Birmingham 1 Millwall 1High noon at St Andrews ended with the likely prospect of another false dawn for Birmingham City when Dion Dublin headed a late equaliser to make Millwall favourites to reach the play-off final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
It was a bitter denouement for Birmingham - who have lost at the semi-final stage for the past three seasons - because not only has Dublin been loaned to Millwall by bitter rivals Aston Villa, but the striker and City manager Steve Bruce were Manchester United team-mates in the early 1990s.
"He's a very good pro and has been a great signing for them," Bruce said. "Obviously I knew all about his ability in the air and we spent two or three days working on how to cut out balls into our penalty area. We knew we could not afford to give him even one free header and that's how it turned out. One lapse in concentration has cost us."
While Bruce remains bullish in advance of Thursday's second leg, his Millwall counterpart Mark McGhee exuded caution. "Hopefully we've got an advantage through being at home in the second leg," he said. "But we are under no illusions, it's still enormously difficult. There was no onus on us to try and win the game today but there will be on Thursday.
Four successive defeats had indicated Millwall's challenge for a second successive promotion was spluttering when Dublin joined them. In the six games since, Millwall remain unbeaten with Dublin scoring three times.
Although City enjoyed more possession, they lacked the wit to use it. Instead, it was the visitors who looked the more composed and played what little football there was in an understandably fractious and tense affair.
Their winger Steven Reid, however, rose above it all and was a constant source of discomfort for the hosts, especially at set-pieces. A shot from one after 13 minutes forced Nico Vaesen to use his fists to save before his cross from another resulted in Tim Cahill heading into the side-netting.
It was against the run of play when Bryan Hughes volleyed Martin Grainger's diagonal chip past Tony Warner and into the far corner on 56 minutes. Millwall could have paid more dearly had Tommy Mooney not missed after Geoff Horsfield set him up in front of an empty goal.
Dublin, however, had the last word when he stole between Darren Purse and Grainger to guide Reid's cross past Vaesen.
BIRMINGHAM: Vaesen, Kenna, Purse, Tebily, Grainger, Damien Johnson, Bryan Hughes, Carter, Mooney (Lazaridis 89), John, Horsfield.Subs Not Used: Bennett, Woodhouse, Andrew Johnson, Vickers. Goal: Bryan Hughes 56.
MILLWALL: Warner, Lawrence, Nethercott, Ward, Bull, Ifill, Livermore, Cahill, Reid, Harris (Claridge 75), Dublin. Subs Not Used: Gueret, Ryan, Bircham, Dyche. Booked: Livermore. Goal: Dublin 80.
Referee: A Bates (Stoke on Trent).
