NEIL LEFT FUMING AS LIONS ARE HELD
NEIL Harris couldn’t hid his anger at referee Charles Breakspear’s decision-making as his Millwall were held to a draw in a feisty encounter at Priestfield Stadium.
The visitors dominated a goalless first half, which was overshadowed by an incident which appeared to suggest a coin was thrown from the stand holding the visiting fans at ex-Lion Lee Martin – although neither manager would comment on it.
Gillingham took the lead through Joe Quigley’s emphatic finish on 66 minutes, although it arrived following a contentious decision to award the hosts a corner with Millwall claiming their goalkeeper Tom King had been fouled.
However, Millwall captain Steve Morison equalised five minutes later with his first goal in more than two months and Harris praised his side’s resolve.
“We’ve had decisions go against us here,” said Harris, who saw Millwall climb into the play-off places.
“Last year there was the last-minute penalty and this season there was a clear foul on our goalkeeper which gave them the corner which they scored from.
“The referee is good, however, I thought he got three major decisions wrong; the corner and two penalties we could have had, but he can only give what he sees.
“I thought the character of our players after that was superb. The Gillingham goal didn’t put us out of our stride.
“We were quite a long way off the playoffs but now we’re back in it which means our destiny is in our own hands which is good.”
Millwall started brightly and nearly took the lead in the first minute when Morison’s low cross from the right found Aiden O’Brien who failed to make clean contact with the ball.
That was the best chance of a poor first half that was dominanted by the alleged coin incident, but on 67 minutes Quigley broke the deadlock with his first-ever EFL goal.
The Bournemouth loanee reacted quickest after Cody McDonald’s header from a Martin corner that was saved by King, although Millwall felt there had been a foul on their keeping in the build-up.
The Lions nearly equalised straight from the restart but substitute Lee Gregory lost his footing as he was just about to pull the trigger. However, they were not to be denied five minutes later after Jed Wallace’s shot was saved into the path of Morison who made no mistake from the rebound.
Gillingham are one point and a place above the relegation zone, but manager Ady Pennock was satisfied with the result.
Pennock said: “It was a big point for us. Millwall are a very good side. They’re up there for a reason and Neil’s doing a great job for them.
“We’ve shown we can match teams at the higher end of the table but for some reason we haven’t been good enough against the teams in and around us.”