Thursday, November 2nd
Finally, after eleven weeks without a win, City grabbed three points in a game. It was the first victory of the John Beck era and the debut of Sir Gareth, who would go on to become a Lincoln City legend. The 2-1 win wasn’t quite as straightforward as it sounds, though – City made incredibly hard work of what should have been routine. Why? Because the Imps didn’t just finish the second half with two extra players on the field, but it’s how they started the second period as well.
Firstly, we got a glimpse of Beck’s ruthlessness when he whipped Jason Minett off after just 14 minutes, replacing him with new signing Whitney. “That was a tactical substitution,” Beck confirmed. “Jason had been back to his old club a few days before, and I think he gave so much there it was still having an effect. I had Jon Whitney on the bench, so I thought I’d give him a go.” After 14 minutes.
That was the only noteworthy incident in the first 36 minutes, but the game exploded into life with nine to go before the break. Huckerby fooled Scott Eustace and raced clear, only for former Imp Ian Bowling to bring him down. The outcome was obvious – a red card and a penalty kick. There was indecision about who was going in goal for Manfield, with Aidy Boothroyd eventually donning the gloves, only to be beaten from 12 yards by Udo Onwere. Then, John Beck was sent to the stands for leaving his technical area, something he said he had ‘no complaints’ about.
Andy King, the Mansfield boss, had plenty of complaints as he was also sent to the stands on the stroke of half time. Referee Trevor West drew his ire by issuing a second red to one of his players- Eustace fouling Onwere and then saying something the official didn’t like. It meant King could join two of his players in the stands, and City were 11v9.
Obviously, Mansfield then equalised in the second half, Mark Sale nodding a 61st-minute leveller. The Imps didn’t even test the outfield player in goal until Ainsworth’s stab from the edge of the area with 20 minutes left. Luckily, they tested him again, Steve Holmes smashing home a drive with 13 minutes to go to win the game.
By that stage, an illustrious visitor had left the game; Kevin Keegan was in the stands watching Huckerby, a player he would later give us a big fee for.
Friday, November 3rd
It was all about prepping for our third game in eight days, the visit of Hartlepool, who were fifth from bottom. Managed by 1987 FA Cup winner Keith Houchen, the Monkey Hangers had conceded 16 goals in just seven away matches in the league. In the Auto Windscreens Shield, Crewe had beaten them 8-0, and they were clearly struggling for goals. However, they did have a trick up their sleeve – they’d signed Joe Allon from City, but he wasn’t having a good time. In four starts for the Imps, he was sent off once and failed to score – in five games for his new club, he’d been sent off and failed to score.
You don’t need to be an expert to determine what happened next.
Saturday, November 4th
Ahead of the game, John Beck asked Lincoln’s people for their help. He didn’t want much – just a training area (good quality, sheltered), training aids and equipment including bibs, balls and tracksuits, weights, a washing machine or free labour and parts for mending a washing machine, the loan of a minibus for a Saturday, digs for trialists and sponsorship for team blazers and tracksuits. It sounds like the alternative version of the Christmas song, Santa Baby.
The Imps also found out when two players would be suspended. Back in the day, suspensions didn’t kick in automatically, so Matt Carbon, dismissed as we played Cardiff on October 21st, found out he’d miss cup matches against Darlington (AWS) and Stockport (FA Cup). Phil Daley, sent off for the reserves as we beat Stockport, missed the Darlington match. Both were in the squad for the Hartlepool fixture.
Of course it does.
Gareth Ainsworth, Jon Whitney and Jason Barnett all make their home debuts; John Still takes his place in the dugout for the first time as Beck’s assistant just three weeks after resigning as manager of Peterborough, and yet it’s a face from the past that grabs the headline – Allon.
City lined up Richardson, Holmes, Johnson A, Whitney, Westley, Brown G, Ainsworth, Onwere, Johnson D, Huckerby and Barnett, with Minett, Brown S and Daws on the bench. After a confident start, the home side took the lead on 29 minutes with Onwere the architect. Described by Brian Halford as “the most influential player in either team’s midfield”, he threaded a ball through to Huckerby, who dodged two defenders before firing home from 20 yards. 1-0 City, another goal, meaning four in a week where we’d previously gone seven hours without.
Allon had already left his mark on the game, or on Alan Johnson, at least. He raked his studs down the defender’s ankle on 14 minutes, meaning he had to come off and, ironically, Jason Minett came on, the second time he’d been involved in a substitution before the 15-minute mark in a week. Referee Kevin Lynch didn’t see anything wrong, and Allon then left a second mark on the game, 90 seconds after the restart. A seemingly aimless ball into the box evaded our defenders and saw him gobble up his first goal back in Hartlepool colours.
City should have won the game at a canter. Shane Westley scooped a ball over from six yards out, then saw a header cleared off the line. Barnett twice arrived at the far post from deep crosses but failed to convert, and the Imps had ten corners in the last 30 minutes, with David Johnson’s point-blank header the best chance to come from the pressure. Houchen could have snatched an unlikely draw for the visitors, but Richardson stood firm to make a save in a one-on-one situation.
Beck was happy with the week’s haul of five points from three fixtures, as it was enough to drag the Imps off the bottom of the table. “It was a performance that deserved three points,” he said. “Perhaps we did not deserve three at Mansfield and got them. Today we deserved three and got one.”
It was now time to turn attention to Bonfire Night, the FA Cup and the Auto Windscreens Sheild. City were not scheduled to be in league action until a trip to Torquay on November 18th, a day before I turned 17. That would be a huge clash in our attempts to remain in the Football League – Torquay were the team who replaced us at the bottom of the table. We exited the FA Cup at Stockport (5-0), beat Darlington to progress to the next round of the AWS (where Beck’s former employers, Preston, awaited), and then Ainsworth got off the mark with a double to sink Torquay.
The Beck era was up and running after the week that was.
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