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| Home | 1987/88 | Previous | Next |
| Littlewoods Cup 2nd Leg: Orient Home |
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| Lions Through |
By Terry Bushell GEORGE Lawrence's delightful 74th minute goal on Tuesday was a jewel. Millwall’s summer signing from Southampton went on a surging run and cut in from the left before placing the ball into the far bottom corner. Lions manager John Docherty said: "He took it brilliantly. He had only one idea in mind when he received the ball." The goal put Millwall through in the Littlewood's Cup without the trouble of extra time. A tedious first half was notable only for another expensive signing, Tony Cascarino from Gillingham, withdrawing with hamstring trouble. The Fourth Division visitors playing at a slightly faster pace, than they were used to tired towards the end, and Lawrence could easily have gone on to a hat-trick with fierce shots. Substitute Jimmy Carter was himself replaced - by DanisSalman - after an ineffectual display. Les Briley fought tirelessly in midfield to try and find a way through Orients sweeper system. Millwall: Horne, Stevens, Sparham, Hurlock, Walker, Wood, Lawrence, Briley, Sheringham, Cascarino, ((Carter) (Salman)), Byrne. Leyton Orient: Wells, Howard, Sitton, Smalley, Day (Hull), Hayles, Ketteridge, Castle, Nugent Godfrey, Comfort. Sub: Sussex. Referee: J Martin (Alton, Hants). Att: 4,120. |
 Les Briley |
| By George! Lawrence Shatters Leyton |
| There were mixed fortunes for Millwall's expensive collection of new signings, as the Lions made heavy weather of this Littlewoods Cup tie. Tony Cascarino limped off with a hamstring injury, George Lawrence scored an absolute cracker and Steve Wood performed assorted heroics at the centre of Millwall's over-stretched defence. |
| There were mixed fortunes for Millwall's expensive collection of new signings, as the Lions made heavy weather of this Littlewoods Cup tie. Tony Cascarino limped off with a hamstring injury, George Lawrence scored an absolute cracker and Steve Wood performed assorted heroics at the centre of Millwall's over-stretched defence. |
Leyton Orient, who held on for a 1-1 draw during the first leg at Brisbane Road, were supposed to surrender tamely as Millwall continued their impressive start to the season. Unfortunately someone forgot to read Frank Clark’s men the script and only a string of sprawling saves by Millwall keeper Brian Horne, prevented them from pulling off a major shock. The Fourth Division club hustled and bustled Millwall out of their stride during a first half that was high on effort and commitment but low on skill and clear-cut chances. John Docherty's men did manage to carve out one when Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino combined to put Lawrence in the clear but his shot skewed across the face of the goal. Horne flung himself to left to deny Mark Smalley and then pulled off an equally impressive save from Kevin Hales as Orient showed that they were prepared to throw men forward in order to snatch a money spinning second round place. Millwall’s hopes of cracking the deadlock suffered a setback when Cascarino hobbled out of the action in the 38th minute after tweaking a hamstring. |
"Tony felt a slight twinge so he did the sensible thing and asked to come off," explained Docherty. The Millwall manager sent on Jimmy Carter and pushed Lawrence into Cascarino's central striking role, but a dreary hour had ticked by before the Lions finally began to get a grip on the game. Terry Hurlock, a forceful, commanding influence in midfield, took things into his own hands with one savage drive that Den old boy Peter Wells just managed to push into the side-netting. And just when it looked as though the tie was destined to go into extra time, Lawrence advanced menacingly down the left, cut inside and swept Millwall into the next round with a precise effort from the edge of the penalty area. There was still time for Docherty to create an unusual statistic by subbing the sub with Danis Salman replacing Carter, and Lawrence should have given the score a more convincing look, but his far-post volley flew over the top. |
"I thought George took his goal quite brilliantly" said Docherty afterwards. "He knew exactly what he wanted to do and from the moment he cut inside it looked like a goal." "Orient made it difficult for us, but once we scored they were forced to drop their sweeper system and in the end we could have had two or three." RATINGS: Horne *****, Stevens ***, Sparham ***, Hurlock ****, Walker ***, Wood *****, Lawrence ****, Briley ***, Sheringham **, Cascarino **, Byrne **, Subs: Carter ** (for Cascarino 38), Salman (for Carter 80) Booking: Stevens. Match rating 2. |
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| • George Lawrence - a piece of clinical finishing |
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| Lawrence revives Millwall |
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| Eyes right: Orient's Kevin Godfrey (left) and Millwall's Sean Sparham, tussle for the ball in last nights Littlewood's cup match. |
