GREGORY’S GOALS HALT SADDLERS
NEIL Harris couldn’t have been happier after Millwall struck three times in the second half to hold on to their place in the play-off spots.
Two goals from Lee Gregory sandwiched a fine strike from debutant right-back Mahlon Romeo as the Lions picked up their fourth away win on the bounce.
They had to withstand sustained pressure from the Saddlers, who remain second, but Harris was still left beaming.
He said: “We knew we’d have to be disciplined, to be organised and withstand a lot of pressure and possession from a good side.
“But we also saw enough in the first half in spells to know that when we had the football in open play in wide areas or on the counter attack that we’d create opportunities.”
The first half ended goalless, but not for want of trying from either side. Ed Upson came close to putting the visitors ahead inside two minutes when he attempted to lob Liam Roberts from 25 yards. Roberts was making his debut after injuries to Neil Etheridge and usual understudy Craig MacGillivray, but clawed the ball away from the top corner to spare himself early embarrassment.
Walsall enjoyed the better of the game, but needed three fine stops in two minutes from Roberts as the half wore on, with the 21-year-old first denying Romeo from close-range, then charging down Gregory’s oneon-one finish before blocking Upson’s follow-up.
Anthony Forde had rattled the crossbar for the hosts in the dying moments of the first half, but the visitors began to threaten on the break after the restart.
And they took the lead shortly after the hour when Gregory turned home Jed Wallace’s low delivery.
Romaine Sawyers could have levelled for the Saddlers when he took down Jason Demetriou’s cross in the box, but saw his effort saved by Jordan Archer.
And Sean O’Driscoll’s men would rue that missed opportunity 20 minutes from time when Romeo drove into the box to fire across Roberts into the far corner.
Walsall substitute Jordan Cook was unlucky to be dispossessed after a dogged dribble into the box moments later, but any prospect of a late fightback was soon put to bed.
Gregory continued to present a threat in behind the home defence, and ran onto Shaun Williams’ through ball 13 minutes from time to slot past Roberts for his 11th league goal of the season.
“Lee showed his quality in and around the penalty area, for sure,” Harris enthused. But the Millwall boss reserved special praise for Romeo, whose debut was only his second appearance as a professional.
“Mahlon scored one of the goals of the season for us. It was lovely because he had a really difficult first 25 minutes against a really good player in Rico Henry.”
Walsall boss O’Driscoll conceded it simply hadn’t been the Saddlers’ day, but emphasised the need for calm.
“We were in control until they scored the first goal,” O’Driscoll said.
“Credit to Millwall, they defended well. Maybe we needed a bit of luck, something to bounce off of somebody’s knee. It was one of those games where we just couldn’t get the ball over the line.
“Millwall are a team out of the Championship with a massive budget compared to ours, so people have got to get things into perspective.”