Town will point to an awful refereeing display from Iain Williamson as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Millwall. Williamson harshly sent off Georges Santos in the second half but failed to do the same later on when Millwall keeper Tony Warner handled the ball outside of the area.

The Blues lined up with Fabian Wilnis and Georges Santos returning to the defence, Richard Naylor missing out with his hamstring/knee injury and Tommy Miller dropping out with an ankle problem.

It was all Town in the early stages and in only the first minute Darren Bent latched on to a poor defensive header but lashed his shot high and wide.

Georges Santos picked up a yellow card for a foul on five, although the ball had clearly gone out of play a moment or so earlier. Almost immediately David Livermore was booked for a similarly rash tackle at the other end on Darren Bent.

On nine there were calls for a Town penalty when Shefki Kuqi was pulled back in the area by Kevin Muscat. The shirt pull was clear but referee Williamson felt it wasn't worth a spotkick.

John McGreal headed a Jermaine Wright cross wide in the 17th minute after a corner on the left had been cleared to right flank.

With Town totally dominating Lions' player/manager Dennis Wise decided to make a change, bringing himself on in place of Aboubaka Fofana, the former Chelsea man moving into the middle of the midfield.

Millwall's first opportunity came soon after, Braniff's overhead kick no trouble for Kelvin Davis, although John McGreal was caught in the face by a boot and required treatment.

On 23 Shefki Kuqi had a golden opportunity to put the Blues in front. Darren Bent crossed low from the right and Warner, a former Town trialist, spilled the ball to the Finn's feet, six yards out.

With the goal at his mercy Kuqi put the ball just wide of the post. It was a bad miss with perhaps a spinning ball in very wet conditions the only mitigating factor.

Peter Sweeney struck a strong shot against Kelvin Davis' left post a minute later, the ball crashing back into play.

New Town signing Chris Bart-Williams clashed with Dennis Wise in the 29th minute, the Blues' midfielder clearly unhappy at being caught in the face by the Millwall manager.

Three minutes later Matt Richards was shown a yellow card for a foul on Wise on the touchline.

On 42 Nick Chadwick should have put the Lions ahead but blasted Braniff's cross over the bar from six yards out. John McGreal may just have got a touch on the ball as it came flew across the box, perhaps just enough to deviate its course.

In injury time referee Williamson caused consternation when he awarded Millwall a freekick after Dennis Wise had lunged studs first at Matt Richards. Wise was playing to type and was the attention of much of the large Town following's attention.

From the freekick Braniff went well wide after Town had failed to clear, although a Millwall hand appeared to help matters as the ball came across.

While Town had had most of the first half possession, Millwall had created the better chances. Aside from Kuqi's bad miss and Bent's early chance, the Blues had failed to really produce anything clear cut.

Joe Royle sought to address this by bringing on Pablo Couñago and Alan Mahon for Kuqi and Ian Westlake at the break. But within five minutes of the new half, the Blues were down to ten men.

Kevin Braniff chased a ball forward into the Town half and went past Georges Santos before crashing dramatically to the ground. Referee Williamson indicated no foul before seeing his linesman flagging.

Despite Braniff's collapse there had been little or no contact between the players, something which the assistant linesman failed to see. After talking to his assistant Mr Williamson called Santos over and showed him a second yellow, and then red card.

The Town players and bench were incensed by the decision and skipper Jim Magilton talked himself into the referee's book. Chris Bart-Williams moved to centre-half, Jermaine Wright into the middle of midfield and Darren Bent switched to left midfield.

Referee Williamson was in danger of losing control of the game as Dennis Wise went to ground under the attentions of Pablo Couñago. There had clearly been contact between the two, but there seemed little need for Wise's writhing around on the ground.

Williamson spoke to his fourth official before talking to Wise, Couñago and Alan Mahon but showed no more cards.

The red card understandably gave the home side a boost but Kelvin Davis' goal was hardly threatened, Chadwick shooting well wide from the edge of the area.

On the hour Alan Mahon curled a freekick from the right just over the bar but Town were threatening little, largely having to sit back and soak up the Lions' pressure.

Tim Cahill shot wide in the 62nd minute before Darren Bent put the ball across the face of the Millwall goal on a rare Town attack.

Peter Sweeney went into the ref's book for kicking the ball away after handling inside the centre circle. With virtually all decisions going against Town since the break, the Blues' support celebrated the freekick as if it were a goal.

With 12 minutes remaining there was more controversy when Tim Cahill went to ground inside the penalty area. Kelvin Davis had resisted the temptation to lunge in and even Mr Williamson spotted that the Millwall man had dived.

On 80 referee Williamson was again at the centre of the action when Pablo Couñago chased a pass forward on the right edge of the Millwall box. Tony Warner rushed out and grabbed the ball with his hands, taking it outside the penalty area.

With handling the ball outside the area an automatic red card and the foul denying Town a clear goalscoring opportunity, a red card seemed a formality. However, Warner was called over and was shown just a yellow card, much to the exasperation of the Blues' fans behind the goal.

Alan Mahon came off in the 84th minute, appearing to be nursing an injury, Martijn Reuser coming on for his first team action since August.

On 87 there was a scuffle in the penalty box involving a number of players when Chadwick and Braniff went into Kelvin Davis as he claimed a cross, however, this quickly broke up with the referee not showing any more cards.

Despite the Blues being down to ten men for the previous 40 minutes Millwall hadn't managed a shot on target. This changed in injury time when Fabian Wilnis blocked a Mark Quigley shot on the line with his head that was otherwise goal bound.

At the whistle Jim Magilton and several other Blues players surrounded the referee to discuss some of the game's incidents while he was booed off by the Town crowd.

A staunch defensive performance in trying circumstances with John McGreal particularly impressive at the back along with Santos, who did well before his sending off, and Bart-Williams who once more switched to centre-half.

The sending off probably came at the worst time for Town with the two attacking substitutions having been made only five minutes before.

The aerial outlet of Kuqi and the more defensive midfield play of Westlake would probably have been more useful for the ten men than Couñago and Mahon, both of whom looked a little off the pace after their recent injuries.

Mr Williamson's performance was by far the worst Town supporters have had to endure this season. Picky, inconsistent and twice pressured into wrong match-affecting decisions by the home appeals.

A point won rather than two lost given the situation Town found themselves in the second half, with the team showing the kind of spirit which bodes well ahead of next week's East Anglian derby.

Town: Davis, Wilnis, Richards, Santos, McGreal, Magilton, Bart-Williams, Wright, Westlake (Mahon 46 (Reuser 84)), Kuqi (Couñago 46), Bent.

Photo: Action Images

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