Cup Finalists Beaten By Sharp Shooting CCFC

By CCFC Sid
April 12 2004

Julian Joachim strengthened his argument for a better new deal at Highfield Road with two goals and the winning of a penalty against Millwall, as the cup finalists (Good luck!) were hammered 4-0.

The match also saw Omandi Lowe finally make it onto the pitch, and he looks to be a useful acquisition - which is perhaps more than can be said for Sebastian Olszar! It might be slightly harsh to say, but his contribution was so minimal that it was like playing 90 minutes with 10 men (Again!). On his performances so far, he seems to be the new Christian Yulu....

Once again CCFC were quickly off the mark, going 2-0 up inside 11 minutes with goals from Joachim and Delomeaux (Both scored after quality crosses from Gudjonsson) - though judging by the way Davenport celebrated, I'm unsure whether he made up for McSheffrey stealing his goal versus Reading, putting the ball over the line when it was going in anyway, by stealing Eric's goal!

Millwall did have chances to pull a goal or two back, but seemed to have left their shooting boots back in the dressing room! Cahill missed a decent chance after Joachim's goal (Though fine work from the re-called Andrew Whing possibly made him rush his shot), as did Ward minutes after CCFC's second. Livermore missed another decent chance after 27 minutes, while Delomeaux went close again with a shot that tested Marshall in the Millwall goal.

Yet another week, yet another blatant penalty appeal ignored, as Barrett (Who had a fine effort saved minutes earlier) attempted to lob the ball over Dunne's head - which would have left him six yards out, past the last defender, with only Marshall to beat - with the defender slam-dunking the ball away from the CCFC wide-man. It couldn't have been more obvious if it had been labelled....

Dennis Wise made a triple substitution at half-time, taking off Ryan, Cahill and Harris, and bringing on Roberts, John Sutton (Brother of Celtic's Chris) and McCammon - but it made little difference to the match.

It took 11 minutes of the second half before Marshall even got to touch the ball, and his second touch a minute later saw him picking the ball out of the net! A long-ball from Warnock caused Ward to panic and his poor attempted pass was intercepted by Joachim, and despite the best efforts of Marshall in the Millwall goal, JJ made it 3-0 - though it did seem to take an age for the ball to properly fall kindly enough for JJ to score!

Soon after CCFC brought Lowe on for Gudjonsson, who had taking a bit of a battering all afternoon (Including being on the wrong end of a nasty two-footed challenge), minutes later Kerr replaced Staunton, and McSheffrey then replaced Barrett - and the Coventry kid's first few minutes on the pitch suggested he wasn't happy at being dropped to the bench (Winning two challenges he had no right to win, then almost having his shirt ripped from his back!).

This meant CCFC had four strikers on the pitch (The description of Olszar as a striker might be a tad excessive!), possibly in a bid to make sure that should any play-off place depend on "goals scored", CCFC would not be found wanting as far as this is concerned!

In the 71st minute Olszar (Who was still unbelievably on the pitch, having managed to avoid being one of the three players replaced) attempted an overhead kick in the Millwall area - though it's fair to say Ian Wallace's reputation as the best exponent of said art at Highfield Road isn't under threat!

A superb run from Joachim earned CCFC a penalty after 85 minutes, with the sometimes speed merchant pushing the ball past two Millwall defenders, and, despite giving them a good few yards start, racing past them before being hauled down by Lawrence.

Having grudgingly allowed Gudjonsson to take - and miss! - a penalty versus Preston, McSheffrey didn't bow to pressure from some sections of the crowd to allow Joachim to get his hat-trick, and justified the decision by blasting past Marshall in the Millwall goal.