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Littlewoods Cup: Leyton Orient Away
 
Sean's Cup Carry On
 
Teenage Millwall full back Sean Sparham, who made his Football League debut at Middlesbrough on Saturday, looks certain to get his first taste of Cup action at Brisbane Road tonight.

Sparham who was plunged in at the deep end because of injuries to Nicky Coleman and Danis Salman, hardly put a foot wrong during Millwall's impressive 1-1 draw at Aryesome park.

And the talented 18-year-old seems certain to keep his place for tonight's Littlewood's Cup game against Leyton Orient, with Salman and Coleman still some way from match fitness.

"It was a big occasion for Sean but he handled it like a seasoned professional and I have got no qualms about keeping him in the side," said Lions manager John Docherty.

Les Briley, who took over from injury plagued Dave Mehmet after half an hour of Saturday's game, is likely to start tonight's match, as Millwall try to build on that promising opening performance.

"It's a question of trying to create more chances without sacrificing our defensive tightness", said Docherty. "There are signs that we are moving an the right direction but I'm not completely satisfied yet."

 
Docherty Delighted
 
MILLWALL were held 1-1 by Fourth Division Leyton Orient in the Littlewoods Cup last night but manager John Docherty bubbled: "I think we may the on verge of achieving something big."

With the club's finances boosted by a sponsorship deal with Lewisham Council, Docherty has spent £650,000 to import Tony Cascarino, George Lawrence, Kevin O'Callaghan and Steve Wood to the Den.

Orient took a 40th minute lead when Kevin Hales converted a penalty after Walker fouled Kevin Goodfrey. Millwall levelled four minutes later when substitute Darren Morgan scored.

MAGIC MORGAN: Darren Slams Cup Cracker
Leyton Orient (1) 1
Hales (41 pen) 		Millwall (1) 1
Morgan (44)
 
MILLWALL skipper Alan McLeary could be side lined for up to a month after limping out of this Littlewoods Cup tie with badly torn knee ligaments.

By Rob Bowden

Mcleary's untimely injury cast a shadow over another stylish performance by Millwall, who dominated the match for long spells but couldn’t turn their superiority into goals.

Tony Cascarino, Teddy Sheringham and George Lawrence missed enough chances to make Tuesday night’s second leg little more than a formality but Lions manager John was still in a bubbly mood at the end.

"I learnt a lot about my side tonight, I learnt that when we get it right we are going to score a lot of goals," he enthused.

"We were without Kevin O'Callaghan, Michael Marks, Danis Salman and Nicky Coleman because of injury and Steve Wood through suspension yet I was still able to field a side that looked full of goals.”

Docherty has preached the need for goals from every department during Millwall’s pre-season programme, but even he must have been surprised when substitute Darren Morgan popped up with the Lions 45th minute equaliser.

Morgan,who came on for McLeary after a quarter of an hour, had already shown a refreshing willingness to run at Orient's well drilled defence.

And with fist half injury time ticking away the talented young fullback showed his strikers how it should be done, skipping past one challenge before planting a 20 yard drive into the bottom right hand corner.

Earlier Lawrence had flashed a header inches over the top. Cascarino had a shot charged down and Sheringham had a back header saved.

But Kevin Godfrey gave the Orient fans something to cheer about with a jinking run and a cross that Ian Juryeff clipped over the bar and four minutes before the break the O's surprised everyone including themselves by taking the lead.

Alan Walker must shoulder some of the blame for failing to cut out Steve Castle's intelligent through ball and when Keith Stevens sent the troublesome Godfrey tumbling referee Philip Don had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot.

Stevens was booked for protesting his innocence and Kevin Hales, Orient's newly elected penalty taker compounded Millwall’s misery to send Brian Horne the wrong way.

The catalogue of missed chances continued during an untidy disjointed second half.

Lawrence just failed to capitalise on a horrendous error of judgement by John Sitton, who found himself cast in an unfamiliar full back's role when Henry Hughton was carried off with a thigh injury.

And right at the death there was another reprieve for Orient when Cascarino couldn’t quite turn the ball in from tightest of angles.

RATINGS: Horne ****, Stevens ***, Sparham ****, Hurlock ***, Walker ***, McLeary (off 15), Lawrence ***, Briley ***, Sheringham **. Sub Morgan ****. Referee: P Don (Middlesex).

Bookings: Hurlock and Stevens.

Attendance: 4,893

Match Rating 3.
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