Millwall 1 Watford 0
I had to wait until the Sunday for my latest FA Cup encounter as the Beeb had selected it for live TV coverage at Noon on the Sunday. Maybe they fancied an upset in this one and why not as Millwall had ripped AFC Bournemouth apart in the previous round and with the Hornet's not in great form it certainly had that 'cupset' look about it.
And with the Premier League outfit making several changes for this tie with their league match at Arsenal in mind on Tuesday the hosts would of fancied their chances even more. Still it was a strong Hornet's line up so the Lions would have to be right up for this one to get through.
And the hosts so nearly had the perfect start too as Gregory turned an effort onto the bar inside the opening minute as the League One side took the tie to their Premier League opponents and the hosts most certainly had the better of the opening exchanges, putting the Hornet's under some decent pressure.
The visitors had barely got close to the Millwall penalty area but almost found a equaliser midway through the half as a free kick swung in from the left saw host defender Cummings try and clear the cross, only for it to glance of his head and onto the post and out for a corner. It would have been an unjust leveller but it was a warning to the home side.
As the half reached it's thirty minute mark you could see that the hosts tempo had dropped considerably as the visitors had now settled into the tie after a difficult start and were enjoying a lot more possession. In fact Watford were screaming for a penalty just past the half hour after they claimed a foul on Sinclair.
However moments later down the other end the hosts almost capitalised on a poor back pass but just got away with it but Watford paid the price as keeper Pantillimon had to be stretchered off injured after a tackle with Gregory preventing the goal so substitute keeper Gomes came on for visitors.
And it was he who kept his side from going two behind at the break as Gregory went close in first half stoppage time but his volley was well saved by Gomes, whilst from the resulting corner Morison went close after his flick header was headed away from goal with Gregory their to pounce.
The Lions certainly finshed the half well and it was they who went into the break the happier of the two sides no doubt. Watford had not tested Millwall keeper Archer at all and apart from hitting the post from that free kick had created nothing at all so knew an improvement was needed in the second half.
Half Time Millwall 0 Watford 0
The second period had a rather lively start to it, Gregory skying one over for the hosts when well placed whilst Watford had two openings and another penalty shout when Okaka claimed he was dragged down, but it was certainly now a proper cup tie at the New Den.
As the game reached the hour mark another thing that was certain was how much stronger the visitors were looking now and they were giving the hosts backline more to think about than at any point in the first period. However despite this they still didn't really test keeper Archer in the Millwall goal.
Millwall did manage to whether that Watford storm and began to threaten again themselves but as the game entered its final fifteen minutes Watford looked to be coming on strong again. It was certainly a good battle out there and you felt one goal was definately going to win this one. Watford had brought on Deeney for the final part of this tie to try and bulk up their attacking options somewhat.
Millwall had looked the more attacking threat during the contest though and started to come on strong as the game entered the final ten or so minutes. Morison forced Gomes into another smart save and then the it was the hosts turn to have penalty shout turned down when they claimed for handball, but they were putting pressure on the visitors now, just like they did in the opening exchanges.
But could they find a winner, well in the 85th minute a pinpoint cross from Ferguson, on as a second half replacement, to the back post saw Morison volley home via Gomes legs and the Lions had the lead and were now just several minutes away from another cup shock at The New Den.
Moments later Millwall thought they had sealed it when Webster turned a corner home at the back post, but it was rightly ruled out for handball but it had been all Millwall in the final ten minutes.
Could the Premier League outfit somehow salvage a late goal and a replay, well apart from late substitute Deeney having a couple of efforts, they yet again failed to test keeper Archer fully and after six minutes of stoppage time referee Martin Atkinson blew for full time and Millwall had their win, a deserved win overall it has to be said. Watford were poor by all accounts and the Lions just wanted it more and so take their place in the Last 16.
Full Time Millwall 1 Watford 0
Here are some photos of the game courtesy of Millwall FC:-
Now here are the Fourth Round Proper Results in full:-
Friday 27th January
Derby County 2 Leicester City 2
Saturday 28th January
Liverpool 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
Tottenham Hotspur 4 Wycombe Wanderers 3
Oxford United 3 Newcastle United 0
Lincoln City 3 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
Chelsea 4 Brentford 0
Rochdale 0 Huddersfield Town 4
Burnley 2 Bristol City 0
Blackburn Rovers 2 Blackpool 0
Middlesbrough 1 Accrington Stanley 0
Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 3
Southampton 0 Arsenal 5
Sunday 29th January
Millwall 1 Watford 0
Fulham 4 Hull City 1
Sutton United 1 Leeds United 0
Manchester United 4 Wigan Athletic 0
Replay
Wednesday 8th February
Leicester City 3 Derby County 1 (AET)
So that completes the Fourth Round Proper. More notable shocks in this round saw two non league sides made the Last 16 of the competition, a rarity in itself, so well done to Lincoln City and Sutton United for achieving such a feat. Other shocks saw Wolves win at Anfield, Oxford smash Newcastle, whilst Wycombe came so close to knocking out Spurs at White Hart Lane. Expect another exciting round this weekend and of course my featured game sees Millwall host Premier League champions Leicester City at the New Den whose struggles this season have been well documented. Can Millwall make it a hat-trick of Premier League scalps? We will find out soon enough.
