Billy O'Neill gave Bristol City Under-21s the lead at the HPC, but Millwall came from behind to claim all three points

Bristol City Under-21s fell to their first home defeat of the Professional Development League campaign on Tuesday afternoon, as Millwall came from behind to beat Louis Carey’s side at the Robins High Performance Centre.

A Jack Howland brace and a first-half chip from Yanis Issoufou ensured that, by the time the full-time whistle was blown, Billy O’Neill’s early opener counted for very little as the Lions ran out 3-1 winners at City’s Failand training base.

The Irish youngster gave the Reds the lead midway through the opening period, but by the break, it was the away side who were in the driver’s seat. Ultimately, the points were then wrapped up within minutes of the start of the second period, when Howland found the back of the net with a composed spot-kick.

Tuesday’s defeat is City’s third of the season in all competitions and their second of the league campaign. Carey’s side are without a win in their last four in all competitions, a run that they’ll next have the chance to curtail next Friday, when they travel to South Wales to face Swansea City.

After a frantic opening few minutes, the first real chance of the contest fell to the Young Robins and, in particular, Elijah Morrison. Following some great work from Leo Pecover near the halfway line, the 20-year-old found himself one-on-one with Lions stopper Jakub Przewozny, but his left-footed shot ended up the wrong side of the post and the opportunity went begging.

City were able to continue to exploit Millwall’s high line to carve out further scoring chances in the early exchanges, with Pecover the next to spurn a positive opening. Picked out in the middle of the penalty area by a chipped cross, the attacking midfielder couldn’t keep his header down, looping the effort up and over the crossbar from reasonably close-range.

O’Neill, however, didn’t make the same mistake when he fashioned some space inside the penalty area around the 20-minute mark.

Having taken the ball away from his marker with a clever first touch, the Irish youth international rolled a low, left-footed finish beyond the reach of Przewozny to hand the Reds an early lead.

Pecover and Ephraim Yeboah both had half chances to further extend that advantage, chances that they were made to rue when Millwall pulled level through Issoufou shortly after the half-hour mark. A clever through ball left the Lions winger one-on-one with Isaac Finch and with the most composed of chips, he lifted up and over the City stopper to peg back the Robins.

Before Carey’s side could muster a response, the visitors had taken the lead. From just inside the penalty area, Howland prodded a left-foot strike towards goal after a spell of sustained Millwall possession. Though Finch was able to get a hand to the strike as it made its way towards the bottom left corner, the Robins keeper couldn’t turn round the post, ensuring the away side had their noses ahead at the break.

As they had done in the opening period, City started the second half positively, with Tomos Gibbs going close from a Rhys Knight free-kick, but within 10 minutes of the restart, the Lions’ lead was doubled.

From the penalty spot, Howland slotted home his second of the afternoon after what appeared to be Dan Ezendu was adjudged to have bundled over his man inside the area.

The remainder of the second period played out with little in the way of goalmouth action. Millwall’s number 10, Howland, did, though, have the chance to claim his hat-trick in the closing exchanges when he was picked out inside the area. While the forward appeared to have got the better of Finch with his attempt, it ruffled the side netting, rather than the bottom corner.

Having struggled to ask too many questions of Przewozny after the interval, Morrison forced a smart save out of the visitors’ stopper from range with just minutes left on the clock, earning the Reds a corner which they were unable to make the most of.

With that stop, the points were wrapped up, and any hopes of a late comeback vanished.