CHELTENHAM Town boss Martin allen suffered the first defeat of his tenure at the New Den this afternoon.

A determined Cheltenham rearguard held out for almost 70 minutes before their dogged resistance was ended by Millwall's Gary Alexander from the penalty spot.

Wide-man David Martin ended the game as a contest 10 minutes from time with a sublime first-time effort from the edge of the box that left Shane Higgs with no chance.

It was less than Allen's team deserved after keeping their opponents at bay for over an hour despite nursing a one-man disadvantage following the dismissal of striker Barry Hayles midway through the first half.

Hayles was shown a straight red for a late challenge when contesting a header with Millwall defender Paul Robinson in the 24th minute.

Cheltenham were forced to endure relentless spells of pressure but went closest to breaking the deadlock before half-time.

Alex Russell rattled a post from the edge of the box in the 35th minute.

The Robins had managed to stand their ground well in the face of Millwall's superior possession and restricted them to just two meaningul opportunities.

Defender Michael Townsend was on hand to thwart Lewis Grabban when he broke clear after capitalising on a Gavin Caines mis-kick in the 22nd minute.

The Millwall striker had another chance soon after but arrowed a shot over the bar following nifty footwork to create the opening.

Allen made three changes from the side that opened his tenure with a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers.

The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Paul Connor in an unfamiliar central midfield role in place of David Bird, who was relegated to the bench.

That experiment lasted less than 25 minutes, before Bird was introduced alongside Russell and Connor was switched to the right-hand side in place of substituted Josh Low.

New signing Drissa Diallo was handed a debut at right-back, with Andy Gallinagh dropping out.

Townsend got his first start under the new manager because of an injury to Shane Duff.

Millwall: Forde, Robinson, Whitbread, Alexander, Grabban, Hackett, Craig, Brkovic, Martin, Fuseini, Abdou. Subs: Edwards, Frampton, Grimes, Forbes, Laird.

Cheltenham: Higgs, Wright, Caines, Townsend, Low, Connor, Russell, Hayles, Murray, Owusu, Diallo. Subs: Scott P Brown, Bird, Ben Gill, Vincent, Gallinagh.