| extravagance is anybody's guess, but this unprecedented investment led Arsenal's manager, George Graham to risk a modest wager on his old club achieving promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. Graham has reputation as the canniest of Scots, but on this evidence the bookies will collect yet again. Millwall lacking in cohesion had their problems exacerbate in the 38th minute when Tony Cascarino, - their £225,000 buy from Gillingham, withdrew with hamstring trouble. Jimmy Carter, acquired from Queen’s Park Rangers for peanuts and with only one League goal to his credit, was an enthusiastic but ineffective. A resounding long-range shot by Steve Ketteridge, which demanded a leaping save from Brian Horne reflected Orient's growing confidence. Eventually after replacing Carter with their second substitute Danis Salman, Millwall stirred themselves, Terry Hurlock and Steve Wood were both close to supplying the goal they required before Lawrence settled the issue with a high class strike. |
| By Joe Lovejoy Millwall..............................1 Leyton Orient.....................0 (Millwall win 2-1 on agg) Why so many EastEnders foresook Albert Square for this, Dot only knows, but eventually, after 74 tedious minutes, 4,000 die hards at the Den were rewarded for their patience with a delightful goal from George Lawrence. Millwall's £160,000 acquisition from Southampton sprinted half the length of the pitch and cut in from the left before driving his new team into the second round of the Littlewood's Cup. The first leg, drawn 1-1 at Brisbane Road, left Millwall favourites to complete the job, but ensured their opponents traveled in a optimistic mood. An unremarkable, goalless first half reinforced Orient’s optimism, the Second Division team only troubling Peter Wells only once, when Teddy Sheringham hacked the keeper's legs with reckless challenge. Millwall spent around £600,000 - a Krays ransom – on new players during the summer. What Harry Cripps or Benny Fenton make of such |
| Postscript: The above report attracted a compliant by a Millwall fan and received the following reply: Thanks to the reader who pointed out that Millwall should not be classed as an East End club, as was suggested in our report of their midweek match against Leyton Orient. As everyone knows they are, of course, part of the fabric of Sarf Lunnunn. However it is our duty to warn staff at BBC Grandstand that the same reader is unhappy about Desmond Lynam’s assertion that the GM Vauxhall club Fisher Athletic (from Bermondsey) also play within the sounds of Bow bells. The reader intends to make his point in person. His name is Harry the Dog. |
| Lawrence Strike |
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Derby delight for Millwall's new striking hero Millwall manager John Docherty singled out George Lawrence for special praise after his second goal in successive matchestook the Lions through, last night, to the next round of the Littlewood's Cup. Millwall won 2-1 on aggregate against Leyton Orient and Docherty said: "Lawrence took his goal brilliantly but Leyton Orient made it difficult for us. We were never threatened but we had to break down their defensive scheme and calm down to do it. They made us fight hard." Docherty's elation was tempered by a hamstring injury to £225,000 signing Tony Cascarino after 39 minutes. Docherty said: "It's too early to tell yet if it's going to keep him out of Saturday’s game. Leyton Orient manager Frank Clark said: The longer the game went on, the more I fancied our chances. Our defence showed a lot of commitment and perhaps we had one or two players who didn't quite believe we could win." |
| • Lawrence...Match Winner |
| Lions face QPR in Cup |
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by Steve Stammers FIRST DIVISION leaders Queens Park Rangers were today paired with Millwall in an intriguing Littlewoods Cup second round tie. Rangers have emerged as London's shock team after the opening week with wins over West Ham and Arsenal and a draw with Derby. But they can expect a fierce battle if they are to overcome a revived Millwall side, whose manager John Docherty was delighted with both the opposition and with staging the decisive second leg at The Den. "I am sure we will have a full house for that one", said Docherty, whose own side are unbeaten after their first four matches. "I prefer to play away because-of Rangers artificial pitch. It's better to know what you have to do against them on a normal surface. "It's a hell of a draw and I am sure we can give them good Cup tie. Financially it should be good with good gates for both legs." |
| Lions delight |
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MILLWALL travel to the Loftus Road plastic pitch when they take on QPR in the second round of the Littlewoods Cup. But that doesn't worry manager John Docherty. "Playing on a plastic pitch doesn't really concern me," he said. "I'm pleased with the draw because it provides an attractive fixture for our fans." The Lions may be happy, but there was little excitement for the other south London sides from yesterday's draw. |
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Crystal Palace play Fourth Division Newport County, Charlton take on Walsall, the third Division outfit who knocked them out of the FA Cup last season, and Wimbledon are paired with Fourth Division Rochdale. The games are over two legs. For the first leg, in the week beginning September 21st, Charlton and Palace are at home. Wimbledon and Millwall will host the second leg games in the week beginning October 1st. |
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