Something needed to change after the break, and perhaps the lure of a big local derby in the last 16 of the competition got the home side fired up, because the second half was better in terms of entertainment, but it certainly wasn’t one to savour for City supporters. Accrington came out all guns blazing, Longelo firing from distance and drawing a save from Jensen in what I think scriptwriters call foreshadowing. From the resulting corner, Woods curled another effort at goal, again drawing Jensen into a save.
There was no indication of which side was fighting at the top end of League One, and which are hunting for promotion back to the third tier. Within minutes, a free header from a corner was held by Jensen; three efforts on target in as many minutes from the team with some real fizz to their attack. I doubt Wigan’s players were watching, but they’ll be asking how they weren’t able to create quite as easily as Accrington.
City changed shape before the hour mark after banging our heads against a wall with no luck. we went four at the back, getting Sorensen forward on the right. I thought it was harsh on Shodipo, who up until that point had been a threat for us, but it meant minutes for Bishop, and in my morning dog walk video, I stressed it was all about minutes. In fairness, the changes did make a bit of a difference; Makama came on for Vale and I felt he did well. Bishop had an immediate impact – he got a shot off which resulted in a corner, before he netted on 51 minutes after a good move involving Makama, only to be called offside. It looked tight to me, but without a good angle, it was hard to see if the officials got it right. There’s no reason to suspect they did, given many of their other decisions.
The referee returned the favour on 66 minutes – Nolan finished smartly after Eyoma seemed to leave a pass to the Stanley man. His run appeared to come from behind Eyoma but was somehow flagged offside. It was a real let-off for the Imps and another perplexing decision. I wonder if the referee wished he’d called this game off as well, given his performance -I certainly do.
Chances kept coming in a scrappy encounter punctuated by the odd moment of quality. A free kick that Duffy ended up in the book for ended with a header saved by Jensen, whilst a cracking move by the Imps saw Jovon seemingly presented with a tap-in, only for Walsh to make a super save. It was almost tit-for-tat chances – next, it was Longelo who beat O’Connor for pace and played in Henderson, only to see another routine save from Jensen. Up the other end, Bishop, as lively as Shodipo whom he replaced, initiated a nice move that ended with a Hamilton chance that their keeper clawed away.
Even though there were chances, I honestly never felt we’d win the game. I could see us conceding, but I never felt convinced about our attack. Mandroiu started brightly but faded quicker than a novelty Christmas single, and only when Duffy came on did I feel we had a direct attacking route. It’s odd – Duffy, Bishop and Makama might not have been a front three, but they were the trio who looked most dangerous. Lasse, after moving up to right wing, had his moments, but we just lacked a spark. Too many times I got a sense of deja vu as we opted to go backwards and sideways, and whilst I’m not a ‘get it forward’ man, I suspect Skubala is, and I’m not sure he’ll be all that happy with how often good moves ended up back at Jensen’s feet.
The final shot on goal wasn’t even a real opportunity, and it came just after Adelakun had come on to take a penalty – he didn’t get the chance. Longelo, a constant thorn in our side, just seemed to get a bit too much space over on the attacking right from Roughan, and instead of crossing, he lifted a sumptuous effort up, over everyone, and into the back of the net. It was a goal that lit up a fairly drizzly night and was almost worth watching the previous 94 minutes for. I had felt nervous for a few minutes, and knew the goal was coming thanks to checking my Twitter feed to see if the whistle had gone so I could make a brew and not miss anything. I’d been mentally preparing for penalties, deciding on whether to work out a Whamageddon title or to go with something like Jensen, the hero again. Although the Dane was my Imps Man of the Match, there was nothing he could do to stop that effort going in.
Hell, even I would have applauded if I wasn’t wondering why the ghost of EFL Trophy past was visiting once again. For another year, we exit the competition. Sadly, I exited the Whamageddon competition on Saturday, forgetting it was nestled in my Christmas playlist. I hope that I forget this tie as easily, and I hope the players do too, but I suspect that come tomorrow morning, Michael Skubala will be eager to remind them
Last Christmas, we went out of this competition to Accrington. I hope, to save me from tears, the Imps have saved something special for Saturday.
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