The Worthless Cup tonight provided real excitement and entertainment for the 13,000 Town fans at Portman Road. They scraped' through 5-0 on the night, and 5-2 on aggregate. The very last game to be played under the Portman Road floodlight pylons (they are due to be pulled down and replaced by a new system for the West Ham game) saw Ipswich take Millwall to extra time before finishing them off. The score line does not reflect how close Millwall came to pulling off what would be for them, a great win. It took Town until the final few minutes of normal time to finally equalise against the South Londoners, who had been somewhat harshly reduced to nine men after two of their players received marching orders from a pedantic and card happy referee. Burley made a couple of changes to the team, reinstalling Martin Reuser to midfield in place of Jermaine Wright, and giving David Johnson the opportunity to reform his partnership with Scowie, in place Stewart who was resting his groin. Mcgreal also returned to central defence in place of Veno. Town started brightly, but as expected Millwall set their stall out and made it difficult for Town settle into their game. Chances fell to Scowcroft, Clapham and Johnson, while it was our own Mcgreal who came closest for the visitors. He watched his clearance header whiz much nearer the cross bar than he intended. Joe Dolan was booked after hauling Johnson down to the ground, just as the Jamacian born striker was shaping up to shoot. We thought we had all seen the vital breakthrough after 28 minutes, when Ipswich won a penalty. Martin Reuser, who had been having a quiet game, found himself in a great position and heading towards the goal, through the middle. He began to weave his way around the Millwall defence, and had his legs taken away from underneath him. Again, it was the folically challenged Joe Dolan who had lunged in. After he had been told by the ref to enjoy an early shower before all the hot water goes, Magilton stepped up and struck the spot kick fairly well down to the keepers' bottom right corner. Tony Warner however, made a great save to send the Millwall fans delirious. Every penalty Magilton has taken recently has been to this spot, and any keeper, which does a bit of homework, will go the same way. It's time Magilton practised placing the ball somewhere else, or passes the responsibility on someone else. A flurry of corners followed, but Millwall cleared their lines each time, and the chance of an early goal was gone. It looked like it may be a hard task to score against 11 men, but with only 10 it possibly became harder, as Millwall lost any slight notion they may have had about attacking, and built a tidy 10 man defence. Despite much possession, Town were unable to score. Half time: Ipswich 0, Millwall 0. The second half began with Burley deciding to make one change, surprisingly swapping right wing back Fabian Wilnis with Jermaine Wright. Jamma has been getting rave reviews of late, and tonight he added another feather to his cap, by showing just how versatile he is. Playing in this new role, he looked more than competent. Town really decided to go for it, and spent the majority of play camped in the Millwall half. There really were too many chances to mention, but as the clock ticked down it began to look like it was going to be one of those nights when the ball just would not go in. Countless goal attempts rained in at keeper Tony Warner, but the David James look alike (he was even James' understudy at Liverpool!) was having a stormer, and caught everything that came his way. Town's cause was helped drastically, when after 71 minutes Referee Andy Hall harshly sent off Millwall's Steven Reid for a challenge on Bramble. While it was a very welcome decision, you had to feel for Reid, who could hardly believe his luck. The ball was crossed, and bounced high, as both Reid and Bramble flung themselves feet first into the air in an effort to win the ball. Bramble was fractionally quicker, which meant Reid inevitably caught Bramble as they both tumbled to the floor. A free kick seemed a good result, but somehow Hall felt it warranted a red card, as Reid was previously unbooked. With only nine men to beat, it didn't take long for the boys to finally turn their dominance into goals. After 75 minutes David Johnson finally found the net, neatly flicking on a Mcgreal cross with his head. It was a relief to see Johno finally find the target, and hopefully will give his confidence a big boost. With 15 minutes left, the crowd could now sense a comeback was back on the cards, and really got behind the team. Naylor replaced Scowcroft, and Burley decided to blood new boy Amir Karic, taking off Hreidarsson. The chances came thick and fast, but again they all went begging. Time was fast running out when Burley sent Bramble to play up front with the 10 minutes remaining. In the 87th minute Karic showed some of his touted crossing ability by whipping in a cross which Millwall were unable to clear. The ball fell to Bramble, who planted a header firmly in the top corner. It was a cruel blow to Millwall, who looked like they would hang on, but from that point there was no way Town could lose. Or so we thought! With one last effort, Millwall broke as Ipswich looked to have forgotten that the other team were allowed to attack. Cahill looked as if he had tucked the ball away, but Wrighty, who had been snoozing all night, pulled off a great reaction save. It underlined what a great keeper he is, and broke Millwall hearts. In extra time, it took Town only 40 seconds before Holland put Town ahead with a solid shot that beat Warner, after a pass from Reuser. Next it was Magilton's turn, his shot taking a deflection before beating the hapless Warner. Johnson got his brace of the game after 115 minutes, with another header after good work from Jamma and Super Jim. The game wound down with Millwall players wanting to leave to pitch before the rout was finished. The ref got into a bit of a strop, and demanded at least one player to come back. So the action finished with the rather unusual sight of Cahill standing on the half way line with one foot in the field of play! To summarise, this was a very entertaining night of cup drama, in this much-maligned competition. The 13,000 crowd, which was helped by a good following from South London, were given full value for money. The result just about went the right way, and this competion will give Burley another chance to tinker with his team in the next round. Reuser took his chance well, and proved what a threat he can be down the right channel. We saw the Karic make his debut, and while he looked a little rusty, showed how he can really whip crosses in from the left, and reminded me of a certain Neil Thompson. With time to settle, he could prove a bargain.

From The Terrace