Click here for full match stats
Millwall were finally consigned to Coca-Cola League One as Kenwyne Jones and Ricardo Fuller gave Southampton victory and Sheffield Wednesday won against Brighton. The visitors knew three points for the Owls would confirm their relegation but they could not claim a consolation point against George Burley's men on a miserable day for the club. The afternoon started in the worst possible fashion for Millwall. After just 13 minutes Jones was hauled down in the box by Matthew Lawrence and the referee pointed ominously to the spot. Jones dusted himself down before sending Colin Doyle the wrong way from the spot to open the scoring. Southampton came into the match on the back of three straight wins and confidence was high at St Mary's. Victories over Stoke, Brighton and Cardiff had put the south-coast outfit in confident mood after what has been a frustrating season. Millwall caretaker manager David Tuttle, meanwhile, had already publicly accepted his side's inevitable demotion after they slipped to the bottom of the Championship on Saturday despite a slight mathematical chance of safety. The move which led to the goal was the home side's first real attack and seemed to knock the confidence of a Lions side who had started the game positively. Berry Powell, Millwall's top scorer, looked lively but Southampton dealt well with him in the opening exchanges, catching him offside on a number of occasions. Both sides struggled to create clear chances with a series of fouls breaking up the play and slowing the pace of the game to a crawl. With half an hour gone the tempo jumped and Jones again broke, getting goal-side of Tony Craig before sending his shot high over the crossbar. A minute later David Livermore had Millwall's first real attempt on goal but his header was caught easily by Kevin Miller in the Saints' goal. Powell and Jones, the game's most eye-catching performers, both had chances to score before the half-time whistle but when it came just one goal separated the sides. The second half began in similar fashion with Powell again fighting a lone battle to bring the visitors back into the game. After 54 minutes he flashed a shot wide of the right-hand post from 20 yards but apart from that Southampton looked safe with Nathan Dyer starting to show some good touches in attack. Nine minutes later Fuller closed in on the second goal that would surely confirm Millwall's exit from the league but he failed to draw a save from Doyle following Dyer's precision pass. Southampton continued to press for a second with defender Claus Lundekvam seeing his header well blocked by Zak Whitbread after a teasing corner from Jim Brennan. With 10 minutes to play the visiting fans were bowed by the news that Sheffield Wednesday had gone 2-0 up to erase any hope of a great escape. Substitute Ben May hit the crossbar with a towering header in the closing stages as Millwall sought a draw but it was not to be. In injury time Fuller rolled the ball into an empty net after Millwall had committed everybody for a last-gasp corner and the Lions were relegated with a whimper instead of a roar of defiance. Teams Southampton: Miller, Baird, Lundekvam, Powell (Brennan 13),Bale, Dyer, Wright, Potter, Pahars (Rasiak 74),McGoldrick (Fuller 61), Jones. Subs Not Used: Smith, Kosowski. Booked: Fuller. Goals: Jones 13 pen, Fuller 90. Millwall: Doyle, Lawrence, Phillips (Paul Robinson 88),Whitbread, Craig, Dunne (May 59), Elliott, Livermore, Williams,Braniff, Powel. Subs Not Used: Marshall, Vincent, Cogan. Booked: Williams. Millwall are relegated Att: 22,043 Ref: K Woolmer (Northamptonshire).
 E-mail Article  Print-Friendly
 Subscribe to RSS Feed
 Post to del.icio.us
 Facebook
|
