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MILLWALL'S magnificent golden oldies brought the house down on Villa's title charge and ended a run of 11 games without a win.

Terry Hurlock and Les Briley proved they're still the Lions' winning combination as they made Villa's England new boy David Platt look distinctly second class.

Those wily old campaigners hadn't been together during Millwall's two months of misery, but Hurlock's first game back from suspension was just the spark they needed to romp clear of the relegation zone.

First Tony Cascarino soared to nod in Jimmy Carter's 50th-minute cross, and then Paul Stephenson finished off Briley's deep lob with a telling 64th-minute shot.

Delighted Millwall boss John Docherty said: "When all my players are fit we are a match for any team in the country, and it's excellent when we can do this to a team with League championship ambitions."

Villa Assistant manager John Ward put it quite diplomatically when he said: "We didn't win enough tackles"

But Villa management's displeasure centred on Injuries to Kent Nielsen and Stuart Gray as much as their team's failure to win the majority of 50-50 challenges.

Certainly, Millwall's methods were not always legal, and we’re still trying to figure out why referee Roger Gifford inquired about the names of only two of their players.

For all that, though, it was a day when the likes of Gordon Cowans, David Platt and lan Ormondroyd were rendered totally ineffective, and Tony Daley simply did not see enough of the ball to capitalise on his obvious dominance down the right.

Young lan Olney, too, failed to make any serious inroads Into the home fortress, although you could only admire his ability, even under pressure, to control high balls on his chest and lay off accurate passes to colleagues.

Sadly, most of Olney's best work was performed within 10 yards or so of the half-way line, rather than where it really counts. Compare that with Tony Cascarino, the Mlliwall striker linked with a move to Villa Park a few weeks back. I

n one split second he demonstrated why Mlllwall value him at £2 million, meeting Jimmy Carter's centre to send a near-post leader looping over Nigel Spink.

It was only after Paul Stephenson had slid home Millwall's second that Villa indicated they were capable of making a breakthrough.

McGrath's header from a Chris Price centre necessitated Brian Horne's first save after 76 minutes, and the keeper did exceptionally well to tip away a late Platt shot which was curling towards the top corner.