Banished to the stands

A night of high drama saw Todd given the red card and his side reduced to ten men as they slipped to another home defeat.

With Town already a goal behind it was a make or break decision from referee Keith Hill that shattered their hopes of a revival against promotion hunters Millwall.

Only seven minutes into the second half the Hertfordshire official decided not to award Town a penalty when Andy Williams was brought down by Lions keeper Tony Warner.

But it was his decision to then send the winger off for diving that caused such uproar and incensed both Todd and the home supporters.

In near farcical scenes Todd rowed with an assistant official before being shown the red card himself and being forced to watch the remainder of the game from the Arkell's Stand.

From being denied the chance of a deserved equaliser Town suddenly found themselves a player down and without a manager.

Town did show real spirit as Todd, bellowing out his instructions to assistant Andy King, tried three different ten-man formations. But there was no way back.

An equaliser would have been no more than Town had deserved after surviving a series of first half chances from Millwall and coming back strongly.

The Lions had created much of the first half action. Matt Lawrence fired a low drive narrowly wide after only three minutes and David Livermore's great turn beat Adam Willis in the ninth minute but his strike flashed across Bart Griemink's goal.

Mark Robinson then left a back-pass short in the 14th minute which let in Richard Sadlier but Griemink was on hand to palm away his shot.

It was then Willis' turn to almost gift the visitors the lead as his 22nd minute back pass fell into the path of leading striker Neil Harris, but his effort was blocked by Griemink at the near post.

Millwall's pressure eventually paid two minutes before the break, and again it was a mistake which gifted them the lead.

Antoine van der Linden failed to clear, the ball fell to Lucas Neill 20 yards from goal and he let fly with a fierce drive. Griemink could only parry the ball into the air as he dived away to his left and and the rebound bounced across goal for Sadlier to bundle over the line.

Town started the second half brightly but the game was then totally ruined by referee Hill in the 52nd minute and from then on it was always going to be tough for Todd's men.

They did show great resolve, however, and made life difficult for the visitors as they pushed forward for an equaliser.

Van der Linden swept a left foot effort goalwards in the 67th minute but keeper Warner made a good save low to his left.

Danny Invincible had pushed up front alongside Martin Williams and Robertson had moved back into midfield as Town looked to beat Millwall with pace.

The ploy almost worked as Invincible set up Robinson on the right. The defender broke into the area, pulled the ball back for Davis at the far post but his effort was blocked and although he managed to lay the ball off for Invincible the Aussie fired his chance high over the bar.

The killer second goal finally came in the 77th minute as Town pressed forward and they were caught on the break.

Harris was one of four Millwall players to break against two red shirted defenders and when he laid the ball into the path of Sadlier there was no real doubt as he fired the ball through Griemink's legs and into the net off O'Halloran's shins.

It was the end as far as Town were concerned and manager Colin Todd was left to reflect on another bad day at the office in front of the Swindon Town faithful.

"The headlines will centre around a decision which, if the referee analysed it and looked at it again then he would probably have second thoughts on it," said Todd.

"Had it been somebody else other than Andy or had it been a definite dive then I would have held my hands up and said he deserved to go. But not Andy Williams, he would never have dived, he is not that kind of lad.

"It has been confirmed by the opposition and by video that the goalkeeper did touch him. We should have had a penalty and then he gets sent-off. It is just beyond me."

Todd had words with referee Hill during and after the game.

"After the incident I just tried to put my point over to the official and I was told to get in my dug-out," he said. "I went nowhere near the officials prior to the incident and then I got sent-off without a warning. It should not come to that.

"But, the most important factor is the football and once again we are talking about a scoreline that hurts people. It hurts us."

The defeat was a very sad way for Todd to end his days at the County Ground.

Click here for a gallery of photographs from the game

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