. Brammer controlled things from the midfield and the defence were never in any real danger even though Pidgers did make an athletic save from a hopeful punt by Connelly early on. Unperturbed, Millwall pressed on, good passing and movement, controlled aggression, nice interplay and nearly an opening goal for Baby Boy as Brighton latched onto a delicious pass from Brammer and put the erstwhile boo boy in but this time his shot was brilliantly saved by the Cheltenham ‘keeper, Higgs. The resulting corner caused a bit of panic in the away teams defence but they managed to hoof the ball away to safety. Soon after, Elliott showed some good pace and strength as he burst through on the right wing, his low cross was inviting but again Baby Boy was unlucky to see his shot whiz past the wrong side of the upright. After about half an hour of constant pressure the Cheltenham defence finally caved in. Excellent play out on the left wing saw Brammer feed the ball to Craig who in turn found Tom Brighton in a bit of space. He raced towards the by line and sent over an Hackett-esque type cross that was met with a firm header from Baby Boy that sent the ball crashing into the net. 1-0! Our tails were up now and Harris almost doubled the tally about five minutes later after Baby Boy and Brighton combined well to create a decent opening for our record breaking striker, but this time his turn and shot saw the ball fly wide of the mark. More pressure ensued and Cheltenham had no answer to the rampaging lions. It was no real surprise when the second goal came. Once again the magnificent Brammer threaded a pass over the top of the over run Robins defence and Tom Brighton galloped onto the pass with relish. He made a beeline for the goal, was clearly fouled, but kept on his feet and rammed the ball home.2-0!! Fantastic stuff Just before the half time whistle blew, Brighton should have added to his and Millwall’s goals for column. He failed to convert a header from a very decent position after more selfless work from the on fire Byfield. Never mind. 2-0 and it really was very comfortable. Misa, Misa everywhere for this game. MrsB and me saw Del and Lin outside the ground (proud grand parents of the lovely Sophia) and we also saw CharlieMFC, inside we saw Orange, Nez, MFCTom, Dalboy, Essex Exile and son of, Elmo Putney, HPS and Vicki, Dartford and one Dartfodette, JW and Mick, LionSE9. Well done lads and lasses, a good turn out. And a special mention for Essex Exiles ‘new’ car that made an appearance via a photo on his mobile phone! Did it get you home Danny?????? Second half and really not much to report on to be perfectly blunt. We played very well, never looked liked fucking it up and Cheltenham never looked capable of making us fuck it up. Ardley had a go with a bit of a tame effort that ‘keeper Higgs made a meal of and Harris missed a header that had it gone in would have been a bit special after some lovely football from a Millwall side that just oozed confidence and self belief. With a quarter of an hour left, oor Wullie made a switch by bringing on Zebroski and Dunne (wot! No Hackett!!) for Brighton and Ardley but it was really just to give the aforementioned a rest, such was the dominance of the Lions. Danny Senda nearly capped a superb performance with a goal when he hit a thunderous shot across the boughs of the Robins shell shocked defence only to see the ball cannon off the out stretched fists of Higgs in the Robins goal. And that was pretty much it; Hackett came on for a brief cameo role with about three minutes left, plus stoppages, for the excellent Dave Brammer who really has been a revelation since signing for us back in January. The final whistle blew and I think the general consensus was that it was a very, very decent performance. A proper 2-0 result, no airs, no graces, no cock-ups, no worries. A dominant performance and exactly as you would expect it to be against a team at the wrong end of the division. Oh I forgot to mention the little bit of fun before we got to the ground. It seemed that the three coaches full of Cheltenham fans were being guided by TomTom’s. They came down Verney Road and got right to the junction of Ilderton Road before the drivers realised that the width restrictions wouldn’t quite be big enough to allow a coach through. Much head scratching by the old bill ensued and we left them to it.. So now we are a top half team. Are you surprised? Are you shocked? Did you believe it could happen? Well, dear reader, it has and despite me being old enough and silly enough to know better, I keep mentioning the P.O.’s to all and sundry. I realise that it will, of course, all end in tears but not tears of relegation, or, unfortunately, tears of joy. Just metaphorical tears when thinking about what could have been if oor Wullie was at the helm from day one. We nearly always do well with a sweaty for a manager, don’t we? Oh well, Carlisle at home coming up and lets see how many of those fuckers turn up. Not as many as we took up there, I bet!! “….and it’s getting better, growing stronger, warm and wilder, it’s getting better every day…” you tell ‘em mama Cass, you tell ‘em good. The Lions are on the prowl and we have got some teeth again.