Emotions boil over as Robins fall short in the final third

Talking points from Bristol City's Championship defeat to Millwall at Ashton Gate, by Dan Carter

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YOU'LL do well to find a clearer example of frustration in football than that displayed by the Bristol City players, staff, and fans in the moments that followed the full-time whistle at the end of the Robins' defeat to Millwall.

Whether by his own volition or having been provoked, the usually measured Jason Knight found himself in the middle of a melee which seemingly involved everyone in each dugout. The scale of the brawl was perhaps emphasised by the fact both Joe Williams and Harry Cornick were in the midst of it, two players with a combined six minutes of competitive action this season.

Gerhard Struber was keen to stress that such emotions shouldn't have bubbled over, but in the eyes of the Robins boss and most of a red and white persuasion inside BS3, this was a cauldron that had been close to boiling point for much of the previous threequarters of an hour.

Such a climax couldn't have felt much further away during the opening exchanges. Buoyed by their win over Portsmouth last time out, City impressed as they produced some smart passing moves and caused problems in transition, albeit without truly testing Max Crocombe in the Lions' net ahead of the interval.

More of the same followed in the second half before the script was turned on its head just before the hour-mark. Having watched Radek Vitek twice deny Femi Azeez from the right side of the penalty area, Mihailo Ivanovic was Johnny-on-the-spot to smash beyond the Manchester United loanee at the third time of asking and hand Millwall the lead.