Ten years ago, Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys gave a rather famous speech at the Brits about Rock n’ Roll. I suspect he’d been powdering his nose when he did, but for some reason, as Lee Swaby blew his whistle to close the game last night, the words came back to me.
“That rock’n’roll,” said the gurning front man. “It seems like it’s faded away sometimes, but it will never die. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
All I want you to do is say the same line, but for ‘rock n’ roll’, say ‘Lincoln City’. After a draw and a defeat in two crucial games, it felt like we were fading away, but we’re determined not to let this season die. Last night, we faced one of the best sides in the division, littered with talent that could easily play Championship football, and we found a way to win. We showed a little bit of everything – resilience, ability, character, and sheer bloody-minded shithousery (a word I’ve had to add to my WordPress dictionary because I suspect I might finally have to use it a bit more).
It’s hard to know where to start with a game that had so much, but I guess team selection would be the first place. The formation is such a restrictive thing to discuss, but last night, there were shades of 4-4-2 at times, with House on the right, Hackett on the left and a midfield two of Mandroiu and Erhahon. Taylor played up top with Freddie Draper, meaning Sean Roughan was pulling wide to left back. Of course, there were times when we looked like the more conventional 3-5-2, with Sorensen and Hackett intending to push further forward, but we’re fluid. We don’t conform to a single formation, a rigid way of playing. We’re flexible and adaptive, and we had to be.
We had to be because the curse of injury again reared its head. The game had barely been underway five minutes when Reeco fell awkwardly, and soon had to leave the field. It’s since been revealed he may have dislocated his shoulder, which meant an enforced change with Dylan Duffy coming on.
In terms of the game, it ebbed and flowed like a true classic. Oxford are a good side, and if they’re not promoted this season, they’ll expect to be right up there next time out. Goodrham and Murphy looked dangerous whenever they got the ball, but Greg Leigh was one who hadn’t caught my eye before that I liked the look of. They’re a better side than Wigan and Reading, two teams we dropped points to in recent weeks.
There were chances at both ends, and that’s important to note. The overall stats show a clear advantage for the home side 18 shots to out eight, five on target to our three. However, two of our off-target efforts were high-quality and should have resulted in a goal. Freddie Draper missed them both, but in his defence, he got into the position to miss them. That’s important for a striker, I remember Danny Cowley always saying he’d prefer a striker missing chances than one not getting them to miss.
We missed two in a minute which gave me such confidence for the rest of the encounter. One was a super save from Jamie Cumming, one of the best keepers in the division (not the best, that’s a big Danish fella in a kit every opposition commentator describes as awful), our ow-trademark deep corner finding the captain at the back stick. The header was everything you’re taught, down and with power, so don’t underestimate the quality of the save. The second header, from Freddie just moments later, was a lovely quick move from a corner, heading back down the pitch. It was a four-touch move involving Erhahon, Jensen, Roughan and Mitchell that saw Freddie steaming into the box, all of the goal to aim at, but he didn’t hit the target.
The header was guilt-edged, though, and the youngster will likely be kicking himself. I’m not sure he’ll carry the misses with him; the nature of our performance demonstrated this group roll with the punches. It’s been demonstrated all season – Joe Taylor’s misses against Derby, O’Connor’s double red, Mandroiu’s double red, House returning early, even Adelakun’s emergence as a key player for a while – this squad has shown a huge amount of resilience over the campaign, so Freddie’s miss won’t be with him for long.
It might have stayed with him for a few minutes as he shanked another into the crowd. This time, Dylan Duffy cut out a ball quickly, House slipped Draper in and on his unfavoured left foot, he fired wide. Both were such good chances, but it proved we could get through the Oxford defence.
That said, they were a real menace going forward and while I could see evidence of our potential for taking three points, I can also see how teams have crumbled against them. Obviously, Josh Murphy is a huge talent, £11m of Cardiff’s money underlined that once before in his career. Tyler Goodrham is a player I noted a season or two ago against us. He is a youth team prospect who gets better every time I see him. He fizzed two efforts at Jensen, both drawing decent saves. One was a lovely move involving Greg Leigh, where they carved through us like a hot knife through cheese. The Jamaican international pulled the ball back, and from ten yards out, Goodrham saw his effort saved.
All in, the first half had a bit of everything. I did note our use of a few of the dark arts as well, and whilst I’m not a massive fan of that approach, we do have to be smart. When we lost to Bolton, there was an insistence that they knew exactly how to manage a game, how to rile players, how to get away with little fouls that we did not. That ability, whether you think it is smart or a bit underhand, is something I think has crept into our game a bit, and it’s not a bad thing.
I saw some criticism of the referee, something I was on board with after Saturday, but I’m not having it for last night. Lee Swaby had a lot to manage: two sides wanting a win, a game played at a good pace, and teams intent on winding each other up. I wouldn’t want to manage the Stacey West-sponsored Ethan Erhahon, a really niggly character who got a lot of respect from the Oxford commentators for his ability to wind players up. I quite like listening to Peter Rhoades-Brown, who was clearly Oxford through and through, but also had a grudging admiration for certain elements of our game. He also admitted halfway through the encounter at still being terrified of Mick Harford, which made me chuckle.
At half time, I felt reasonably happy. The game was poised to go either way, with two good teams creating a couple of chances but, in the main, both capable of winning and losing. I did wonder if the atmosphere might be a factor Des Buckingham did, he kept trying to gee up the crowd as much as he could, but with three sides to a ground, there’s an upper limit on the noise levels. I think that upper limit was hit from one corner of the Kassam last night, the corner containing red and white replica shirts.
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