Four days after the depressing defeat at home to West Ham, we assemble again at St Mary's to take on top of the table MIllwall, who've played two, won two and only just missed out on automatic promotion last season. A big challenge and one that feels it could shape our season going forward. Lose and we're still on -1 point (we began the season on -4 points as a result of last season's spying shennanigans) and playing catch up while being bottom of the league, draw we're back to parity, win and we've two points and the climb up the table can start properly.
The team for this top vs bottom clash has a couple of suprises, the biggest of which is that our new left sided centre back Keven Schlotterbeck (signed from AS Augberg in the German Bundesliga) starts in preference to Jack Stephens. This is widely acknowledged as "a good thing' as Stephens has been poor so far this season (apart from the fake cramp against Stoke). The other possible change was a start for returning hero James Ward-Prowse, but he is only on the bench, which makes sense as he's probably only just finished chatting to the tea ladies and back room staff he knew so well in his previous time at the club after signing late this week. Still no Taylor Harwood-Bellis, so as Stephens is dropped, Flynn Downes is captain and immediatley loses the toss so Millwal can get in our heads and make us kick the wrong way in the first half. Normally we attack the Chapel End in the first half but today we're kicking towards the massed ranks of the Northam stand.
As the teams line up for kick off, the word that come to mind to descibe MIllwall is imposing. They have some big lads in their team, both centre backs are 6'4" and their centre forward is 6'3". If Tristan Crama had been playing he's also 6'5". Last season they played a back three the smallest of which was 6'4"!!
We kick off and immediately Millwall take control seeming first to every ball and we are much the more on the back foot and after 15 minutes of defending with the occasional foray into the Millwall half the inevitable happens. A cross from the right is cleared to the edge of Saints box where Mark Sykes eyes light up and his shot goes in the net via an unlucky deflection off of Schlotterbeck. 1-0 Millwall, this could be a long afternoon. I'm in a prediction thing with three of my friends and one of them predicted we'd lose 3-0 and right now he's looking like a genius!
The crowd do get behind the team and while we still have less of the ball there is some better play from the Saints and after 25 minutes a period of possesion in and around the box results in Flynn Downes being fouled in the middle of the Millwall half just left of centre. These sort of free kicks are treated like a corner & our bigger players go forward. Ryan Manning's trusty left foot swings the ball in and Cyle Larin times his run perfectly to head the ball into the right side of the goal, 1-1. Given the giants around him, a well taken header from a perfect cross. There's lots of staring at each other in the Millwall defence.
That goal alters the atmosphere in the ground too as the Saints fans truely find their voice and that impacts on the players who find an extra gear and start to play some nice football.
Referees this season have been asked to stop blowing for every little touch and nudge and towards the end of the half Schlotterbeck wins a challenge that could have been a free kick to Millwall and while they're complainging about it the ball goes forward to Larin, who is similarly pushed from the back by one of the Millwall centre backs but again no foul. The ball breaks to Leo Scienza and he does what he does best, takes the ball into the MIllwall penalty area, beats the full back for pace and crosses the ball from the bye line. Fin Azaz is stood at the far post for a simple tap in (one of those we all could have scored!) 2-1 Saints.
Now we have the tricky 8 minutes or so to half time! This is going fairly well until a long ball forward towards the man mountain centre forward results in two Saints players colliding with each other and the ball breaking to a Millwall player who finds his unmarked mate in our area and we all groan as we see what’s about to happen, except it doesn’t as the Millwall players shot hits the post and bounces away to safety. He buries his head in his shirt (as he should) and we all wonder how he missed.
Half time follows during which we are “entertained” by the club 18/30 penalty shoot out. This involves the penalty takers spinning around a broom handle 10 times and then taking a penalty with the expected hilarious results. The more they take the less chance they score. Eventually someone wins.
When the players emerge for the second half, Flynn Downes, who was one of the two involved in the collision in the first half, can’t continue so the prodigal son returns as James Ward-Prowse (JWP) takes his place. Cue the “James Ward-Prowse my Lord” song from the Northam stand.
I expected a full on Millwall assault at the start of the second half but it doesn’t really happen and again Saints are playing the better football. So much so that after 10 minutes of the second half, Finn Azaz picks up a loose ball advances on the Millwall box where James Cooper sticks out a long leg which catches Azaz and it’s a penalty, which Scienza takes and places firmly in the bottom left corner past the keepers dive. 3-1!!
Millwall start to look a bit ordinary but we know that they only need to get one back and it could all change (it has numerous times before!) but Cyle Larin has other ideas. On 62 minutes a loose ball is poked through to him with his back to goal. He flicks it over his head and swings his left leg which glides the ball into the left side of the goal and we all go nuts! 4-1, am I dreaming??
Both team ring the changes and Millwall know they’ve had a bad day as they become unrecognisable from the team that took the lead.
The cherry on the top is yet to come though. In 86 minutes a poor clearance falls to substitute Tom Fellows, who shoots straight at the keeper but he lets it squirm under him and it rolls slowly over the line before Mubama (another sub) can make absolutely sure. Now Fellows has never scored for Saints in just over a season and he’s so shocked he has to check with Mubama that it’s his goal. Once confirmed he then runs off doing the famous Ravanelli celebration with his shirt over his head, which is for his dad!
5 minutes of injury time passes with Peretz keeping out a consolation goal with his feet and the final score is a remarkable 5-1.
Suddenly we have 2 points and are above both West Ham and Burnley. Happy days.
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