Jon Colman reports from The New Den

Last updated 12:24, Wednesday, 26 November 2008

Millwall 1 Carlisle United 0: Carlisle United’s inability to keep Millwall at the gates for 90 minutes is a distant third on the charge sheet today behind two more serious failings.

Simon Hackney

Right at the top of the page is the collapse of discipline which saw Gary Alexander bury his elbow into Richard Keogh’s face as the rival players leapt for a high ball at The Den last night.

Next on the roster of shame is referee Fred Graham’s refusal to wag anything other than a yellow card at the Lions striker, while Keogh was receiving stitches to the gaping eye wound which opened up following the 47th-minute collision.

With the disfigurement of Barnsley’s Iain Hume at the hands - sorry, elbow - of Sheffield United’s Chris Morgan still sharp in the memory, this was another woeful abandonment of professional responsibilities by both player and official.

Let’s be fair and say Alexander’s leading arm was a few notches down on the wince-inducing scale from Morgan’s woeful challenge which hospitalised poor Hume on November 8. Mercifully, Keogh reappeared eight minutes after he hit the turf, his head bandaged, to rejoin United’s doomed pursuit of a point.

But any appraisal of Alexander’s challenge must still begin with a charge of recklessness, whether or not an additional allegation of intent can be laid at the 29-year-old’s door.

Incidentally, whether Alexander’s dismissal would have altered the shape of a match Millwall came to dominate doesn’t matter a jot. This isn’t an angry eruption based on the way Carlisle lost this game in the closing minutes. It’s got nothing to do with points or league positions.

It is, to be frank, about a quite dangerous disintegration of ‘respect’, football’s buzzword of the day which is cheapened just a bit more with every incident like this. Mr Graham's beseiged trade does itself few favours when one of its members fails to recognise Alexander’s actions as deserving of a sending-off which, from the media's vantage point, could not have been clearer.

And yes, to have leapt for a challenge in such a manner suggests respect wasn’t quite at the front of Alexander’s mind, whatever claims to the contrary might emerge from south Bermondsey in the coming days.

No apologies, by the way, for getting this information on the page before the detail on United’s 10th and most agonising defeat of the league campaign, which was inflicted when the substitute striker Tresor Kandol looped a header over Carlisle’s valiant goalkeeper, Tim Krul, in the final minute.

Eventually, the more trivial debate on Greg Abbott’s tactics and Carlisle’s performance must have its time, and here it is. The notion that United plunged too deeply into their own territory after the break, and therefore invited the spell of Millwall dominance that ended with Kandol’s winner, is one Abbott contested at close of play.

“Sometimes you’ve got to play the game the way it is,” said the caretaker manager. “We didn’t get hold of the ball enough in the second half and pass it as well as we wanted. To be fair, Millwall put us on the back foot, and we stood up manfully.”

That’s an accurate view of events, up to the moment Marc Laird’s left-wing cross provoked a short burst of head-tennis in the United box before Kandol profited from split-second hesitancy from Krul to nod the bouncing ball home.

Depending on your stance, that was either a cruel blow inflicted on a visiting team who had fought with all their hearts to keep their sheet clean, or fair reward for a home side who spent large chunks of the second half assaulting their anxious enemies. Both versions have some merit, since there could be no doubting the wholehearted resolve of men like Paul Thirlwell in United’s cause, but equally no disputing the attacking prowess of Millwall raiders like Lewis Grabban, whose rapier runs down the right helped pin Carlisle back in the second 45 minutes.

The opening period was notable for United’s diligence in midfield and defence, and Millwall’s lack of conviction when their chances arose. David Raven’s block on David Martin’s shot at the far post, and Krul’s impressive save at Alexander’s feet after Grabban’s cutting pass, were the stand-out examples of early Carlisle defiance.

Paul Robinson’s off-target volley and an Alexander header comfortably repelled by Krul were the result of Millwall’s other notable incursions, while a lack of conviction cost the isolated Danny Graham a rare opportunity in the 45th minute, shortly after Marc Bridge-Wilkinson had skipped into the home area but tried to beat one man too many, when an uncomplicated blast for goal might have worked the trick.

After the interval, United slotted more deliberately into containment mode as the Lions showed their teeth.

First, Martin organised a free header which Alexander squandered, then the doughty Thirlwell retreated to partner Danny Livesey at centre-half with admirable composure while the wounded Keogh was in the treatment room.

It was around the hour mark when Jackett’s men started their siege. First, there was another wasted effort from Alexander, who volleyed over from a golden position after Grabban’s jinking run. Seconds later, Grabban bustled past Michael Liddle and bashed an angled shot against the post.

In the next breath, the largely-subdued Neil Harris sent a lob over Krul but watched it bounce wide.

United’s attempts to counter this growing threat were now limited, save for a Simon Hackney break cynically terminated by Robinson, shortly before the winger was sacrificed for Michael Bridges with 20 minutes to go. More substitutes came and went, more Millwall half-chances fell onto the furnace, more clearances were desperately battered away, and the most sweat-soaked point of the season seemed destined for United’s tally.

Then came that late corner which allowed Laird to summon his final, troublesome cross, conquering Abbott’s defenders and drawing Kandol’s devastating header. Improbably, United then almost earned an equaliser, when Bridges twisted in the home box and teed up Bridge-Wilkinson, only for the midfielder’s shot to skim off a defender and past the post.

But the night was finally Millwall’s, the frustration all Abbott’s (“we’ll all bounce back together,” insisted the United caretaker) - and the more authentic pain entirely Keogh’s. Through his damaged eye today, the United defender should just about manage to see ‘Respect,’ and other high-minded ideals, scarpering from the scene.

TIM KRUL - One superb save at Alexander’s feet and plenty of confident handling and punching, but seemed a fraction hesitant for Kandol’s winner.

DAVID RAVEN - Got stuck in from minute one and did his best to limit Millwall’s threat down the left.

MICHAEL LIDDLE - A difficult night against the dangerous Grabban, but the teenager never lost heart.

DANNY LIVESEY - Seemed to be relishing the second-half bombardment until United’s resistance was finally broken.

RICHARD KEOGH - Helped protect Krul with some tough defending and battled on admirably after having stitches in eye injury.

PAUL THIRLWELL - A supreme effort in the midfield battles and a responsible 10-minute spell at centre-half in Keogh’s absence. A captain’s performance which deserved better.

GRAHAM KAVANAGH - Always hungry for possession but couldn’t get the game under control in the second period.

MARC BRIDGE-WILKINSON - Occasionally popped up to threaten the Lions back line but was more frequently required in the defensive effort.

SIMON HACKNEY - Launched a couple of lightning counter-attacks but couldn’t conjure a goal before being replaced by Bridges.

CLEVELAND TAYLOR - Piles of effort, but limited attacking impact and a host of desperate clearances when a touch more composure might have served United better.

DANNY GRAHAM - Only one half-chance on which he couldn’t capitalise, otherwise an evening of thankless chasing for the isolated frontman.

Subs: Michael Bridges (for Hackney, 69) - Almost created unlikely equaliser at the death. 6; Gary Madine (for Thirlwell, 90) - Couldn’t make any injury-time impact. 6. Not used: Ben Williams, Josh Gowling, John Welsh.