The second half was completely different and almost the same. Once again, Lincoln City were the dominant side in terms of possession, but the things I felt we hadn’t done well in the first half, we improved upon. A case point in aerial challenges won. I picked up on it on Twitter at the time, but the first half was 31% to us. By the end of the game, that had swung in our favour, up to 51%. That’s a big swing and it shows the difference made by a few factors in the second period.
I felt Harry Anderson caused many more problems in the second 45 – his brute strength creating a couple of good opportunities to delivers, as well as his drop of the shoulder getting the better of his marker. Zach Elbouzedi got lots of the ball too and again, he’s one who has hugely impressed me over the last few weeks. Let’s not forget, Jorge Grant is our first choice wide player and Theo Archibald has come here to challenge for a first-team spot too. Callum Morton may end up on the right-hand side of attack too, so the options we have are frightening. I liked both last night’s lads, they weren’t just busy, they were looking dangerous.
I know we can talk about ‘final balls’ all day long, but three or four deliveries in the second half were spot on and needed a player to get a touch on them. Eyoma was another whipping in a mean ball and I can’t help but think a settled Morton or maybe Tom Hopper would soon be gobbling up chances. We can get the ball in the right areas when we work at it and that’s something to be hopeful for. I wasn’t hopeful last night, as we either seemed to be lacking the killer touch, or we did waste the final ball. It felt, despite our complete domination of the second half, that we were destined to lose this game 1-0.
It all changed on the hour mark when Jorge Grant came on the field. In an instant, our play took on a different dimension, with him controlling proceedings from deep, getting forward when he could and playing what I feel we will term as the Bridcutt role as the season goes on. If Grant is back up there, we’re laughing, because he is looking twice the player we signed last summer. He dictated play for 30 minutes and ensured our route back into the game.
A word on Montsma again; he’s going to be one we talk about a lot. He did two things in the second half which, for me, were bookable offences. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, not when you get away with both, but it demonstrated his attributes and maybe his dark side. With 15 minutes left, he gave Aaron Jarvis a shove as the striker ran into the channel, sending him smashing into the advertising boards. He hit them with a real crunch and if it had been us, we might have been a little annoyed about it. Not long after, he committed a challenge in the middle of the park which was later to the game than me trying to log in, but it got completely missed. Michael Hortin couldn’t believe it and neither could I. Montsma is certainly a livewire if that’s the way to describe it.
By the time 77 minutes passed, Anthony Scully and James Jones were on the field and there was only one side likely to score. Harry got in and flashed a header at the keeper, whereas every time Scully got on the ball, his head went down and he drove at goal. Like Montsma, he’s going to be a cult hero, purely for his dogged selfishness and desire to score. Thommo described him as ‘one for all and all for me’ I think, which is both a compliment and maybe a point for the former West Ham boy to work on. Still, he looked like adding something different to the passing across the area, he brought penetration. Ramirez Howarth has a similar feel to his game too, he’s one to watch develop with interest.
When we did score, finally, it was the two longest-serving players who made the goal. Jorge Grant (who else) involved on the left and Harry Anderson the player arriving in the box with a sliding finish. I was delighted for Harry, these silly rumours of a move are premature and he has a part to play for us this season. He’s very different to our other wingers, he’s a man with bulk and strength, as well as an eye for goal. I think I saw it was his 28th in City colours, that’s not to be sniffed at and if he plays 25 games this season, he’ll score six or seven, no doubt.
After that, it became the Anthony Scully show. If Lewis Montsma was guilty of forcing passes in the first half, Scully was guilty of just forcing everything in those last few minutes. He had the best chance of the game after being put through by Tayo Edun, but his shot wasn’t sufficient to beat the keeper. Edun had a late effort too, a tame one, but we were swarming around the Iron defence like flies around a run-over cat. If the game had gone on another ten minutes, we would have won. That’s not fact, obviously, but it is my opinion. I even think Scully would have got the goal too because he seemed dead set on it. He’s like a kid at Christmas whenever he gets the ball; try as you will to get him to clean his teeth, wait in bed or eat breakfast first, he’s into his presents and focused on opening every one. Give him the ball on the edge of the area and he’s heading for goal, no matter what passes you want him to make. I remember making a similar observation about Simon Yeo back in 2002/03 and he turned out all right.
The game went to penalties and any stress the situation might have caused as throttled when Scunthorpe missed their first. That just gives you the advantage and we didn’t let up, Howarth, Montsma, Scully and James Jones scoring all of ours, with Alex Palmer stretching to deny Miles Hippolyte to win us the game. Palmer is a big man and despite having nothing to do in the second half, he made sure he had a bearing on the game. Shout out to Montsma too; when you see a centre half stepping up in a penalty shoot-out (at least in my mind) you always see Gareth Southgate at Euro 96. Not Montsma, he is what the youth call ‘a baller’ I feel. Scully finally put the ball in the net too, so despite it not going on his tally I imagine he was happy.
We now turn our attention to the weekend and a huge test, certainly the biggest for this young side. Oxford are a strong outfit, promotion favourites and we have a score to settle. I can see the game being very, very different from the last two, but if we have a strong side free of injury, there is no reason we can’t match them. If we do, even with a draw, I think it will show the progress Michael Appleton has made since he first stepped into Sincil Bank to watch the same opposition maul us 6-0.
We gleaned little from last night that will give us any indication of how well we might do this weekend, but we did learn that Michael now has a squad of players wanting to play his way, and fans of Karl Robinson’s side know that is a combination that brings success. They saw it first hand.
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