Another day another ground. I love London away days - a chance to travel on the train and have some beers
The only real disappointment was that it was an early kick off so getting up in time for the 7:07 was a real chore
Having read the Millwall vitals all week we'd decided on a "no colours" policy to try to "mingle in" as best we could
On the train, while Matt tried to chat up a little cracker the rest of us discussed setting up a sweepstake on when Grabban would be substituted
No way was he going to be on the pitch come the final whistle
We even thought we might see a mismatch of linesmen with the one furthest from the tunnel being built like Usain Bolt....
We had our first sight of a Millwall fan around Southampton as a tattooed, toothless, Lions' shirt wearing guy caught up with the buffet cart
Money was on Special Brew or Stella so we were all surprised as he asked for a half bottle of rosé
Just goes to show - never judge a book by its cover
Breakfast was a lovely fry up in Kapital Kebabs in Waterloo surrounded by police
It was nice that they'd listened to my request for a personal escort
From there it was short tube ride to London Bridge to Heeltap bar
That's what I like about London, you're surrounded by people and noise and yet you can still find a tranquil beer garden in the sun
The final leg of the journey was the train to south Bermondsey and through the famed "cage" to the ground
Actually that was so much better than I thought it would be - it makes sense to make a route for away fans and we were there in no time
Feeling hungry by now I was very disappointed to see the queues for food - I thought the NS was bad but this was far worse so I gave it a miss and went straight to the seats
We had a great view on the upper tier right behind the goal and it was the first time I felt truly safe from AFCB's practise shots - except when Pitman had a go - his angles of elevation were defying the laws of physics....
The team news was announced and there was no Grabban
It's the first time I've ever hoped that an AFCB player WAS injured because if he was missing because he'd bottled it then we'd just be an embarrassment of a side and Millwall had already won this game
The whistle went as the Millwall fans started an oooooooooo chant
No words just noise
Sounds like it should be shit but as all 3 sides joined in the noise got louder and louder building to an impressive crescendo
True that apart from that and the usual no-one likes us song these were the only "songs" on offer but the volume and passion shown put these fans on the top of the list for home fan noise I'd experienced this season
Bournemouth had the first chance of the match as Smith (no, I've no idea why he played instead of the excellent Francis) tried a Beckham like shot from the half way line as their keeper had gone walkabout
Unfortunately the shot had the strength of Korma and barely made it to the box
Millwall had a big lump of a player up front (Maierhofer) so it wasn't hard to work out what their tactics were going to be
Knowing about them is one thing, countering them is quite another
He just would not be knocked off the ball and won just about every header
He wasn't alone with this kind of success as Millwall pressed hard and won more 2nd balls than I've seen at a game since the beginning of season
Our brand of tippy tappy football didn't help and we were constantly under pressure at the back
The game meant more to Millwall than us and it showed - very very disappointing
Despite the pressure it's fair to say both sides were scrappy on the ball and it was Fraser that finally managed to control the ball enough to cause some panic
Gathering the ball on the left he charged at goal on 12 minutes and after ghosting past 2 he was cynically brought down from behind
A yellow was his reward and after AFCB had lost the argument for it to be a penalty, up stepped Kermorgant to take the free kick
He curled it low into the bottom right corner and it was brilliantly tipped round the post
Millwall then came much more into the game as it became a little more tetchy
The AFCB players clearly didn't want tan lines from any possible plaster casts as challenges got weaker and weaker until the phrase "challenge" was overplaying our part in it
The deadlock was almost broken on 21 minutes as a long ball was flicked on (again) and this time their striker HAD anticipated it and was there to crash the ball onto the bar
Very lucky
Biggest AFCB cheer of the day was reserved for Ritchie as he scythed Malone down - and when I say now that this was the highlight you start to guess how the rest of the game went...
