Result: Fulham 3-2 Millwall Lionesses
By Jeff Burnige
There was a new but familiar management team in the Millwall Lionesses dugout last weekend, wjth assistant manager Alex Russell and first-team coach Adam Rowland appointed the previous Friday following the sudden resignation of the experienced Keith Boanas.
Three successive defeats and a position near the foot of the L&SERWFL Premier Division table had not met the expectations of the club or of Boanas, and issues between the two had surfaced, culminating in his untimely resignation the Thursday before the game.
The popular duo of Lions fans Russell and Rowland faced a really difficult task without the benefit of a training session with the team, and with a squad suffering from illness throughout the camp. Some players volunteered to play despite feeling after-effects, and the outcome was a much-improved performance against promotion-chasing Fulham at Motspur Park, and despite the result this was arguably their best performance of the season.
The Lionesses started the game well on a perfect grass pitch, and they took the lead when Chloe Burr’s brilliant cross was headed home at the far post by seventeen-year-old Melissa Jones, one of the stars of last season’s double cup-winning under-18 side.
Another member of that team, goalkeeper Wiktoria Gmiterek, called up only the day of the match, gave a calm performance and superbly saved a penalty to maintain the lead.
This was a strange game in many ways, and Emma Whitter’s brilliant run from deep and finish into the bottom corner was bizarrely ruled offside, as she had actually run on to her own headed pass.
In the second half, Russell and Rowland were forced to make changes as players tired, and the Lionesses conceded two scrappy goals.
Fulham are a strong side and they sensed the tiredness in the Millwall team, and they were now in the ascendancy. Strangely, the well-practised multi-ball arrangement was ostentatiously removed.
Undaunted, the Lionesses went after an equaliser. But they were caught on the break when they lost the ball with everyone in the Fulham half and the hosts added a third.
In added-time, another seventeen-year-old member of last season’s youth team, Ellen Napper, reduced the arrears with a great header from a corner, but the visitors were edged out.
This was a performance of character, and every player played their part, however drained they were feeling.
This Lionesses are in Women’s FA Cup second qualifying round action at Greater London League side Regents Park Rangers – who are two tiers below – this Sunday at 2pm. As two-time winners of the competition, Millwall are looking for a run into the latter stages to give everyone involved a big boost after a difficult couple of weeks.