It was another 11 years before we graced the play-offs again, this time under Danny Cowley in our first season back in the Football League. This was the first Imps play-off game I missed at Sincil Bank too, making May 12 miserable for me personally. I’d only had my back operation a week before and couldn’t walk unaided, despite the offer of a place in Running Imps’ box, I had to miss out. I watched on Sky, thoroughly unimpressed with the coverage if I recall correctly.
We had been in decent form heading into the play-off matches. March, April and May brought just two defeats, against Port Vale the week after our EFL Trophy win, and against champions Accrington in the penultimate game of the season. We still needed a point against Yeovil to make the top seven on the final day, Tom Pett rescuing our blushes after Jordan Green’s early opener. Contained within that run was a Good Friday special, a 3-2 win against Exeter in which I even cheered Ollie Palmer. That meant the aggregate score between us and the Grecians in the league matches was 3-3, so I expected a spectacle on my television screen, even with the belly full of Tramadol I had to take to sit up and watch it.
The City lineup has an air of transition and a lack of balance about it. Ryan Allsop started in goal, Luke Waterfall made his final appearance at Sincil Bank, joined in defence by James Wilson, Neal Eardley and Scott Wharton. In the midfield, Bozzie sat alongside Alex Woodyard, with Elliott Whitehouse, Matt Green, Harry Anderson and Matt Rhead making up the attack. It was a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Matt Green on the left flank, Whitehouse playing ten and Anderson on the right. The back four saw Neal Eardley playing left-back, James Wilson right back and Wharton partnering Waterfall.
Not that it mattered, the first half was horribly tepid. I wasn’t impressed with the referee Ben Toner, he missed a few fouls, but it didn’t change much. Mind you, even the BBC report says there were two big penalty shouts, and the foul on Whitehouse was one I thought was nailed on. Would we have scored the penalty? Who knows, but in those end-of-season games, decisions can really hurt you.
The best chance of the first half fell to Jayden Stockley, but he made a real mess of the chance and the scores reminded level. Remember, this Exeter side had the likes of Stockley and Hiram Boateng in there, and had finished fourth, five points clear of us. they were no mugs, and although a year later we’d be champions, we still needed some quality additions. Sam Habergham, Josh Vickers, Danny Rowe and Lee Frecklington were all injured, whilst Danny Hare and Ellis Chapman, both relatively untested youngsters, made up the bench with Palmer, Pett Long and Jordan Williams.
After the break, City took control without ever really threatening but were it not for the excellent hands of Christy Pym, we might have taken a lead to Devon. He saved twice from 16-goal Matt Green, and when he was finally beaten by Matt Rhead’s header, it came back off the bar. As the game ebbed away, the Imps looked to run out of energy and Pett, Palmer and Long came on, looking to give the 9,509 fans something to cheer. They couldn’t and the whistle eventually blew, leaving us needing a win at St James’ Park to make it to the final, where either Notts County or Coventry were waiting.
“It was a tight game between two good teams. They definitely edged the first half and we had the better of the second half,” Danny Cowley said after the game. “We played with a lot more purpose and intent in the second half. We defended well and had some good moments in that period after the break but couldn’t find that elusive goal. I thought it would be close. We knew where we were at physically. We knew there was a ceiling on our performance. We had a few players playing out of position but hopefully we will get a few back and have little bit more balance for the second leg.”
As with the Bristol Rovers game 11 years before, the second leg was scheduled to take place on May 17. Tune in then to relive how both turned out or, if you’d prefer, don’t.
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