First matches of the season always make it difficult to predict line-ups and formations, with much of pre-season being all about experimentation and getting players involved. But there weren't too many surprises in what manager Russell Slade finally unveiled for the opening match of the 2006-07 season, with perhaps the most surprising selection being that midfielder Anthony Barry was deemed to have fully completed his rehabilitation from the awful dislocated knee that he sustained back in March - fellow midfielder Jean-Paul Kalala sat out the game on the bench. The most unusual spectacle was the lack of a substitute keeper - something that Slade employed whilst at Grimsby.

The opening period was unsurprisingly frenetic. As a result it took a while before things settled down from the flying boots in midfield, and the attempts of both sides to impose themselves on the game. Arron Davies almost drew first blood - a 13th minute snap shot from the edge of the box that had Lions keeper Lenny Pidgeley stretching and gathering at the second attempt. At the other end Andy Lindegaard had to be at his defensive best to deal with a deep cross from Millwall's right side, with Lindy superbly heading clear as Millwall striker Tom Brighton put him under pressure as he charged in to meet the ball.

Overall though, the Glovers were having the best of the first half, with the home side's passing and ball control woeful at times - Marvin Williams managed to run the ball out of play on the right flank unnecessarily on around four occasions during the opening half hour. Much slicker stuff was coming from Yeovil's midfield. Much has been made on Slade's arrival of the chances of the Glovers resorting to 'hoofball' - so far we've yet to see it, and the 27th minute multi-man move that almost brought Anthony Barry a goal was outstanding. Lindegaard, Paul Terry and Barry all exchanged right-flank passes before Lindy's ball through to Barry saw the former Accrington man let the ball run on, beating his marker and allowing him space to drive at goal. Pidgeley was forced to stretch a single arm out to divert the ball over the bar and from the resultant Cohen corner he was to the rescue in slightly less emphatic fashion - flapping at the cross before his defence hacked the loose ball away.

Millwall threatened little - a tame shot at Steve Mildenhall by Darren Byfield represented their first on target attempt with half an hour gone. Wayne Gray came far closer when he connected with a Chris Cohen left wing cross at the other end, but glanced his header wide. But three minutes later Wayne GRAY got a second bite of the cherry and he took full advantage. Nathan Jones and Matt Harrold combined well on the left allowing Chris Cohen to put a low ball to the near post where Arron Davies was lurking. In truth the touch from Davies was not a good one, but that was enough to completely wrong-foot Millwall defender Zak Whitbread, who could only watch as Gray netted from close range to put the Glovers 1-0 up. The cauldron that is The Den was stunned into silence - apart from 808 rather excitable travellers at the other end of the stadium of course!

Millwall boss Nigel Spackman was forced to react to a half that was undoubtedly going Yeovil Town's way by making an early substitution, introducing Neal Ardley into the frame just before the break. Darren Byfield almost equalised before the break, getting in front of Terry Skiverton on a near post cross, but his header went wide of the target, and the half time whistle was greeted by a chorus of boos by the home support. So far, so very good indeed!

The Glovers opened the second period in a positive fashion, forcing three corners in the first five minutes. Anthony Barry forced another after he went on a glorious 70 yard run through midfield, punctuated only by his attempt to feed Matt Harrold which resulted in a Millwall defender unwittingly 'clearing' the ball straight back into Barry's path. Eventually his shot on goal was blocked by a defender for a corner.

Millwall were threatening a lot more during the second period - getting players running off the ball into spaces and driving more at the Glovers back line. Only thing lacking was their shooting boots - the free kick from Filipe Morais right on the edge of the box was more of a backpass as it looped over the defensive wall into the arms of Steve Mildenhall. On the whole though, the home side's shooting wasn't even coming close to the arms of the Yeovil keeper.

Kevin James replaced Anthony Barry midway through the second half, with the latter having had an excellent match, but with his lack of match practice in the past 5 months no doubt being a factor behind his withdrawl. That tended to see the Glovers adopt a slightly more orthodox 4-4-2 with James on the whole hugging the right flank. Derek McInnes became the game's only booking when he upended Wayne Gray and when the Yeovil striker got decked a second time by a stray Millwall arm it wasn't long before he was replaced by David Poole, allowing James to assume a slightly more advanced position.

The game was now finely poised. Millwall had the upper hand in terms of territory, but the introduction of the pace of James and Poole was causing Millwall problems on the counter-attack. That was firmly on show when Steve Mildenhall produced an outstanding one-handed save from Tom Brighton with 15 minutes remaining, resulting in play racing to the other end where David Poole cut inside his marker, feeding the ball square to Matt Harrold who shot from the edge of the box, forcing home keeper Lenny Pidgeley to palm the ball away for a corner. From that set piece, Davies hit the ball short to Cohen who found Harrold creeping in at the back post but his header went into the side netting. Two minutes later and a 50 yard cross field ball by Davies was met on the volley by Kevin James, who struck the ball with extraordinary power and control, sending the ball narrowly wide of the target - another yard or two and the award for goal of the season would have already have been dished out!

Millwall introduced their second substitute in the last 10 minutes as Poul Hubertz replaced Filipe Morais. And with just 8 minutes remaining they got a goal out of nothing as some strong Glovers possession saw them dispossessed in midfield, catching Terry Skiverton out of position. The ball was fed out onto the left wing and Tom Brighton pumped the ball to the back post where Andy Lindegaard was back-pedalling to cover the empty space and Darren BYFIELD headed home from 10 yards out to give the Lions an equaliser that their second half performance probably deserved.

The home fans finally woke up from the relative slumbers that they had been in during most of the game, and one thing Yeovil had to make sure was that they didn't snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. The Lions' roar almost brought them a winning goal two minutes after Byfield's effort but thankfully some firm defending stopped any ball landing on target.

The final two chances of the match though belonged to Yeovil. Arron Davies probably should have shot earlier as his mazey run saw him continually twist and turn in front of Millwall defenders, with the Welshman having numerous opportunities to have a stab on goal. In the end Arron almost seemed to be trying to single-handedly walk the ball into the back of the net and a defender's boot forced the ball out for a corner. Then two minutes into injury time, Kevin James almost won it for the Glovers when Matt Harrold set him up with a nice looking inside pass, but the on-loan substitute dragged his shot just wide of the target.

Not a bad performance all-round for the Glovers and a very entertaining match to go with it. Obviously conceding so late on in the game meant for a fairly flat feeling at the end of the match, but there's little doubt that the Glovers competed well and deserved to come home with at least a point. Only in a dozen games time will we find out whether that was a good point or a bad point.

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