Saturday, May 7th 1938. MILLWALL'S 5-1 FAREWELL TO CITY AND THIRD DIVISION

Grecians' Plucky Fight: Amazing Scenes at Finish

Exeter City 1 Millwall 5, at St James's Park.

Millwall are now in the Second Division. They made no mistake at St James's Park this afternoon, and defeated the City by 5 to 1. There were about ten thousand spectators present when Millwall took the field to the accompaniment of a roar of cheering, and this was renewed when Bussey led the Grecians out. Bussey won the toss and Millwall's opening advance was checked by Shadwell. Away raced the City's left wing, and a dashing raid by McGill and Ebdon worried Millwall until Forsyth headed clear. The City continued to hold their own and the crowd was thrilled when Ebdon flashed in a brilliant 25-yards' drive which Yuill caught an and cleared. A goal kick to Exeter ended Millwall's retaliatory raid, and then the crowd went mad with delight as Ebdon, receiving from Shadwell, crashed the ball low into the net, Yuill being too late with his full-length dive. The game was being fought out with all the energy associated with a cup-tie, and the City's determined methods and long passing were bothering Millwall no end. Suddenly, however, Millwall flashed into the picture, giving the spectators a glimpse of the form which taken them to the head of the League. Rawlings raced past Ben Clarke and centred across the goalmouth, the ball going out of play on the far side. Rawlings, who was the star of the Millwall attack, equalised in the twentieth minute and gave his side the lead ten minutes later.
At half-time the "Lions" were leading by 2-1.
Second Half: Rawlings the Menace.

Outside-right Rawlings, Exeter's biggest menace in the first half, continued where he had left off, and he was the danger point in several visiting bursts which marked the opening play following the restart. He cut right through to hook the ball across the front of Exeter's goal and it was as well for the Grecians that Brown was in the correct position to kick clear. A shot by Rawlings from outside the penalty area, with the ball gathering speed all the way, was brilliantly punched over the bar by Church. Seven minutes of the second half had gone by when Millwall made their return to the Second Division certain, barring a miracle. McGill lost possession, and Rawlings, always alert, ran clear to give Angus the slip and place the ball along the ground for McLeod to draw Church out of his goal and drive home the third goal into an empty net. From Chiverton's nicely placed free kick Rawlings with a header scored Millwall's fourth goal. Although Millwall were playing like a championship team the City did not deserve to be three goals in arrears, and for a few minutes they threatened to strike a blow which might have given them a fighting chance. A shot by Bussey re rounded off the crossbar, and two powerful drives by Ebdon missed by the merest fraction. Ebdon, who was the City's best forward, was always ready to have a tilt at the Millwall defence, and his luck was dead out with the two shots described above. Exeter were attacking hard towards the close, but in keeping with the general run of the game Millwall punctuated a spell of defence with an all-out attack, brought off at amazing speed, and another goal. Who scored it? Well Rawlings of course, firing the ball home at express speed after Clarke had miskicked.

NOTES ON THE GAME.
Exeter, themselves starting like champions, took the lead in the first three minutes and continued on top in the early stages. Then Millwall staged a great come-back. An equalising goal cured them of nerves, and a second goal before the interval set them on the road to promotion. Once on terms Millwall were seldom in any danger. Exeter, however, made a plucky fight for more than an hour, and hardly deserved to be beaten by so wide a margin, for a header and a shot by Coulston and another shot by Bussey hit the framework of the goal, and two glorious drives by Ebdon in the second half were only inches wide.

The teams were:
EXETER CITY Church Brown B.Clarke
Shadwell Bamsey Angus Coulston Bussey Bowl Ebdon McGill
Referee:- Mr W. T. Strainge, of Bristol.
MILLWALL Yuill E.J.Smith Inns Brolly Chiverton Forsyth Rawlings Richardson McLeod Barker J.R.Smith

Amazing scenes marked the close of the match. Several hundred supporters of Millwall, led by a true product of the Old Kent Road, carrying a miniature stuffed lion, invaded the pitch, and carried the conquering team shoulder high from the field. Quite an occasional for the last match of the season it was for Exeter. And a word of praise is due to the Exeter supporters, who were at one with the Londoners in acclaiming the triumph of the Lions. The demonstration by the "cockneys" continued for several minutes in front of the grandstand. There were shouts for each of the players, from Yuill, the goalkeeper, to Smith, outside-left, and Charlie Hewitt, the manager, was not forgotten. The man of the match was Syd Rawlings, easily the best winger in
Third Division circles on today's form. Rawlings, who is the son of Archie Rawlings, the old Preston North End winger, has all the attributes of a first-class forward, and has been with three or four clubs, including Preston, Huddersfield Town, Northampton, and West Bromwich Albion, joining Millwall from the Cobblers before the start of the present season.

The visiting supporters very sportingly recognised the worth of Ebdon, who was the City's "man of the match." They made an attempt to carry him off the field shoulder high along with the players of their own side, but Dick dodged them.

• Exeter City parted with old friends in Millwall, who years ago gave the Grecians their support in the matter of the application by the Exeter club for admission to the Southern League, and the best wishes of the City go out to Millwall for a successful entry into the Second Division. It was later reported that Waterloo Station was besieged with Millwall's well-wishers this morning. Hundreds of them travelled by the Southern Railway, who found it necessary to duplicate the Atlantic Coast Express, besides running other specials. The Millwall team travelled this morning in a train packed with jubilant supporters. There was a suggestion that if Millwall won promotion to their players would stay the week end in Devon so that they could - day celebrate their triumph. If unsuccessful, the probability was that they would seek consolation amid the less salubrious neighbourhood of New Cross!
  
• WHEN SWANSEA WON PROMOTION.
  Today was not the first time that Exeter City had been playing in a last-day match which had a vital bearing on the promotion and championship question. Some seasons ago they visited Swansea on the first Saturday in May, and the "Swans," winning that game by 2-1, pipped Plymouth Argyle for the championship of the Southern Section. The official attendance at today's game was 9,436, with receipts of £570.