Millwall 1 - Forest 0 (Back to Report Lists) Here we are then, our biggest game of the season and the arrival of promotion favourites Nottingham Forest, who used to be a very big club, many moons ago, but now, sadly, their particular moon has waned and they are just a big fish in a small pond that is the third tier of English professional football. Pah! If all they are going to rely on is their glorious history then they are bigger fools than I took them for. Even with a healthy following of some 1400 away fans, they always seem to me to be playing at being a big club. Would any other manager other than Cloughie ever have got them two European cups etc etc? I seriously doubt it. And this current group of prima donnas would have ole big ‘ead spinning in his grave. We, of course, had the perilous Pidgers in goal with a now familiar back four of Senda (absolute quality) Shaw (golden olden) Robbo (captain courageous) and Craig (ooh he does his best, bless him) but once again it was the midfield that had a slightly dilapidated look with the notoriously woeful Dunne, once again getting the nod ahead of Ardley and Hackett who both must be wondering if they have entered the twilight zone. Thankfully we had the now permanent fixture of Dave Brammer to oversee things and with a rejuvenated Elliott peddling his wares and the too good to be true Ryan Smith on the wing it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Bomber had Pubey as his partner because of Baby Boys injury but this didn’t deter Bomber from playing his normal game. In fact, because of who our opponents were, Bomber seemed to find another two gears and it was a joy to watch him torment his former employers. We went after the bigwigs from Nottingham, right from the off and they didn’t know what hit them. This was a Millwall side determined to show these erstwhile aristocrats from Sherwood what the real world of Division three was all about. Fast, flowing football, intricate passing, solid tackling and a ‘take no prisoner’ attitude that would have made a gung ho Major proud. We were simply too good for them. maybe they underestimated us, maybe they thought they were better than they are, who knows? But what was painfully obvious, yet again, was that we should’ve been the team playing for the automatic promotion place, not them. Once again I must sing the praises of Ryan Smith, an absolute jewel for this division, who teased and tormented the Forest left side from the start and he proved that his ‘cross come shot’ trick which hits the bar was no fluke (as against the dying Swans) by repeating the trick against the bemused Forest rear guard only this time we were not able to capitalise on the rebound. Forest, by the way, have a ‘keeper that flaps more than our dear old Pidgers. This bloke, Paul Smith, spent the afternoon frantically waving his arms at any thing that came into his area like a demented human windmill and the unfortunate thing is that Pidgers was not too far behind him in the queue for his arm-twirling badge. But Pidgers, thankfully, was not really called into action too often so we had little to worry about. Dave Brammer was majestic in midfield, dictating the pace, bringing players into the game; he really has been an astute signing. He nearly scored as well after picking up a loose ball he shot from distance only for flapper Smith to dive low and make a save. Pubey, bless him, was trying his best and he did have a couple of efforts that may have been enough to see him keep his place for the Doncaster match, but, to be brutally honest, I fear he has all the makings of Bob Peeters…. Ryan Smith, may his signature adorn a Millwall contract next season, was really running the show and with the tireless Bomber Harris eager to get on the end of anything, we really should have had some return for all our endeavours but the half time whistle called a halt to the proceedings and a buoyant Millwall side trotted off at 0-0 with the Forest players slowly trudging away, wondering what the hell had hit them and how come they were still in it… Lots of MISA reps in attendance with me & MrsB including Dalboy, Dartford (and a full compliment of Dartfordettes), Essex Exile (and son of), Lion SE9, MFCTom, CharlieMFC, Elmo Putney, Nez, Scott, Five Bells & his Missus, JW and Mick and better late than never, NickB. No text messages for this game but I did get a pre match call from Del & Lin (Dingledel and LindyLou), which is perfectly acceptable!! And so to the second half and the new, improved, seeking a contract elsewhere midfield dynamo, Marvin Elliott nearly got us off to a perfect start. His dogged determination in midfield won the ball and a perfect pass to Bomber saw the record breaking striker unselfishly gift a chance to Smith, who raced into the box but sadly, his shot flew wide of the mark. Almost immediately after this Elliott was once again in the thick of it as Bomber again turned provider with another slide rule pass to marvellous Marvin who hit a very sweet daisy cutter that crashed against the upright and away to safety for the over worked Forest defence. Something had to give and when it finally did, it was a perfect riposte from Bomber to the ungrateful bastard Forest fans who had abused him throughout the game Dunne picked up a loose bal near the Forest area and attempted to do his usual and put the ball out of play but this time the Great Dane was waiting on the wing and collected the wayward ball, turned towards the by line, gave a little shuffle and sent over an inch perfect cross to the waiting Harris who rose like the proverbial salmon and headed home. 1-0! Robin Hood, Maid Marion, Little John, Alan a dale, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlett.. your boys took one hell of a beating…the Forest faithful fell silent as Bomber wheeled away in obvious delight. About ten minutes after we had took the lead and after more sustained pressure, Forest finally had a shot at Pidgers who relied heavily on his post to sort things out and then left Tony Craig to mop up the loose ball. Oh Pidgers, what are we to do with you. If Cloughie was still around he would surely compare you to Tomaszewski the clown prince of keepers. Half the time you have to wonder what goalkeepers do on planet Pidgeley. No need to panic though, we were in the ascendancy and it wasn’t too long before order was restored and Millwall continued to pulverise the Forest team. Craig is linking up well with Smith and these two combined to give Dunne a relatively easy tap in that he managed to miss completely. Pubey was doing his best and a rasping left foot shot fell invitingly for the Forest ‘keeper to grab. Then Bomber sent over a decent cross that bamboozled Bennett who headed narrowly wide of his own goal. It would have been a corker if it had gone in. On around 80 minutes it was time for oor Wullie to tinker. He took off the always dangerous Smith, put Bomber on the left wing and sent on Marvin Williams, back from his loan spell at Torquay, to partner Pubey up front. Yes, I know it would have made more sense to take off Dunne but that boy has such a hold over oor Wullie that he will never sub him, let alone drop him. Anyway, little Marv made himself busy and nearly scored with a slightly muffed over head kick that Forest managed to clear without too much difficulty. Millwall’s continued pressure deserved much more than the paltry one goal lead and a more comprehensive victory you will not see for a 1-0. And so it remained at 1-0 as referee Penn called a halt to proceedings and the Mighty Lions had taken a well deserved three points from another so called promotion hopeful. We are on fire at the moment and don’t expect things to calm down at Doncaster. Can we still make the play offs...... Surely not??