Ref grabs headlines

By Jr
October 3 2004

Not the best refereeing display of all time at Millwall was witnessed, but we can tolerate it as we won! If anything he seemed biased against Millwall, yet after the game Kinnear was incensed! Work that one out!

Millwall 1 Nottingham Forest 0

After being unluckily knocked out of the UEFA Cup in midweek, Millwall bounced back in the league with a slightly fortuitous 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

A combination of profligate finishing and the brilliance of the Lions keeper Graham Stack foiled the visitors, who were upset to leave empty handed.

Forest boss Joe Kinnear was fuming after the match, as he believed that referee Beeby had made a mistake by awarding a free kick - from which David Livermore scored the only goal.

He said: “The referee played the advantage and nothing came of it, so why did he then blow up and bring the play back?

"I do not understand the rule. Why did he usher play on, only to take the play back subsequently and give a free-kick?"

The home fans were also displeased with the referee’s performance as he denied Millwall two “stick on” penalties and later harshly sent off Alan Dunne.

Despite Kinnear’s annoyance at the award of a crucial free kick, Dunne was in fact felled in the penalty area and many observers believed a spot kick was inevitable.

But the free kick proved to be an adequate award, as Livermore sublimely curled in a left footer much to everyone’s surprise, including his team-mates and manager - who admitted as much in the post match press conference.

The other Millwall penalty appeal came when Paul Ifill was tugged back in the box, but the dismissal of Dunne for two yellow card offences rankled more than that particular injustice.

Yet Kinnear was the manager with the most complaints: "It's the story of our season so far.

"We played Millwall off the park, gave them a footballing lesson, and we have nothing to show for it.

"You have to give credit to their keeper because he was outstanding; at times it seemed as though he was playing us on his own.

"But we were in the six-yard box on three occasions with just him to beat, and we missed each time, which we cannot afford to do."

Millwall player-manager Dennis Wise also admitted Stack‘s contribution was crucial.

Wise, who scored in midweek against Ferencvaros but missed the Forest match through suspension, said: "Without Stack, we would have lost the game.
"But sometimes you have games like that, and the good thing about it is that we managed to get the result.

"Graham Stack has been fantastic for us this year. He is only young, but he is a very bubbly in the dressing room and it is great for us to have him here."

Like Stack, Jo Tessem is also on loan at Millwall and nearly scored at both ends on his debut.

The Norway international has signed for a month, but is not keen to return to Southampton.

Wise said: “We would like to keep him here for much longer than a month.

"When he arrived the lads could not believe his touch and talent; he never gives the ball away."

After the international break, Millwall are back in action on Saturday 16th October (kick off 3pm) at seventh placed Sunderland.