Before we talk about anything, can we please take a moment to acknowledge a record falling by the wayside?
Wycombe Wanderers (a game I titled ‘green shoots’ which now seems like an understatement), Burton Albion (twice), Charlton Athletic, Port Vale, Barnsley, Carlisle United, Reading, Oxford United, Cheltenham Town, Stevenage, Peterborough United, and Cambridge United. 13 times the Imps have gone away since the turn of the year, and 13 times we’ve either picked up a draw or a win. That’s bettered the previous record of 12, which had stood for 44 years. Rather incorrectly, I labelled it as a 140-year-old record. It is not; it is something that has simply never been done.
It’s easy to acknowledge and not pay real attention to it, but it’s worth making a point of. The social media gurus will put out their Tweets, 280 characters with a few emojis (fire and walls, I guess), but to break it down to such a basic level doesn’t do it justice. It’s an incredible run against sides that we probably should have struggled against (Posh, Reading, Barnsley and Charlton are the four that really stand out). If anything typifies Skubala’s Imps, for me, it is that. Resilience. Fortitude. Determination. Belief.
Did I believe the record would fall today? Absolutely. From the first five minutes of the game, it was almost in the bag. It’s arrogant to say that, I think, but we never looked like we were losing today’s game. It wasn’t scintillating; it was better in terms of entertainment than the last couple of weeks, but as we always seem to under Michael, we did what was needed and ground out a result.
This week, we’ve had some bad luck: Zack Jeacock was involved in a car accident, and Dom Jeffries fell to the flu. When you also consider that Ethan Hamilton, Reeco Hackett, and Tyler Walker were injured, we had five players absent. Yet, Rob Street still didn’t make the bench, which points to the huge depth within our squad. Even when we lost Ben House in the first minute, taking us to six players missing the bulk of the game because of injury, we were still able to make a change and put out a competitive side.
This is the second point I wanted to really drill home before I move on. From minute two, we have six players out, two of whom were nailed on to play the bulk of the game (House and Jeffries), three more who would be fighting for a starting berth (Hamilton, Walker and Hackett), and it didn’t feel like we were missing anyone. In fact, we still had players we could shuffle, like Jack Moylan coming in for Tom Bayliss. When we’re waxing lyrical about the 13 matches unbeaten or looking at the table and composing our 280-character appraisals of the Imps form, it’s important we recognise the deeper complexities of what has gone into this. The board and our backers have ensured that the money that came in could be spent on the squad. The recruitment team have put together arguably the strongest overall squad in my lifetime.
This record hasn’t fallen by accident. It is a reflection of where Lincoln City Football Club are right now, dare I say, in better shape than at any other time in our history. It’s bold, but when you combine everything on and off the field, as well as the football landscape now when compared to Bill Anderson‘s era, we may be lucky enough to be living in the time of the strongest ever Lincoln City.
That came across in those first few minutes. One complaint from the last few weeks has been the lack of attacking output. Our xG (600 words in, that’s not bad) has been below one for the last four matches, and talk about us being similar to Mark Kennedy’s Imps has crept in. However, Imps of a certain age will know that when we need a win against a struggling club to boost up the table when a fixture looks a formality, we usually bugger it up. In recent seasons alone, I can recall us losing to a shocking Doncaster side at home, and a terrible Southend United team away. If being ‘Spursy‘ is all about not winning trophies and messing things up, being ‘Lincolny’ would be losing games against (with respect) poor sides.
Cambridge are a poor side. They play a bit of nice football, but their squad doesn’t look capable of troubling ours. I don’t want that to sound arrogant, but we put a National League promotion and FA Cup run to club-changing use, and at Cambridge, I don’t see evidence of that. In the first ten minutes I thought we made a statement of intent, playing some quote fast, attacking football, looking to get into the box and cause them problems.
Jack Moylan coming in was a surprise to me, but it was justified as he got on the ball early and made plenty of driving runs. I just thought we purred in the first half, with the beating heart of our side, Ethan Erhahon, in his usual irresistable form. Part of me worries for January, because replacing like for like is going to be virtually impossible. For me, it’s a bit like winning a brand new, one-of-a-kind Ferrari in a prize draw. You can drive and enjoy it, but when you sell, you know you won’t quite be able to replace like for like.
I’ve seen a little bit of stick of Jovon, but I thought he had a good first half. Yes, he spurned a couple of chances, but he was involved in most of the positive things we did going forward. The thing about young players is they’re often not the finished article, because they’re young. Jovon has a lot of qualities that make him a first team squad member, that caused Michael Skubala to start him, and while his finishing does need work, it would be wrong to think of him as ‘no good’ which I’ve seen on social media.
He was a real handful and he terrified Cambridge’s defence as he is a blend of power and pace. If he was a finisher as well, he wouldn’t be with a League One club right now. In fairness, his first chance saw him sniff out a poor ball, beat two defenders rather than shifting onto his left foot, and strike a powerful effort that drew a good save from the keeper. You won’t find me criticising that.
The inevitable opener came on 26 minutes and what a lovely goal it was. I felt it had shades of Peterborough about it, without the sustained possession but with momentum within the side to get forward and attack. We pressed high, as we do, winning the ball back. In a recent presentation, Michael explained how if we lose the ball high, the players have a license to win it back quickly, even if it costs a bit of shape. Jack Moylan won the ball back well, Darikwa overlapped, and his ball was swept home by a player who is a natural finisher, Freddie Draper. It was a nice goal, but it’s also worth mentioning Jovon’s run – he’d scared their defence so much two tracked him to the front post, and Freddie was left with space to pick where in the goal he wanted the ball.
It could have been 2-0 on 35 minutes, and if it had been, I think we’d have seen an utter landslide. It was (again) Jovon, playing a neat ball to Freddie and then breaking the Cambridge defence with a decent run. Once again, when in the area, he’s gone for power and height, rather than keeping it low, but taking out the fact he didn’t actually score, everything else about the move (and his play) was excellent.
Elsewhere on the field, I never felt bothered about Cambridge. At the back we had the tremendous trio of Roughan, Jackson and O’Connor in (a weaker back three, I was told once, than when Regan Poole was here). Erik Ring slotted in like he’s played 100 games for us, Darikwa like he’s only just approaching 100 games with a youthful energy that belies his years. McGrandles was industrious and Moylan too. It was a confident performance and the only thing it was missing was another goal.
You must be logged in to post a comment.