Come in a taxi, you couldn't even come in a taxi

Star Geezer - Dimitri Papadopoulos

The decision to ban away fans left the ground and it's occupants to generate their own amusement at the lack of banter and merriment normally played out between sets of fans and we enjoyed the early chants from the "away" end.

Clarets began with the same eleven players as had finished victoriously against Stoke; Taylor and Papadopoulos getting the nod ahead of the tracksuit wearers who this evening were MooreI, Blake, Cook, Michopoulos and McGregor.

In a first half where Millwall's work rate was twice that of the Clarets, the visitors were clearly eager to rid themselves of a poor away record seeing Turf Moor in front of the watching Sky viewers as their night to right themselves. It was therefore no surprise that the visitors were first on to the attack and after West had failed to clear, Arthur stood still and was very grateful to Beresford that at least his goalkeeper was awake to the threat from the dangerous Ifill, saving with his legs after only five minutes.

In the early stages, Millwall's crisp, precise passing exposed Clarets defensively and there were many nervous moments to endure in the opening stage of the half before Clarets took the lead courtesy of school ground defending by Millwall 's defenders. Papadopopoulos was going away from goal and was almost out of the area before Nethercott finally managed to push him to the ground giving Clarets a present from the penalty spot.

Up steps Dean "Tuesday" to slam the ball home from the spot, in off the underside of the bar, leaving Warner with no chance as our surprise package of a penalty taker, celebrated, Clarets taking the lead for the first time this season. From having not scored in four seasons, West has now scored two in a week, funny old game.

The game lifted Clarets and the lively Papadopopopoulos was a constant threat with his pace and agility causing Millwall's defenders problems whenever the ball was hoofed up to him, culture not being a feature of most of Clarets first half moves forwards, the centre midfield pairing of Grant and Johnrose proving once again to be totally ineffective. Taylor and Little both threatened, when chaos ensued from a corner, but last gasp defending saw Millwall clear of any real danger.

Kinet's whistler was just over the bar, Beresford a relieved man as the bolt was unstoppable, Millwall clearly deploying a shoot on sight policy from the kick off. On the half hour came a not unexpected equaliser. Sloppy defending saw the ball only half cleared and whilst Lawrence's shot from distance was mis-cued it was expertly taken by Claridge in the box then feeding Livermore who found the back of the net with some precision from eighteen yards. The silence was deafening and I swear you could hear the spin of the ball in the corner of the net as Millwall's only cheer came from the pitch.

Clarets tried an immediate response, good work from MooreA put Papadopopopopoulos clear, but his left footed shot was pushed around the post by Warner, the corner coming to nothing. With half time approaching a rebound again fell Millwall's way but this time Davies blew his chance, shooting well wide when well placed.

The last five minutes of the half saw more action than the previous forty. First Taylor shot straight at Warner from the penalty spot, when either side would surely have brought a goal, before down t'other end, Cox's well timed tackle superbly denied Claridge a shooting opportunity. Then on the stroke of half time Warner kept his team level with a fantastic double save, first saving one handed after Papadopopopopopoulos' left footer seemed destined for the top corner, before he scrambled across his goal saving in a split second from Grant's downward header from the rebound. Up the tunnel went the Clarets wondering just how they were not in the lead at that point.

Star Gazer - Lee Briscoe

Millwall's pace down both wings was causing endless problems and Briscoe in particular was having a night to forget, struggling with Ifill whenever attacked and with his own feet whenever asked to pass more than ten yards. Against the run of play Taylor struck the top of the bar, for once getting the better of Nethercott, before on the hour mark, Cook was unlucky that in beating Warner with a carefully placed left footer, Nethercott was back on goal line duties to keep the scores level.

Twenty minutes in and Ifill went on a mazy run that left Clarets players in knots as he cut in from the right wing, before releasing the ball out to the left hand side. Once the ball was played back in, Davies was left with time and space to pick his spot from close in to give the visitors the lead.

Apparently, our fans are worth a goal start, said Mark McGhee. Strangely, Stan elected to take off both wide men, MooreA and Little being replaced by MooreI and Blake in a move that would see Clarets struggle to find any rhythm in the following fifteen minutes, the four strikers opting to play as a cluster rather than deploy a wide man.

Arthur gained his customary booking, taking out the dangerous Ifill in clumsy style, before the visitors started dropping like flies, trying to run the clock down, taking any fluency from the game and annoying the home fans in the process. The ever popular Claridge was replaced by Harris, just before Clarets equalised with the move of the match. A neat turn then good footwork, saw Robbie Blake leave his man for dead and as he advanced to the edge of the area, he did so with a sense of real purpose before playing a neat ball in to Papadopopopopopopoulos, who in leaving the ball to run under his feet left Millwall's defenders flat footed, enabling Ian Moore to grab his first goal of the season, coolly slotting the ball wide of the stranded Warner.

Buoyed by this, Mooro then had a good direct run down the right but Cook's finish was wide of the mark. Cook was involved in the last action of the game, whipping in a great cross from the left wing that Papadopopopopooppopoulos failed to connect properly with, mis-timing his header and that was that, another point in the bag. Whilst not playing anywhere near their potential Clarets picked up a well earned draw, leaving Millwall's players to walk from the pitch rather bemused by the lack of support.

Att:- 11,878

Lee Briscoe. A game he will most definitely want to forget. Never got near the dangerous Paul Ifill and his contributions to the game were negligible such was the poorness of his passing.

So Clarets are in desperate financial straits. Why then open a stand unnecessarily with all the costs in stewarding, lighting etc? If you cannot fill three sides of the ground, it beggars belief that you would elect to open the fourth rather than expose Millwall's troubles and leave the stand empty, thus emphasising the point of an away fans ban.

Dimitri Papadopopopopopopoulos. Bright, quick and creative. Hardly words used to describe our midfield at the moment, but the youngster is coming on in leaps and bounds, with confidence clearly growing with each game played.

If Clarets can play this poorly and yet still avoid defeat, then all bodes well. The footballing corner must be being turned as the mini-revival continues.