Wasn’t it nice, seeing Joe Walsh on the teamsheet and him still being on the pitch in the second half? I’m not being facetious here either; I wondered if he might get a half and then be withdrawn, but out he came and at that moment, I felt much happier. We were a better side for him, Maguire and McGrandles being in the squad, and when Bridcutt is back, we’re not going to be far away at all. The way we started the second half gave me hope for the future.
I thought we were in complete control of the tie again, and with a bit more quality, we’d have been well ahead. We split the full back and centre back on more occasions than I can recall, and some of our passing was of last season’s quality. We’ve not quite clicked ahead of this game, maybe aside from Cambridge away, but there was a crispness to our play, a real certainty to some of the balls as if ten days on the training ground has paid off. I remember the same when we played Burton in 2019, after having a week off, it often seems to be a good turning point. I hope I’m right, but so little went astray compared to usual. There was maybe one mistake I recall, a mix up in the first half, but other than that we found red and white shirts with most of our passes. The problem seemed to be the finishing touch, but then we know that, don’t we?
Within ten minutes of the second period starting, it ramped right up. Firstly, there was a round of applause on 55 minutes for Wendy Best, impeccably observed. She was looking down on us shortly after, when an Imps corner led to a bizarre own goal. Charlton brought Stockley on and as he came on, everyone around me was talking about he was nailed on to score. Amusingly, as we broke for the goal, Matt said to me ‘this has got 0-0 written all over it’. As we delivered the corner, I said, ‘we never do anything from corners’, although I say it at every corner, hoping to be proven wrong. I haven’t benefited from a replay yet, but it seemed we worked a decent crossing chance from the corner, and Jayden Stockley turned the ball in under pressure. I don’t care; they all count, and all we needed now was a clean sheet.
Of course, we were never going to get it, and despite needing to keep it tight, we conceded. It was another non-corner; a ball deflected off their striker, which the officials got wrong. From that corner, we got our defending wrong, and they levelled. It was a horrible moment, having dominated the game, and one the visiting crowd loved.
🚨⚽️ | NEW: A steward scoring a goal with a dildo in the Lincoln vs Charlton match pic.twitter.com/U9Sqsgmkmx
— Football For All (@FootballlForAll) October 16, 2021
Talking of crowds, I’ve praised teams coming to ours in numbers in the past, but there’s not a lot of praise for their supporters today. They seemed intent on causing trouble, throwing flares onto the field (and a dildo, oddly. Who takes a dildo to a game?), and generally acting like idiots. When they scored, their fans ripped up banners and made themselves look stupid, even coming onto the pitch. I appreciate it’s a small minority, but even as we left the ground, a group of Stone Island warriors who pronounce ‘f*ck’ and ‘fack’ were making their way around the ground clearly looking for something. There’s no need, really lads. I guess their behaviour explained why there was such a big police presence in town, when we rarely see the boys in blue on a matchday these days. Sadly, as we got out of the ground, I did see an arrest, and it wasn’t a Charlton fan.
Anyway, back on the pitch, that made it 1-1 in a game we should have put to bed long before. I thought if Charlton really wanted to win it, all they had to do was load the ball into Stockley and feed off the pieces, but in fairness, they barely got a chance. We showed a great character coming back from that blow and took the game to the Addicks. I don’t think they had another opportunity on goal, yet we just upped it a gear. Fiorini had an effort saved, albeit a weak one. Ted Bishop got on the end of a decent move, again to see the chance stopped. even Jamie Robson got in from full back and saw an effort saved. We were knocking on the door, but it didn’t seem we’d be let in.
We should have had a free-kick from the edge of the area when Robson was crudely fouled, but the ref ignored it, obviously. He then booked Stockley for leading into McGrandles with an elbow, a moment almost as predictable as Steve Evans being booked for mouthing off. I felt in Stockley, they had a player who could have caused us problems, but they never got him into the game. Instead, it was ours to go and win.
We thought we’d won it just before the injury time went up; Anthony Scully’s close-range header finally beating MacGillivray, but it was ruled out for offside. I’ve got no complaints; it was offside. Nigel Adkins is adamant his side should have had a penalty not long after, but it was never going to be given; the ref had lost control of the game long before that and it was a weak shout, at best. It levelled up the one some felt we might have had in the first half, and was probably the right call.
We finally made a change as the game wound down, bringing Hakeeb on for Sorensen, and he played a part in the goal. It was another corner which resulted in a deep cross, but this time Regan Poole wasn’t offside, and he nodded into the net to secure the points, Cue delirium and a round of me swearing in the direction of the away end in a manner no man should ever really feel is appropriate. Still, after a shower of flares and a dildo, a banner ripped up and the general behaviour of some Charlton supporters, it felt like a shot in the face to them. It could be a huge moment in the season for us as well; it was just reward for the way we’d played, a deserved goal that gave us a deserved win.
There was still time for drama; we had a penalty shout turned down, but I think Mr Adkins forgot that in his post-match press conference. Mind you, I’m one who often has selective memory too, so I’ll let him off.
I’ll not try to hide my delight this evening on so many levels. First, I bloody love it when Lincoln win, and the walk back to the car is so much better when I’m not arguing with Dad, trying to find the silver lining in a cloud of a defeat. Secondly, I was chuffed for Regan Poole to get his first goal, he;s been deserving of a couple before now, and it’s a good reward for a player who has (oddly) divided opinion. There were so many good performances, Robson was excellent (best single performance from a Lincoln left-back in a long while), McGrandles was the player that won the Stacey West Player of the Season last time out, a busy, functional and effective unit. The two centre backs looked to be on the same wavelength and on their game, which you can’t always say, and we saw the Rolls Royce version of Lewis Montsma, spraying balls about like a true Dutch master.
My final praise is saved for Chris Maguire. He’s shown glimpses of what he’s about, but this was the first time he’s done it for 90 minutes (with injury time in the first half he played more than 90), and I thought he was excellent. He drove us forward, he coached on the field and he’s got enough about him to change a game. I know we’re lacking up top, everyone knows it, but Maguire showed that maybe we’re not completely lost at sea in that respect.
I know, never too high when we win, never too low when we lose, but I feel it tonight. I feel that buzz, that passion, that all-out f*cking love for my club. I feel like I should be stood out in my garden sticking the V’s up at passing traffic shouting ‘we’re Lincoln City’, as if it is them criticising the club on social media, calling the players not good enough and generally making me a less happy version of myself. Nothing was won or lost today (well, three points were won I guess, but you get what I mean), but it reminded me why I love football.
I needed it too because plenty has reminded me why I shouldn’t like it recently.
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