Out-fought and out-thought by a well-organised Millwall side, City rescue a point with a late powerful Ben Burgess header.

It is games like this that sorts the men from the boys, the old heads from the newbies, the proper supporters from the glory seekers. All those people who say they are happy for City to finish 16th this season, but don't equate that with losing and drawing lots of games, are now being found out as wobbling inconsistents. This was a classic game in point. Millwall came to the KC and were better than City. Their tactics were better, their key players were better, their commitment to a collective cause was better (the latter being most impressive given that they fielded 3 loan players). This was a massively encouraging result for the Tigers, amid a massively sobering performance. Because we didn't do a great deal to deserve a point last night, far less than Millwall, but we sneaked one with a fine goal in the last ten minutes. So all you people who think that Taylor has "lost the plot" and "must stop tinkering" and all this other senseless guff, wake up. This is a tough division. Our squad is not yet Championship standard. We are surviving. Rejoice, don't complain.

If you thought Millwall were to be a push over, think again. In Barry Hayles they had just about the cleverest, quickest and most potent striker that City have faced this season - his inate ability to drift into space was remarkably impressive. In Don Hutchison they have a player of genuine Premiership quality, albeit one that is starting to fray around the edges a little. And they have a colective spirit that will see them through dark times this season, matched by a well organised if rather dull formation designed to quell the opposition and hit them on the break. They were the superior team last night.

With Lynch returning from his suspension, Dawson replacing the struggling Edge and Barmby returning for Fagan, we carded:

Myhill
Lynch Cort Delaney Dawson
Green Welsh Woodhouse Elliott
Barmby Brown

And the early signs were good. The talk on Radio Humberside was off a 4-3-1-2 formation with Barmby in the hole but that certainly wasn't the case at the start. City began in conventional formation and took the game to their opponents, Barmby drifting around either side of Brown and Green getting in from the right to support Brown when he could. Within 3 minutes this nearly found Elliott one-on-one with the keeper after neat passing and a deft through ball from Green, but the Ulsterman was fractionally offside. Then Barmby received the ball from Welsh after retreating from an apparently offside position, and Nick lifted a deft flick over the centre backs and only a foot or two ahead of Brown's intelligent surge into the box. On 9 Barmby was fed by Lynch and set off on a diagonal run before another dinked pass found Elliott deep in the Millwall box after cutting in from the left, but Stuey couldn't work the ball away from his right foot and the chance evaporated. Close but no cigars.

A promising ten minutes then, but things soon faded. Millwall visibly upped their game and started to clatter into tackles with strength bordering on foul play. The referee appeared happy to let most felonies go and Millwall grew in stature as they started to dominate possession from loose balls. They switched Hutchison from midfield playmaker to Barmby's shadow, a switch that did far more to quell City's threat than it did the Lions'. They also started to time-waste and slow the game down, robbing the Tigers of tempo and momentum. It was a series of tactical switches that killed the game as a spectacle, but saw the away side gain the upper hand as City struggled to know what to do. Elliott spent a period up front ahead of Barmby but Stuey's radar was well off target and his half consisted solely of a succession of mis-hit shots from speculative positions and profligate passes ceding possession to the Lions. He came off at half time, he had taken a knock but I suspect he'd have come off anyway even if fit. He stank, frankly.

Warning bells rang on 12 minutes when a mistimed Cort header culminated in the impressive Hayles charging goalwards but Dawson covered across well to tackle as the striker bore down on goal. From the resulting corner Asaba thumped an unchallenged header goalwards that Woodhouse, bereft of all hair after half a day or more in the barbers, nodded off the line. Later, in first half stoppage time, Hayles gained possession cheaply after Myhill and Cort failed to deal with a clearance but the striker's finish was woeful and wide. That was all Millwall had come for last night - wait for a mistake, punish it but shut up shop in the meantime.

Minor sights of goal arose for City. Brown hooked a weak shot goalwards after a Lynch cross, Barmby directed a booming Myhill clearance a yard over the bar with a twisting airborne volley. But between 20 minutes and 45 minutes City probed and passed but posed no threat to Millwall's goal at all. No goals at half time, the away side by far the happier.

