ADDICKS’ WAIT STILL GOES ON
Goalless draw at Valley is fair result
IAN Holloway was satisfied with the fiery but fair atmosphere on display as Millwall extended their unbeaten run against south London neighbours Charlton to eight matches.
George Tucudean, who became a father in the morning’s early hours, could have ended that 18-year run in stoppage time but was denied by Byron Webster’s clearance.
It cemented a third-straight stalemate between the rivals as the Addicks slip to ninth, while Millwall are just one point above the drop zone in 18th – although Holloway is remaining positive.
“It was a good game with two good teams,” he said. “I thought the players conducted themselves brilliantly, went for everything fairly and it was a very enjoyable game.
“It’s nice to see the referee let things go. There were a few tackles going in there but none of them were nasty and nobody made a meal of them.
“I would have been spitting feathers if we had lost but did any team do enough to win it? Probably not, but hopefully people will go home entertained and feeling they got their money’s worth.
“I wanted to win it at the end – away from home, going 4-3-3, what more do you want?
“I want to be here a long time and produce my own stuff. I want to produce a footballing team and you could see that in this game.
“From my point of view it’s going to be a brilliant season in the Championship and I can’t tell who is going to be going up, going down or in the play-offs.”
The first half lacked any real derby intensity or energy with very few chances in what became a midfield stalemate.
Igor Vetokele had the first real chance but the Belgian could only glance the ball comfortably past David Forde’s goal.
The visitors created a headed chance of their own soon after but Ed Upson’s effort was straight at Nick Pope.
After the break, substitute Callum Harriott, who came on after Yoni Buyens limped off with a hamstring problem, began to cause Millwall problems.
Johann Gudmundsson’s strike from outside the box forced a good save from Forde after catching a nasty deflection.
A combination of the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper and Shaun Williams then kept out Harriott’s volley as the hosts ramped up the pressure.
But Millwall had their moments too with Lee Gregory’s touch letting him down in front of goal on a couple of occasions.
The game became stretched as it reached its conclusion and Lee Martin broke to set up Jermaine Easter, whose fierce low shot was kept out by Pope.
Substitute Tucudean looked like winning it in added time when he raced through and dinked the ball over Forde, but Webster got back to ensure a share of the spoils.
Webster’s goalline clearance also ensured Bob Peeters was left frustrated, the Charlton boss admitting his troops felt the pressure to end 18 years of hurt.
“I think you could tell, even with the supporters, that the stress had been building up for a matter of weeks, especially with the international break,” he said.
“You could see it in the players from both sides, they were under a lot of pressure and they know how long it has been since they’ve beaten Millwall.
“We threw Tucudean on because you know he’s going to get a chance, and with the birth of his son this morning I thought he would be in a good moment.
“I called him around 10.30am and he told me told me he wanted to play and was fit because he slept through the night.
“You knew it was going to be decided by one goal, it was such a tight game but we had the chance in the last second of the game and we didn’t punish them.”