No shame in defeat

The Seagulls were excellent value for holding their hosts in the return leg at the New Den last night.

Christophe Kinet put Millwall ahead against the run of play in the final minute of the first half with a superb strike from long range.

Nathan Jones slid home a thoroughly deserved equaliser on 67 minutes from a cross by second half substitute Paul Brooker.

Albion, roared on by more than 700 fans, stormed forward from then on and were unfortunate not to take the tie into extra time.

There was one significant change to the Albion team which returned to form with a vengeance in a 6-2 thrashing of Torquay at Withdean on Saturday.

Skipper Rogers returned to the midfield, relegating Brooker to the bench.

Rogers has happy memories of Millwall, having scored a last gasp winner against them for his previous club Wigan in the Auto Windscreens Shield final at Wembley two seasons ago.

Before the game manager Micky Adams was contemplating using Rogers as an extra centre half, but Millwall's first choice front pair Neil Harris and Paul Moody were both ruled out by injury.

They joined a long casualty list, so Reid was pushed forward alongside teenager Braniff, who opened the scoring in Millwall's 2-1 win in the first leg.

Albion began brightly, forcing a couple of corners in the early stages.

Millwall broke smartly from the second and Oatway was booked for hauling down Belgian midfielder Kinet on the right flank.

Large areas of the ground were empty, but both sets of supporters were making plenty of noise, particularly a healthy Albion contingent behind Cartwright's goal.

Albion offered the first real threat in the 17th minute, Rogers rising above Dolan on the penalty spot to head Zamora's right wing cross straight at Warner.

Zamora, hat-trick hero against Torquay, demonstrated he is able to defend as well by heading clear Millwall's first corner of the contest.

Hart tenaciously dispossessed the talented Kinet down the right before finding Mayo in support with a square pass.

The fullback's shot from 20 yards had the pace taken out of it by a deflection off a Millwall defender, leaving Warner to make the simplest of saves.

Loan signing Wicks from Peterborough was looking more comfortable on his first away appearance than he had on his debut against Torquay, when a head wound forced him off in the second half.

Approaching the half hour mark, Albion were looking quite comfortable at the back and occasionally threatening going forward without seriously testing Warner so far.

A corner count of 3-1 in the Seagulls' favour at this stage emphasised that they were just edging a competitive contest bereft of goalmouth incident.

Zamora had an opportunity to add to his tally in the 33rd minute when Jones' flick from Cartwright's clearance released him through the inside left channel.

The young striker finished disappointingly with a tame effort from just outside the box which bounced comfortably into Warner's grasp.

Millwall's response was swift, Reid and Kinet combining well down the left.

Kinet's ensuing low cross was completely missed by Reid inside the six yard box and Cahill, lurking at the far post, could not direct his header on target.

It was the first time the hosts had really troubled Albion and they promised to do so again moments later, but Cahill's mishit shot from Odunsi's cross was easy for Cartwright.

In the closing stages of the half Cahill was ticked off by referee Cain following a confrontation with Carpenter.

Millwall's Australian midfielder was booked moments afterwards for a foul on Watson.

All of Albion's solid work in the opening 45 minutes was undone by a spectacular goal for Millwall just before the break.

Reid's raking crossfield pass found Kinet and he rifled a tremendous left foot shot from 25 yards over the diving Cartwright into the roof of the net.

The only consolation was that the task remained the same. Albion still needed two goals to stay in the tie.

The unfortunate Wicks found himself in the wars again three minutes into the restart.

Lawrence caught him inside the Albion area with a challenge which several of Wicks' angry colleagues clearly felt was over the top.

Lawrence was cautioned and Albion's new young central defender was able to continue following treatment from physio Malcolm Stuart.

Rogers, trying to lead by example, was off target with an angled attempt as the Seagulls went in search of a goal to put the tie back in the melting pot.

Millwall had half-hearted appeals for a penalty rejected in the 57th minute when Livermore went down as Cartwright tried to collect Kinet's cross to the near post.

Albion made a substitution a minute later, Brooker replacing Rogers and handing the captain's armband to Oatway.

Kinet was booked for a trip on Hart and Albion thought they had equalised when Watson's resulting free-kick from wide on the right went straight in. But the linesman flagged for offside and it was disallowed.

The Seagulls did not have to wait much longer for a richly deserved breakthrough. Brooker, escaping down the right, crossed low past a couple of defenders for Jones to slot his third goal in two games from close range.

Suddenly the tie was wide open again as Albion stormed forward in a bid to level the aggregate score.

Carpenter's 25 yarder was held by Warner, moving to his right, and Mayo headed narrowly over at the far post from Watson's deep centre.