With Burgess on for Elliott City sported a lofty forward pairing, a good thing in theory as Ben could do the aerial stuff and let the more skillful Brown show his skills on the deck. As it turned out though Burgess was the stronger player with ball at feet and on the head, and Brown faded out of the game quite rapidly. A period of pressure early in the half yielded the Tigers three quick corners but these were dealt with comfortably by the Millwall defence. And on the hour, a sucker punch. Millwall won a throw-in deep on City's left and Ifil was allowed to cross unimpeded to the back post, where the unmarked Dunne lurked. His first time shot was saved splendidly by Myhill, who again performed heroically for 90 minutes, but the parry rebounded to Asaba in the centre of goal, six yards out, also unmarked, open goal. Dozy defending, Millwall waited for the mistake and punished it, 0-1.

Time for action. Brown was withdrawn for Fagan and Lynch, who had struggled to cope with Livermore's power and persistence throughout, gave way to France. With Barmby now finally in a free attacking role we went with an adventurous 4-3-3. To be honest it didn't work, largely. Millwall had now retreated to a resolute two banks of four defensive posture and were repelling our advances with ease. They even nearly sneaked a second when a low corner was headed inches wide by stooping substitute May. Then out of nothing Dawson gets the ball on the left five yards inside Millwall's half and floats a high ball to the edge of the penalty area where Burgess lurked. Dawson's crossing had been pretty poor throughout the game so it was nice to see him pick out a man for once. It was even nicer when Burgess rose above his marker and from 18 yards out twisted his neck in owlish fashion and looped a powerful header over the Millwall keeper, who had strayed from his six yard box, and into the net for an equaliser. It was a splendid finish that capped a cautiously optimistic 45 minutes for Burgess, who looked a half decent player for the first time in a few games.

To Millwall's credit they came out of their shell a little rather than meekly settling for a point. Hayles received the ball on half way and despite the attention of four defenders he held the ball up superbly before finding Ifil on the right. His cross was deep and found Jermaine Wright at the far post unmarked (arghh, not again!). Wright lamped it goalwards but he didn't place his shot and Myhill sprawled to save excellently. In the dying seconds a Lawrence slip allowed Fagan a run at goal, but when the ball came to Dawson via Barmby the left foot shot was blocked by a last ditch defensive lunge. Resolute to the end, Millwall secured their point.

Overall then, a point gained from a performance that was technically sound (apart from occasional defensive howlers leaving players unmarked in the box) but failed to penetrate despite Taylor trying all he knew to change tactics and break the Lions down. Although unmentioned in the report above I would single out Woodhouse and Welsh for most praise, both worked tirelessly and skillfully in the teeth of a packed opposition midfield. Welsh in particular is starting to justify his Premiership status and million pound price tag. Green also played well, finding space and passing more intelligently and accurately than he has of late. There was a suspicion that the lank-haired Cumbrian was sipping a cocktail purchased at the Last Chance saloon last night and he rose to the challenge well - let's hope he can keep it up. Weak points? Elliott's overall play. Brown's second half disappearance. Dawson's crossing. Lynch's inability to hold off his man. Mainly though, the weakness was more general. As expected, we are amongst the less capable sides in a very tight division and it shows. We are good enough to win a few games, enough to keep us away from relegation. But we are not good enough to string 3-4 wins together and mount a play-off challenge. That is a reality that City supporters will have to deal with between now and the January transfer window, and probably for a while longer than that. For me, I'm just happy to be playing Millwall, Southampton, QPR, whoever. It's a vast improvement on the past, and for me at least, that's good enough for now.

HULL CITY (4-4-2): Myhill; Lynch, Cort, Delaney, Dawson; Green, Welsh, Woodhouse, Elliott; Brown, Barmby.  Subs: Burgess (for Elliott, 45), France (for Lynch, 64), Fagan (for Brown, 65), Joseph, Duke.

Goals: Burgess 81

Booked: None

Sent Off: None

MILLWALL: Marshall, Ifil, Lawrence, Williams, Vincent, Wright, Dunne, Hutchison, Livermore, Asaba, Hayles.  Subs: May (for Asaba, 69), Phillips (for Hayles, 89), Fangueiro, Simpson, Jones.

Goals: Asaba 61

Booked: Livermore

Sent Off: None

REFEREE: A Leake

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