Lions Benik
GARY ROWETT will take a point wherever he can find it – even a dodgy penalty in the eighth minute of added time.
Rowett’s Millwall are still on the play-off trail thanks to referee Leigh Doughty, who decided that Gary Gardner fouled Jake
Cooper and pointed to the penalty spot.
Benik Afobe converted and cancelled out an equally soft penalty for the home side when Lyle Taylor went down under a challenge from George Saville then picked himself up to make it 2-1.
Lions boss Rowett reckoned neither of the spot-kicks should have been given, while his opposite number Lee Bowyer queried the decision against his side. Rowett said: “Neither were penalties in my opinion. But that point could be huge.
“We can’t slip up and we need other teams to slip up. We have to take care of our business.
“At that late stage we needed a lifeline and while we didn’t do the basics well we have got fabulous desire.”
Bowyer was equally complimentary of his team after three successive
defeats, including the 6-1 thrashing at Blackpool last week.
Birmingham took the lead through Juninho Bacuna after the visitors tried to play their way out of the area and it was cancelled out by Oliver Burke.
Bowyer said: “I hope this has shut-up some people who say the players don’t play for me. You see that performance there – it was great to have the reaction we did. It was a physical game and two good honest teams giving it everything.
“I thought from start-tofinish we were good.”
The woodwork was Millwall’s friend in the first half. Gardner’s horses, one of the teams in early free-kick whacked a a pack chasing the top six post and away to safety after just two defeats in 14 – while Bacuna, racing on to and now managed by the Onel Hernandez’s pass, saw former Brum boss Rowett, his effort end in similar of course. fashion. The south London club
Millwall are play-off dark added to a sell-out crowd in BIRMINGHAM CITY: Etheridge 7; Friend 6, Roberts 7, Gordon 6; Colin 6, Sunjic 6, Gardner 7, Bela 6 (Graham 81); Bacuna 7; Hernandez 8, Taylor 7
Subs not used: Trueman, Woods, Hogan, Jutkiewicz, James, Deeney
MILLWALL: Bialkowski 6; Ballard 6, Cooper 7, M Wallace 7; McNamara 6 (Leonard 87), Kieftenbeld 7, Saville 6, Hutchinson 6 (Bennett 62, 6); Burke 7, Afobe 6; Bradshaw 7 (Burey 79,) Subs not used: Long, Ojo, Mitchell, Evans.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Onel Hernandez. The Birmingham attacker was a real dangerman throughout, with his keen eye for a pass.
REFEREE: Leigh Doughty 6.
St Andrew’s – but at the final whistle there was some altercations, with suggestions that seats had been ripped out and thrown.
Boss Rowett said: “I could see something but couldn’t see if it was both fans or one set.
“Clubs will look at it. You don’t want to see that. My daughter was in the away end today.
“That is up to the clubs to get some clarity.”