Pardew disappointed after mauling

By Joe B
March 22 2004

A huge police operation ensured there was no trouble at Millwall, despite the determination of some of the West Ham contingent to get on the pitch.

Not content with making history once in a week, last Sunday, Millwall made it into the record books for a second time - romping home to a best ever victory over local rivals West Ham United.

The emphatic 4-1 scoreline could have been bettered had Neil Harris and Tim Cahill not been profligate from the spot, after two penalties were awarded to and missed by the Lions.

Just five days prior to this hotly contested London “derby”, the same pair were on target as Millwall reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1939, defeating Tranmere Rovers 2-1 at Prenton Park.

With a consequent trip to Old Trafford to face Sunderland beckoning on 4th April, and with the victors guaranteed a place in the UEFA Cup next season, perhaps the Lions would have been forgiven had their minds been elsewhere at the weekend.

But Millwall player-manager Dennis Wise was delighted with the team’s application. He said: “The lads were fantastic.

“We were very unlucky not score six or seven goals. It was a professional performance, but we’ve got to keep going.

“We’re doing alright, but at the end of the season we’ll know whether we’ve achieved something.”

By then, the Lions might have found the back of the net from the spot again, as three consecutive penalty misses makes grim reading.

Wise quipped: “We need to find a penalty taker. Maybe I’ll have to take them now.”

Harris seems likely to continue to take them though, as Wise said: “Neil’s a confident man, and missing a penalty didn’t affect his performance.”

Harris’ spot kick was reminiscent of Kevin Muscat’s miss against Tranmere, in that it was struck straight down the middle of the goal, whereas Cahill blazed his penalty high and wide - after Hammers keeper Stephen Bywater had received his marching orders for felling Harris in the box.

Wise said: “Tim’s disappointed he missed, as he’s never scored a hat-trick.”

At that point, Cahill had already scored two second half goals: one, a trademark header as he ghosted in to convert substitute Nick Chadwick’s cross and the other, a superb left foot volley from Paul Ifill’s deftly floated corner.

Ifill’s first dangerous cross had resulted in Hammers skipper Christian Dailly putting through his own net to give Millwall a deserved first half lead.

Sandwiched between Cahill’s goals, Marlon Harewood gave the visitors hope with a well-taken penalty following Matt Lawrence’s handball.

Those hopes were eventually extinguished by Chadwick, who - capitalising on a Tomas Repka mistake - hammered in a left foot volley to compound West Ham’s embarrassment.

Any thoughts of a Hammers comeback had already subsided following Bywater’s red card and emotions were certainly running high, as the away contingent attempted to spill on to the pitch by trampling over the anti-racist banners positioned in front of their end.

The extra police on duty dealt with the unsavoury incident efficiently and the match proceeded without interruption.

Wise was pleased with the commendable behaviour of the Millwall fans. He said: “Our fans were fantastic and full credit to them that they didn’t get sucked into it.”

His opposite number Alan Pardew also commented on the scenes at the West Ham end: “I can’t condone that behaviour, but the frustration was coming from the pitch. We were well beaten.”

After thrashing two fellow play-off contenders in quick succession, Millwall have to show they can grind out results against teams at the wrong end of the table, with a trip to Walsall on Saturday (kick off 3pm) following hot on the trail of the Lions’ first visit to Milton Keynes National Hockey Stadium to play Wimbledon.