The Lions failed to score in two legs against the resurgent Tigers
Anthony Patterson on the floor after Joe Gelhardt’s shot beat him to seal Hull City’s 2-0 win at The Den(Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Alex Neil cut a forlorn figure after watching Millwall crash out of the Championship play-offs at the expense of Hull City, who delivered a clinical away display in the second leg of their semi-final.
The Scotsman, who guided the Lions to third place in the regular Championship season, were beaten 2-0 by City at The Den thanks to second-half goals from Mo Belloumi and Joe Gelhardt, to send the Tigers to Wembley for the Championship play-off final next weekend.
Neil was particularly frustrated at the way in which his side afforded Mo Belloumi the time and space to craft a delicious opener, before crossing for Joe Gelhardt to power in the second, under goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.
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“We didn’t do enough across the piece. Honestly, until the first goal, I didn’t really think either team had done enough. The first goal was always going to decide the game,” a visibly dejected Neil said.
“They changed their shape to try and be a little bit more solid behind the ball, which they were. I thought they started brightly, and then we found our feet about fifteen minutes into the game. We were good for about a ten, fifteen-minute spell, and leading into half-time, I thought it was pretty even, and there wasn’t much in it. You have to give Hull credit for defending well, but as an attacking force, we didn’t have enough across the 90 minutes.”
“But within 30 seconds or one minute, the ball’s in the back of your net. We don’t get out down the line of the ball quickly enough. Their lad (Belloumi) came inside on his left foot, which we spoke about all week to stop. We know how dangerous he is when he does that. Both wingers are inverted. We’ve stopped it for a game and a half. We don’t deal with it well enough.
“Then from there we start to chase our tails. We try to keep the ball in play for the second one rather than just dealing with it. Then ultimately that transition ends up in the goal. I’m sure (Anthony) Patterson probably thinks he could do a bit better with it as well
“Then at that stage, really, was when I think the game was taken away from us at that point. Then we lose Tristan (Crama) later on. They have numerous breakaways, and we just didn’t really create anywhere near enough in the game.”
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