Meaningless workout brings penalty joy: Imps 1-1 Man City (4-3 on pens)

The Imps could have taken an early lead in the second half, a great Crossfield ball from Bridcutt found Archibald. He took his time to deliver a great ball in for Max Melbourne, who just collapsed onto it under no pressure all. It wasn’t as bad as I made it sound, Max was caught by surprise and just looked like a defender being taken aback a little.

Archibald certainly looked better in the second half, putting in a quality ball not long after from good tenacity from Tayo Edun. Sadly, as has been the case for much of this season, nobody could get on the end of it.

At the other end, great work from Adrian Bernabe saw a wicked delivery which Ross claimed, but he caught a boot to the face in the process. Could that have been a reason for what was to come because he barely touched the ball after that until the final minutes.

Connor McGrandles had two shouts for a penalty, the first he looked to lean into their player before going over, but the second was certainly a decent shout away to the attacking right. Neither were given, but the yellow cards kept coming from Boyeson.

Man City could have taken the lead after great work from Bobb, but Bernabe fired over when he should have scored. It was a busy evening for Bernabe, who was one of the offending players for McGrandles penalty shouts.

Sean Roughan almost opened his account with a great effort after some good work from City, but his goalward bound shot cannoned off Tom Hopper. Hopper eventually came off, not before a booking for going in late on the keeper, with Archibald moving up top.

It was the Scot who created the Imps’ goal, pressuring Gomes and Slicker into a mistake. He collected the ball, took his time to find Harry Anderson who fired confidently from the corner of the box to put the Imps ahead.

After that, City should have scored again, McGrandles seeing his excellent effort saved after some good football from the Imps. Harry Anderson combined with sub James Jones, who delivered cutely into the area. It seemed at that point as though the Imps would top the group and take the £10,000.

Another great outing for one of our star players – Credit Graham Burrell

Instead, City contrived to give the game away. Sean Roughan’s weak header out dropped to Nmecha, who drove a shot straight at Ross. The keeper got down to it, but it slipped from his grasp and bobbled behind him. Before he could recover, Simmonds drove in and slammed it into the net, 1-1. Despite four minutes of injury time, little else happened and we went straight to a pointless penalty shoot out, the outcome of which meant absolutely nothing at all.

Archibald took the first penalty, firing a good penalty to the keeper’s right., which Bernabe replicated afterwards to make it 1-1. Anderson took the Imps’ second, striking with power and again off to the right-hand side. Nmecha then brought it level with a Panenka straight down the middle, whilst Gotts made it three in a row for City with another to the right. Lavia repeated the feat making it six from six as he fired high to Ross’ left.

Sadly, James Jones saw his penalty saved as he went to the right as his teammates had done, but Slicker saved. Gyabi had a chance to make it 4-3 to the visitors, but he ‘Chris Waddle’d it’ over the bar to leave the scores level. Jorge Grant, who has had a bit of practice, bagged his penalty to make it 4-3, leaving Simmonds the goalscorer needing to score, which he didn’t. Unlike normal time, Ross managed to stop the Man City man scoring, to give City the pointless win.

It wasn’t a great spectacle, being honest. Five yellow cards for the Imps with one bad tackle all match. A penalty shoot out with no purpose at all, an empty stadium against a soulless Under 21 side and an injury to add to the growing list. However, if you put that aside, Liam Bridcutt got 60 minutes, whilst players such as Robbie Gotts, Theo Archibald and Tayo Edun all got a full game.

Harry Anderson and Liam Bridcutt certainly stood out, whilst Robbie Gotts was busy after having to change position early. Theo Archibald impressed in the second half, but he looked a little rusty in the first 45. Tayo Edun gave a typical performance too, often looking to have the ball at his feet for a little too long. There is no doubt the Imps settled once the likes of James Jones got on the field, and Harry looked strong on the right flank, showing strength and pace against some similarly quick young players.

It is hard to be too critical towards players in a meaningless game, but there is no doubt Ethan Ross will be disappointed after making two relatively big mistakes at either end of the game. Sean Roughan had a couple of dodgy moments too, but he seems to bounce back quickly with his following touches, It isn’t easy for a keeper to bounce back as quickly and Ross will now have to wait until the next round, where he will almost certainly get a game.

All in all, it is a game that we got through, relatively unscathed, but we pretty much knew that already. The biggest plus will be the return of Liam Bridcutt, a player who looked energised and on form, which is what we need going into a tough game this weekend.

YOU CAN COMMENT ON THE GAME ON OUR FORUM HERE, AND EARN MONEY FOR THE IMPS AT THE SAME TIME


Widget not in any sidebars