Tigers dig deep to earn tense play-off first leg draw with Millwall

Pictures courtesy of Hull City

Hull City 0 - 0 Millwall

Sky Bet Championship play-offs

MKM Stadium

Attendance: 24,623

By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent

Hull City will take a hard-fought goalless draw to south London after a fiercely contested play-off semi-final first leg against Millwall at a rocking MKM Stadium.

The Tigers, sixth against third, kept Millwall at bay in a game that was high on tension and atmosphere if not too many clear-cut chances.

The club went all out before kick-off with a fire and light show to an “Eye of the Tiger” mash-up track and flamethrowers, followed by the pièce de resistance – actual fireworks bursting above the stadium.

With the scent of smoke lingering long after the referee got things under way, the atmosphere that had felt special against Norwich on the final day of the Championship was turned up yet another notch. Now all City had to do was live up to it.

Millwall brought a huge and noisy travelling support of their own, and the edge between the two sets of fans crackled throughout.

After little more than 30 seconds, the visitors won the game’s first corner, but Ivor Pandur claimed comfortably after the ball was recycled back into the area.

City’s response was immediate, and nearly spectacular.

Mohamed Belloumi surged away down the left, twisting past defenders and racing into the area, only to drag his shot wide from close range with the frame of the goal clipped on its way past. A huge chance after just four minutes.

The early pace inevitably settled a little. Thierno Ballo and Femi Azeez both fired well wide for Millwall to jeers from the home crowd, while John Egan produced an excellent cross that Oli McBurnie could not properly connect with before Belloumi shot straight at Anthony Patterson.

Moments later McBurnie was away again and played Joe Gelhardt into the area, only for the striker to lose his footing at the crucial moment.

Belloumi remained City’s brightest outlet, first charging clear down the right before being crowded out by Millwall defenders, but as the half wore on the visitors began to edge territorial control yet without creating too much of note.

The Lions fans in the north-east corner provided a relentless soundtrack throughout, alternating between their trademark droning and increasingly loud renditions of “Miwwaww, Miwwaww, Miwwaww, Miwwaww”. Irritating? Massively. Effective? Begrudgingly… yes.

Referee Gavin Ward was not winning many friends in black and amber either, with Belloumi repeatedly on the receiving end of hefty challenges that seemed to go unpunished.

As half-time approached, Belloumi curled over from distance before Lewie Coyle tried his luck with a thunderous effort that flew over the bar after good hold-up play from McBurnie.

Casper De Norre eventually entered the book for bringing down Matt Crooks, greeted with ironic cheers from the North Stand, though the resulting free kick came to nothing.

City started the second half brightly enough, seeing more of the ball without quite finding the decisive final pass. Liam Millar overhit a cross aimed towards Crooks when the opening looked promising, while a dangerous Millwall free kick drifted harmlessly through the box after Belloumi was penalised for a shirt pull.

Then McBurnie held the ball up brilliantly and slipped Belloumi through before the winger squared for Millar, who appeared certain to shoot, only to try to touch it back instead – but the move was eventually rendered irrelevant by the offside flag.

Millwall continued to look dangerous on the counterattack, though, and in the 69th minute they produced the biggest scare of the evening so far when Camiel Neghli’s low drive crashed back off the post with Pandur looking beaten. The City keeper turned furiously towards his defence afterwards – that was a huge let-off.

Sergej Jakirović responded immediately with changes, introducing Kyle Joseph and Yū Hirakawa, and the latter almost made an instant impact. A superb cross from the Japanese winger found McBurnie in the middle, and his glancing header drifted agonisingly wide as the noise levels rose again around the ground.

City enjoyed a good spell of pressure after that, with Coyle floating another inviting ball into the box and McBurnie again heavily involved, but the killer touch remained elusive.

Kieran Dowell replaced Gelhardt for the closing stages, while Millwall introduced Barry Bannan – the man who commentators appear contractually obliged to refer to by both names every single time.

Pandur finally had a proper save to make in the 75th minute, getting down well to palm away a low effort from Azeez, and Millwall again threatened late on when Neghli dragged another good chance wide after the Tigers were carved open a little too easily.

Five minutes from time, the ball ended up in the City net through Ryan Leonard, only for referee Ward to rule it out for a foul on Charlie Hughes in the build-up. Huge relief inside the MKM, and a huge call from the official.

Four minutes of added time brought yet more tension, but City held firm.

So, it remains finely poised ahead of the Tigers’ trip to the Den on Monday night. Pre-match, many would probably have taken a draw against the side that finished third, the key thing being not to go there at a disadvantage.

The contest itself may not quite have matched the fireworks beforehand, but the tie is very much alive heading to the capital. We’re still daring to dream...