Yesterday’s game was crucial for us. There are no ‘must-win’ games unless it’s Portsmouth or Aldershot-style matches on the final day.
A ‘must-win’ comes around once every season or two, but defining matches they’re more common. After the Crawley defeat, our second on the spin, this game felt like one we needed to win. Take a point, or even worse, none, and we’d be facing a mini-crisis. Not one that fully derailed the season, but certainly one that had questions being asked by those who like to ask questions early.
I had taken October as a single chunk of matches and declared ‘nine or ten’ points from the five games would be good. I’d written off Birmingham; I thought Stockport looked tough, but a team in the top six needed wins against Crawley, Orient and Northampton. Now, if those wins get muddled up, it’s the same outcome, and therefore, there is no panic.
The team announcement sprung a few surprises. One of the biggest shocks perhaps came in seeing Lewis Montsma in the XI. Up until Adam Jackson’s injury, Montsma couldn’t get in the squad, and we were told in the summer his progress would be slow. Here we are, with leaves still on the trees, and our flying Dutchman is back playing football.
🔴 TEAM NEWS ⚪️
🔢 Lewis comes in for a first league start since 25 March 2023.#WeAreImps | #LINSTO pic.twitter.com/CkejDMsNFQ
— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) October 26, 2024
Some might have been surprised to see Bailey Cadamarteri in the side as well. He’s been perceived to have had a challenging start to life at Lincoln, perhaps through no fault of his own, but with Jovon out it’s either him or Freddie up top. We went with Bailey, and absolutely did not regret it.
Before I go on, I have to say this – yesterday was just a good game of football. I think Dave Challinor has been overly harsh on his side post match, and I think he had a knee-jerk reaction at half time. I’ve seen much poorer sides than Stockport County this season, at least one of which has beaten us. They have good players and I always felt when they attacked, they could score a goal. There have been teams this season that have had possession and got into the final third, and I’ve been chilled enough not to worry. Yesterday, whenever blue shirts poured into our half, I felt a little uneasy.
Despite the early goal City are seeing a lot of the ball and have forced Stockport into defending a few set pieces.
⌚️ 25′ | 🔴 0-1 🎩 | #LINSTO pic.twitter.com/iEtJrNsDMa
— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) October 26, 2024
That said, I thought we started at a really good pace, forcing a couple of corners. A defeat against a really good side (Brum) and then a bad night at the office (Crawley) are two matches in isolation. Add a third, and you’ve got poor form, a bad run, whatever you wish to call it. We clearly had zero intention of making this a bad run and pressed hard in the early minutes, only to be undone by a moment of utter class. I’m a huge admirer of Nick Powell, always have been, and his exquisite pass over the top to Isaac Olaofe was poetry in motion. Sadly, it was the sort of poetry I despise, where we are the victims, but it led to a really smart finish, against the run of play.
Briefly, we looked all at sea, and another Stockport chance saw Ethan Erhahon dally on the edge of the area, and Olaofe came in with a heavy-looking challenge. Our midfield talisman went down, and immediately, Ethan Hamilton began to strip down. It was clear straight away he was heading off, another big blow.
Picture that scene. 15 minutes gone, 1-0 down at home after conceding six in two matches and the one player who has been ever-present, the one who perhaps we don’t have a like-for-like replacement for, goes off. The words ‘sinking feeling’ come to mind. I genuinely thought we were in for a long afternoon. We’d played well, looking really sharp, but it seemed as though the Gods were against us. Plus, there was plenty of proper noise from the away fans, all in the ground early and creating a huge atmosphere. It seemed only a matter of time before Stockport upped a gear.
Reeco Hackett’s corner from the right causes problems in the box with Montsma arriving, but he’s not able to get clean contact on the ball.
⌚️ 30′ | 🔴 0-1 🎩 | #LINSTO pic.twitter.com/yGMgVTWfmu
— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) October 26, 2024
I’m still waiting. They’re a good side, but Ethan Hamilton came on, Conor McGrandles dropped into Erhahon’s role and Lincoln City roared. I’m not going to say it clicked, because I think we’d looked good before, but we showed such resilience in the face of that early adversity. Heads didn’t drop. Leaders like O’Connor and the immense Tendayi Darikwa let their influence be known. We worked tirelessly at the coal face, fighting and scrapping for everything.
I love us trying to press high, winning the ball back in the attacking third, and we were great at that yesterday. Nick Powell went off injured, but Oli Norwood, playing Premier League football last season, came on. Stockport are a strong side, but we were just better, throughout. Cadamarteri and House battled for everything, the former having his best game since joining from Sheffield Wednesday. I find it amusing that the criticism levelled at the side last week was that we need a ‘proven’ goalscorer like Joe Taylor. Well, in his first nine league games for City, Taylor scored twice. In his first nine league matches, Cadamarteri has three, with another in the cup.
🧱 No mistake.
⌚️ 45′ | 🔴 1-1 🎩 | #LINSTO pic.twitter.com/g4v2Zrn3vE
— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) October 26, 2024
When the goal finally came, as deserved, it was another of the strikers people have been quick to moan about, Ben House. Corey Addai’s clearance was poor, and Darikwa took his time and lofted a delicious ball over the top of the defence for House. He had enough time to assess the situation, position himself, set a reminder on his phone to pick up bread and milk and his way home, and then beat the hapless Addai with a well-placed header. What I really liked about House’s goal was he went into the net to retrieve the ball. You’d think at 1-1 he’d be off celebrating, but instead, he smelled blood. We all did.
The goal could have opened the floodgates. Hamilton, coming back into form, linked up well with Darikwa to sting Addai’s gloves from inside the area. Cadamarteri then showed quick awareness to pick off a short corner by Stockport, run the length of the field holding off two defenders, only to lift his effort over Addai and wide of the goal. It was a gut-busting run, not unlike on Jovon made a couple of weeks ago, and a great chance to make it 2-1.
Briefly, we felt rampant, and it was a huge relief after that early scare. As we rolled into half time, I genuinely felt we were going to win the game.