Another night of pride for Lincoln City – Imps 2-4 Everton

As the sides came out from the second half I commented we just needed to hold on to the draw for as long as we could. I imagined Danny in the dressing room talking about breaking the game up into chunks, about not being rash and keeping our shape. I thought we came out and did just that.

We probably had the best chance of the opening few minutes when Jordan Pickford made a save from Jason Shackell. Every set piece we won was greeted with the sort of cheer reserved for a goal. every time we won possession, every tackle and header we got right seemed to lift the crowd more and more. It was a real ‘us and them’ feel, more so than a lot of league games. The crowd had bought into the game because of their lineup, more than anything I think. It set a real stage and our players performed their roles diligently.

Then they scored. I felt for Michael O’Connor after the penalty had been awarded. At the time I thought it was stonewall and although Schneiderlin went down easy, I think it was a ‘foul’ in the strictest sense. I could see the headlines being written; Smith saves penalty as Lincoln progress, but when £40m Sigurðsson rammed it home those images quickly disappeared.

What did we do after that? Went into full shithouse mode. We had been there for much of the game; slowing down the restarts, taking time and breaking up the flow of the game. We did it as well as Wycombe did against us in 2017/18 and at times in frustrated Everton. As the ball was to be retrieved from the net, we got into unsettling them further.

Should Jordan Pickford have run the length of the field to get involved? No, but if Grant Smith did the same for us we’d think he was a top lad. Should Moise Keane have been penalised for throwing a covert punch at Jason Shackell? Yes, but again it was the sort of thing some of our fans might celebrate if ours did it. It wasn’t an angry and direct punch, it was part of a melee caused by both sides in order to ramp up the atmosphere. It unsettled Everton and that was proven when Joe Morrell drew Pickford’s ire and earned the £25m keeper a yellow card in the process.

We were playing all our cards, every hand we knew, every trick we’d ever been taught. Bring those players down to our level, make them fight and battle, let them see what commitment and passion can bring out of a group of players and a set of fans. I thought Everton dealt with it well and after the penalty, the game ebbed and flowed nicely.

Alex Iwobi had a chance for them, but the dominance I thought they showed in the first half seemed to fade a bit. Perhaps at 2-1 they felt they could play the game at a slower pace, I don’t know. I do know we made three changes, a bold decision against a top side. From what I could see, Neal Eardley went into central midfield, Jorge Grant went into the ten role and Michael Bostwick went into anyone who dared get within three feet of him.

Grant could have given us the lead, lashing out at a volley after great work from Harry Toffolo. I’d just said to Matt that we’d get one chance, he chuckled and said; ‘there’s the one chance’. Jorge Grant has great technique but it left him for a few seconds. Not long after, we got a finish that any Premier League player would be proud of.

You saw it, I won’t labour on it too much. Great work by Aaron Lewis resulted in a loose ball falling to Bruno Andrade and he hit a shot that was described to me by someone watching at home as ‘one of the cleanest hits that I’ve ever seen’. That came from someone who had a season ticket at Manchester United when Eric Cantona played.

I’ll finish the description of Bruno’s goal with the words of Darren Bent on Quest TV: “If we see a better goal in the cup this season, I can’t wait to see it because that is pure technique. Everything in that strike is unbelievable. If anyone else like Ronaldo had scored that, we’d be talking about for years to come”

Quite.

2-2, our backs were up and for a moment, for a brief moment, I saw those headlines again. ‘David slays Goliath and his entourage’, ‘Penalty agony for Everton at Sincil Bank’. I thought we might even sneak a winner. John Akinde was giving us a masterclass in how to play a lone striker against higher-level opposition, fighting for every ball, chasing hard and showing great strength. Bits and pieces looked like they might break and Neal Eardley flashed a shot at goal hinting at a grandstand finish.

Sadly, that’s what we got. Firstly Alex Iwobi netted from close range after good work from Everton; their first goal of the evening from open play. It didn’t deter City and we were back up top winning a corner straight after, but it came to nothing before Richarlison bagged a late goal to add gloss to a scoreline that pundits say barely deserved it.

Personally, I disagree. I think we were brilliant, I think we gave a great account of ourselves, but I did feel they were two goals better than we were. They’re worth 1300 times more, so a two-goal margin is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

My big worry was them grabbing a fifth and suggesting a hammering, which wasn’t the case, but we held on for a famous defeat. It’s not very often you can claim a famous defeat either; I wouldn’t say our 5-0 loss at the Emirates was a famous defeat for instance. On that occasion, we had one chance and came away proud, but in our place. Last night, I came away bursting with pride, to a point where it felt like a win. We hadn’t been put in our place, we’d told the world exactly where our place was. We’d been the very best version of ourselves on the field and in the stands. Apart from the guy with the Liverpool shirt, there must be a better version of him, somewhere.

We’re back in the real world this weekend, Fleetwood Town in league action and very quickly last night will become yet another chapter in the ever-expanding book of great nights under Danny and Nicky Cowley, but we proved something last night’ we proved we’re the same dogged side we’ve always been, that the new style is merely the gloss on a wall built on fight, passion and togetherness.

As for picking a Man of the Match, it seems almost crass to do so. Every player, from Joe Morrell to Jack Payne, John Akinde to Cian Bolger, was excellent. I’ve gone for Aaron Lewis because not only was he superb, but it was only his second outing for us and he’s the one with the biggest point to prove. He proved it last night, in bucketloads.

We were asked the hardest question we’ve been asked in many, many years at Sincil Bank last night and although we didn’t win the game, I think we answered it with aplomb. Goliath might have won, but I think David walked away having won many, many more friends.

SW Man of the Match – Aaron Lewis