ANGRY NEIL’S FURY STROUD AND CLEAR
EIL Warnock branded referee Keith Stroud a “disgrace” after Cardiff were denied a late winner at Millwall.
Sol Bamba thought he grabbed the points when he cleverly hooked in from close range but his joy was short-lived as Stroud controversially blew for a foul on Joe Bennett.
Replays suggest Cardiff were hard done by and Millwall escaped with a point thanks to Lee Gregory’s crisp first-half strike which cancelled out Junior Hoilett’s early 20-yard smash.
“It is appalling at this level,” Warnock said. “He (Stroud) is looking at the ball when Sol scores and when Bennett goes down he’s looking.
“He doesn’t look at Bennett, he looks at the ball. It goes through, he’s going to shoot and then he blows. I don’t accept that.
“He’s an experienced referee and I feel really let down. The official has cost us the game. It’s an absolute disgrace.
“We’re fighting to get into the Premier League. Two major decisions and he’s got them both wrong.”
There was an added buzz around The Den before kick-off with Lions legend Tim Cahill among the home substitutes and all set to make his first Millwall appearance in 14 years.
But Cardiff started like a train, with winger Hoilett giving young Millwall fullback Mahlon Romeo a torrid time.
Romeo was in the book within 90 seconds for hacking down the Canadian and a minute later Hoilett robbed the right-back on the halfway line, advanced and hammered the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Cardiff will regret not killing off Millwall when they had the chance with the hosts not getting a grip on the game until midway through the first half.
Ben Marshall’s deep cross found striker Steve Morison and his effort on the turn cracked the bar as Millwall finally showed signs of life.
Gregory was his normal busy self and fired marginally wide minutes later before he levelled the score just before the break with a first-time strike high into the net from a Jed Wallace rightwing cross.
Millwall went closest after the break with a deflected Marshall shot forcing Neil Etheridge into a low save. Cardiff struggled to impose themselves, with Millwall remaining strong at the back, until they applied heavy pressure in the dying minutes.
Cahill was on for Millwall but that failed to give them the required lift and when a header into the box bounced for Bamba, he swivelled and volleyed it in – only to see Stroud rule it out.
“With the split decision, has he got it right? Has he got it wrong?” pondered Millwall boss Neil Harris. “That might be one that has gone in our favour. We’ll certainly take it if it has because we’ve had so many go against us this year, so I can understand Neil’s frustration to a certain level.
“It was a great game of football, a real great advert for the Championship, English football. Blood, thunder, set-plays, efforts on goal, a huge amount of effort.
“For 25 minutes in the first half leading up to half-time, we showed our real quality. We fully deserved to be back on terms following the disappointing start.”