By CCFC Sid
August 22 2004

Apologies for the delay, but sometimes you think: "If CCFC can't be bothered to play, why should I bother reporting on them?" Garbage is too polite a word to use - ****ing **** is closer to the truth! Rumours that Callum Davenport is on his way grow ever stronger, and, after yesterday, who could blame him for going? He was head and shoulders above most (If not all) of those that wore the CCFC shirt. Maybe the team were just showing the white flag of surrender, as, realising they might have to carry on without him, defeat for CCFC could become a more frequent event.

McSheffrey and Gudjonsson were replaced by Suffo and Sherwood, though neither of them justified their inclusion in the side. The former did nothing more than proved he is far more effective coming on as a late substitute, while the latter simply did nothing - except for one foul on Serioux (The long throw expert - and what a throw!!) that saw him let out a scream that I heard clearly, despite being some 75 yards away!

Even those optimists that see everything through CCFC tinted spec's were left speechless by yesterdays display, At this rate we will have the best ground in the third of the top four divisions next season. It was a display without any of the necessary attributes to mount any kind of challenge to gain promotion - or to even avoid relegation....

Five of the first ten minutes yesterday were held up due to two injuries to Millwall players - sadly these empty minutes were as good as the game got for CCFC supporters. And for the second home `Championship' match of the season, the referee seemed to favour the away side too....

He missed a blatant offside (Or his assistant did) after 27 minutes, which saw Shearer pull off a top class save from Dichio - with the parry being spooned over the bar from a mere four yards out by McCammon! To use a well worn cliche, it was far easier to score....

Soon after, the same player raised an arm as Graham Barrett challenged him for the ball, knocking the CCFC player to the floor - he wasn't even yellow carded! I thought that whether you connect or not, that was an instant dismissal? McCammon was later yellow carded, but of course stayed on the pitch because of the earlier show of leniency. Were this referee to be in charge of Saddam Hussain's trial, SH would probably get let off with a caution....

Chances for either side were few and far between throughout, with Doyle managing to find the keeper on 12 minutes, and later on, a decent cross managed to find two CCFC players in space and in the area, but neither could show any kind of control, and the chance passed.

Half-time proved to be my personal highlight as I actually took some fanzine money(!!), then sadly, with no chance of the match being abandoned, the players returned, and the cure for insomnia continued....

Having changed seats for the second half, sadly, I found myself next to the bloke that would moan if CCFC won 12-0 - with a voice that carried further than Serioux's throw! And with the second half being as bad as - if not worse than! - the first, he was given plenty of ammunition....

10 minutes into the half some disgraceful play-acting by Dennis Wise (Who else?) could have seen Suffo sent off after the two players went head-to-head, with Wise falling to the floor as if he had been shot by a sniper on the roof. Wise was (Rightly!) booked for his part in the incident, and soon after, he again went for another `Oscar', hitting the deck after a challenge from Sherwood - though DW did take time from his agony to sneak a look round to make sure the referee was carding the CCFC captain.

Once again the two CCFC strikers, who were given almost nothing in the way of service (With Suffo wasting most of what did come his way), were replaced by two other strikers - McSheffrey and Morrell. Replacing those that starve them of service might be a better idea - before kick-off!!

There was quite clearly a lot of off-the-ball fouling going on when CCFC were awarded free-kicks in the Millwall half, or corners, but none of this was spotted by the referee - who also failed to spot a blatant handball (By Serioux), despite being no more than five yards away. His inability to see anything wrong in any of the physical stuff dished out by Millwall saw Callum Davenport almost blow a gasket (Including a petulant stamp of the foot!), but the referee, obviously realising young Callum was probably right, walked away....

Millwall almost took the lead after some slack defending on 76 minutes, with Shearer looking to have touched a shot onto the bar, which was then cleared from the danger area. It was a warning that was obviously ignored....

Twelve minutes from time another stupid free-kick in a dangerous area was given away by CCFC (Though from my vantage point, the decision looked slightly harsh), and with it went any chance of a point. Dichio snook in almost unmarked to give Millwall the lead, and a large section of the crowd, realising that CCFC wouldn't score if they played 'til Sunday evening, made for the exits. Too easy - though, had the referee actually given a free-kick against Millwall 30 seconds earlier, after Davenport was cracked in the head (Leaving him flat out on the ground for a good few seconds), the 0-0 scoreline everybody presumed this would be, would have been!

Morrell did get in behind the opposition defence with a few minutes left on the clock, but opted to pass to a Millwall defender rather than shoot. And the the agony was over....

And, any Torquay people on a spying mission for Wednesday, must already be wondering who they've got in the next round of the cup....