A night to forget at The Den, but is that possible?

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LEYTON Orient manager Martin Ling described this extraordinary game as a video bestseller, whereas Lions boss Willie Donachie could have called it a video nasty.

On a tumultuous and bad-tempered night at The Den, Lions fans were left shell shocked as defensive calamities gifted Orient a 3-0 lead inside 12 minutes.

As Ling pointed out, his team had the game virtually won without stringing together a single pass.

Shock turned to delirious expectation as Millwall forced their way back to 3-2 in five second-half minutes, only for more defensive blunders to bring everyone crashing back to earth with a resounding thud.

In particular, Mark Phillips and Lenny Pidgeley will not enjoy watching this video nasty anymore than their fans, whereas Os' hat-trick hero Ryan Jarvis will add it to the match ball.

We can only hope Millwall have now used up their quota of individual errors for the season.

The biggest home gate of the season had descended on south London expecting Millwall to build on three consecutive wins by overcoming their opponents from east London.

But nothing could have prepared the home, or the vociferous away, faithful for what they were about to witness.

Donachie, who called the match bizarre', made one change to the side which beat Oldham at the weekend - drafting in Marvin Williams off the bench for the injured Alan Dunne.

With their suspensions served, Paul Robinson and Chris Zebroski were named as substitutes with Ali Fuseini the man to miss out.

The match was barely five minutes old when Orient's Gary Alexander was given the freedom of the six-yard box to head a corner past Pidgeley.

Acceptance turned to annoyance when, on seven minutes, Alexander broke clear and with The Den howling for an offside flag which never came, the striker bared down on Pidgeley.

The keeper, with the help of Richard Shaw, repelled the first wave but the ball fell to Jarvis who finished from an angle.

Millwall responded with a Neil Harris header from eight yards which looped over Glyn Garner in the Os' goal but rebounded off the crossbar.

To add injury to insult, Phillips made a hash of a simple back-pass moments later which gave Jarvis the freedom of The Den to round Pidgeley and make it 3-0.

Williams was booked for a clumsy tackle, borne out of frustration, on Donny Barnard and the Os defender was substituted soon after with the effects - Wayne Corden taking his place.

The Lions faithful were howling again when Garner raced out of his penalty area to ward off Darren Byfield and as the pair converged near the corner flag, the goalkeeper appeared to handle the ball.

But referee Alan Wiley, on a break from the Premiership, dished out just a yellow card to the lucky keeper.

From the free-kick Phillips almost made amends for his earlier blunder but his header came back off the charmed Os' crossbar.

Just before the half-hour mark, Williams intercepted a poor Garner clearance only for his progress into the penalty area to end by tumbling under pressure from Os skipper John Mackie - calls for a penalty were mainly confined to the stands.

Orient came back with Shane Tudor skinning Tony Craig and winning a free-kick off the fullback which Justin Miller headed narrowly over.

When the teams last met, Craig was harshly sent off for a challenge on Tudor and it seemed the Lion was out for revenge following the hefty challenge.

This was confirmed when, moments later, Craig was again adjudged to have fouled Tudor when the as the pair rose for an aerial ball and the referee made it clear - one more misdemeanour meant a card.

Phillips continued in a fashion shakier than 80s singer Stevens by putting Pidgeley under unnecessary pressure with a back pass from all of three yards.

Things got worse when he gifted possession to Alexander, although this time the striker was off target with a 25-yard drive.

Donachie made a tactical change after 38 minutes replacing Harris with Poul Hubertz and soon after Alexander was booked for kicking the ball away.

Aside from this, Millwall were getting little from the referee and for someone the size of Os central defender Brian Saah, he went down very easily to win countless free-kicks.

With the half-time whistle came the boos.

Donachie introduce Chris Hackett at Brighton's expense at the start of the second half and Craig was finally booked following a third foul on Tudor.

On 49 minutes Mackie fouled Craig on the edge of the Orient 'D' and Danny Senda watch in disbelief as his free-kick left Garner flat-footed but cannoned off the cross bar.

It was the third time the woodwork had come to Orient's salvation.

The fullback was presented with an identical chance seven minutes later but this time the ball floated harmlessly over.

In between Senda's effort, Orient's Corden had two 25-yard drives - the first went narrowly wide and the second was scuffed to present Pidgeley with the simplest of pick-ups.

The Den crowd were further incensed by the man in black when Byfield, baring down on Garner, appeared to be hauled down by Craig Easton only for the striker to be penalised.

Hubertz, presumably for arguing the point too forcibly, found himself in the book.

The referee then missed a good shout for handball as Byfield's back-heel, intended for Hubertz, hit Mackie on the arm.

Millwall's breakthrough came on 65 minutes when David Brammer's free-kick was turned into his own net from six yards by Alexander.

At 3-1, the Os keeper tested the referee's patience with delaying tactics and one would suspect if he had not been booked in the first half, he would have been in the second.

But despite the tactics, Millwall were right back in the game on 68 minutes thanks to a brilliant piece of Hubertz skill.

The Dane lifted a deft pass over Mackie - aka Gazza over Hendry in Euro 96 - before burying the ball past Garner for 3-2.

The Den erupted and a wave of optimism swept through the ground, not just for an equaliser but possibly a winner too.

Controversy followed on 72 minutes when Byfield tumbled while trying to connect to a low cross and ended up prostrate in the Os six-yard box.

Much to the consternation of the Lions fans, Orient played on until they won a free-kick in the Millwall half and only then did Byfield get treatment.

Remember that fact'.

Any thought of a comeback disappeared in a moment of Pidegely madness.

The keeper scuffed his goal kick and it landed at Alexander's feet.

The striker released Jarvis who, with a slight hint of offside, slotted the ball past the out-rushing Pidgeley to complete his hat-trick and leave the Millwall custodian lying facedown in his own despair.

Donachie threw on Zebroski for Craig but the Os were dominant and Alexander should have scored number five but he skewed Matthew Lockwood's cut-back wide.

Now, recall the fact', as in the melee of the Os chance, Justin Miller was left on the deck in the penalty area.

This time it was Millwall who refused the kick the ball into touch and when they lost possession and Orient put the ball over the touchline, the Lions refused to throw it back to the visitors.

Instead, Williams moved the ball in the corner where he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground by Os' sub Adam Tann, who was booked for his troubles, and he was soon followed by Corden for arguing.

As the match neared its climax, Phillips put Brammer's cut-back wide.

Orient substituted Jarvis to give him his standing ovation and James Walker - making his last loan appearance for the club before returning to Charlton - entered the fray.

And he was soon on the scoresheet when Richard Shaw's wayward header fell to Alexander who set up Walker for a run on goal, a neat side-foot round Pidgeley and the simplest of tap-ins for 5-2.

It could, and perhaps was, 6-2 on 94 minutes when Tann saw his effort cannon off the underside of the bar onto the line and out - the Orient players said afterwards it had crossed the line, but then they would, wouldn't they?

The reprieve was scant consolation as the final whistle triggered derision from the stands.

It was borne out of shock and, moreover, a sense of disappointment at daring to think, for the first time in a long time, this was a game 'current form' demanded they win.

MATCH FACTS:

MILLWALL: Pidgeley, Craig (Zebroski, 77), Elliott, Senda, Shaw, Phillips, Elliott, Brammer, Brighton (Hackett, 46), Williams, Harris (Hubertz, 38), Byfield.

SUBS NOT USED: Robinson, Day.

ATT: 10,356.