Rantie was on instead of Grabban and was using his pace well to pull their defence from pillar to post
On 27 minutes he showed he also has some touch as he swivelled away from his defender and smacked the ball at goal
The keeper was behind the ball but seemed to fumble it and just managed to steer it past the post
A trademark Howe low corner had Smith run onto it and hit his shot just wide of the post
A minute later and Millwall's excellent pressing paid dividends
Ritchie was pissing about at the back and was robbed on our right
They tore down the left and the cross was brilliantly flick-headed into the top right corner by Woolford as he ran to the near post
Millwall had the 1-0 lead and you know how well we do when we go behind....
Predictably the half then got more and more niggly with Smith getting the brunt of the pain
You could see the red mist rising and when he ran 20 yards just to kick someone in the air we all sighed as he was only yellowed
Half Time 1-0
For the second half Francis came on for Smith, presumably to save him being sent off and we saw the Francis effect almost immediately
On 47 minutes he tore down the right and crossed to Kermorgant. He headed the ball back and Surman followed up with a shot that was excellently blocked en route to goal
We hoped that this would be the catalyst to a sparkling second half but it was almost as if we thought - oh well, if that didn't work, nothing will
I've never known a side so dependent on confidence
When we score first we could get 4 - when we concede, we just seem to give up
Of all the games we lose I wonder how many of them we are bullied at because teams aren't going to let us play - and why should they?
We need to have a plan B that counters the "tougher" teams
For 15 minutes it was all Millwall with crosses into the box causing chaos and but for some woeful finishing and a fortuitous strike of the post, we could have been completely out of the game
In the past we've been this dominant and poor finishing has bitten us on the arse and it almost happened FOR us for a change
Cook launched a long throw in from the right and the ball was cleared back to him
He quickly fired the ball back into the box and MacDonald met the ball with a diving header which their keeper saved with great reactions
We built up a full 90 seconds of pressure but once we'd buggered up yet another short corner (I hate them with a passion) the pressure was off and it was back to defending
Elphick stretched that term to its limits by performing a howler of a back pass on 66 minutes, sending Jackson through on goal
Luckily for us he's obviously trained with Grabban and he failed to even hit the target
Malone then had a long range shot tipped over on 70 minutes and when you added up all the chances we could have been about 7-2 down by now
Surman had chances to make that 7-4 when he first forgot to make the keeper work when through one on one on 76 minutes then, 4 minutes later, forced a near post save after being put through by Pitman
I'm saying right now, though, that if bringing Pitman on is the solution, we are asking the wrong questions
Fair enough he'd come on for Fraser who was hands down the worst player on the pitch today so you'd hope for some improvement
That pass apart, though, we might as well have gone down to 10 men
After Millwall had missed yet another one on one Rantie had the chance to go from zero to hero with 5 minutes to go
Another brilliant turn and close control in the box had him in front of goal and he drilled the ball - straight at the keeper
I'm starting to feel sorry for the guy - you can smell the desperation and now he bloody reeks
He needs something to go in off his arse or back just to relieve the pressure and the longer he goes without scoring, the harder it will be
In injury time we had the opportunity to laugh at Pitman's attempted 40 yard lob as it almost bounced off the subs' bench and thankfully it was all over
Full Time 1-0
Match Summary - terrible performance. Players looked like they were already sipping cocktails on a white sandy beach
One team had something riding on it, the other didn't and it showed
It was Yeovil and Sheffield Wednesday all over again with players failing to step up
We were far too slow getting forward with crab like sideways passes hurting no-one
In defence we dwelled on the ball and that's what cost us
Often you don't get what you deserve - today we did
Season Summary - Overall, this has been amazing - easily outperforming all expectations
We've seen the full range of performances from Watford away (lows) to Leeds at home (highs)
Since Kermorgant arrived we've looked a different side and there's an argument that says if we can add to the squad, who knows what we can achieve over a full season
The nagging fear, though, is with the calibre of teams coming up from 1 and down from the premiership, next season will be a lot tougher
That's before we look at the 2nd season syndrome where teams have had time to study what you do
For me it will take Max digging deep for a striker, midfielder(s) and another defender to take it to the next level
Star Player - Rantie - the only one who looked like he wanted to be on the pitch and close to breaking his dry (Sahara-like) spell
Bravest man alive
Matt scores
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