Entertainment. That’s what many have suggested we haven’t seen from the Imps this season.
Five goals against Bristol Rovers and Peterborough, four against Crawley (twice) and Mansfield Town, and now four against Bolton. We’ve ground out wins against Huddersfield that kept us on the edge of our seat, but like an average series on Netflix, we’ve also thrown up some dodgy games. However, I think the wider criticism about entertainment is tired now – we heard it in the final Appleton season (perhaps rightly) and Kennedy’s season (rightly). I can’t agree that a season where you’ve turned over the Stags twice, beaten Posh by a record margin and scored 18 cup goals lacks entertainment as such.
Anyway, it’s a moot point after yesterday, because not one person left the Bank moaning about a lack of entertainment. This was a game that had a bit of everything, literally. We had a sponsor falling over, four goals scored, one a penalty, two conceded, a referee falling over, a red card, a cheeky free-kick routine and a play-off hopeful consigned to another season in League One. It was a breathless afternoon of football, and one in which the Lincoln City I have believed lurked under the covers once again popped out to play.
I’m not being argumentative when I counter debate about entertainment. This side has it. In October, we had back-to-back wins against Stockport and Northampton, both were entertaining. The game we lost 3-2 to Wycombe was thrilling as well. Okay, the 4-3 defeat against Barnsley was awful, but seven goals? I’ve seen this team for what I believe it is, a good squad of players, inconsistent at times, but also in development. The recent tactical shift has, in my opinion, given us more attacking freedom and we’re seeing the fruits of that.
We’ve lost one in eight now, and that was against Birmingham where a draw would have been a decent result. That’s an average of 1.87 points per game, or 86 over the course of the whole season. I’m not one for looking at form, the only form table that matters is the 46-game form table, but I have seen it used as a stick to beat us with (Cambridge I think, sacked Garry Monk when his form was comparable to ours) but if it’s used as an argument on one side, it has to be considered when it picks up.
I’m going to be writing this game up for hours, I just know it.
There were few surprises in the team selection. We saw a start for Ethan Erhahon, which goes without saying when he’s fit. We didn’t see a start for Paudie, meaning if he did come on (spoiler alert, he did) it would be only his third appearance from the bench. All three have come in the aftermath of a red card – away at Cambridge after being sent off against Port Vale (he did play a game in between, at Orient), and away at Burton after being sent off against Northampton.
Erik Ring started again, looking to impress after struggling against Shrewsbury, and James Collins returned up front after starting on the bench on Saturday. We lined up 4-2-3-1 once again, and as the rain came down, I had a feeling it might be a different day. Everything felt a bit odd – Dad and I met Sean and Tony (and Tony’s lad whose name escapes me), fans from Australia, and stood in the pouring rain chatting. In the ground, a sponsor fell over as he made his way off the field, it all felt a bit irregular.
On a personal note, I wanted this win. I’ve been talking about ambiguity and how football has been more about entertainment in recent weeks, how we’ve been the antagonists, looking to spoil a few parties. I wanted to spoil Bolton’s. From their fans smashing up pubs in 2019, to the awful away trip there in December, they’ve felt like a bogey team. In six league and cup games, we’d scored once past them. Discounting the 2019 win, when they were deducted points and fielding youth team players, we’d not scored a respectable win against them since 2284 saw Neil Redfearn and Devon White secure a 2-0 win in February 1985. I don’t dislike the Trotters, but I cannot state how much I wanted to see us stand up to them and come away with something. Appleton, Kennedy and Skubala all had one thing in common – they’d had their arse delivered to them on a plate by Ian Evatt’s Bolton.
750 words in and I’ve not seen a ball kicked yet. Settle in readers, it’s a long one today.
What we needed to see was a good start. We’re not going down, or up, but it would be nice to finish top half. A good win would more or less secure that, and to get that, we needed to give them a bloody nose. I always like those scenes where two fighters stand toe-to-toe, and one jabs early, before the bell, have some of that. Well, we didn’t strike before the bell, but it wasn’t for a want of trying.
There’s an element of the Huddersfield about Bolton. Good players, play-off ambitions, but just something lacking. They needed a result, they probably needed a big start, but instead, they just stood there and started taking our punches, one after another. Before we scored, James Collins had an effort, Ethan Erhahon caught a strike as sweetly as you’ll ever see, that was blocked, then Sean Roughan had a long-range pop as well. Collective xG? 0.05. Outcome? Corner, and fans purring at how nicely they’d struck the ball. Sometimes, those low-chance efforts can have a really positive effect.
Our opening goal had an xG of 0.05, but that doesn’t matter when it goes in. Ring, who has been inconsistent at times, was the scorer and I was delighted for him. There’s a player in Ring, but this season, I’ve felt there’s been a bit of the Jeff Hughes about him. Hughes was a hell of a player for us in 2006/07, but in 2005/06 he had a season adjusting to life in England. He came from Larne, didn’t quite get up to the intensity and finished with two league goals in 22 outings. Ring got his second league goal yesterday, his third for the club, and I really feel he will be an asset next season.
The goal came from a corner after Roughan’s blocked shot. Ring played it short, and I immediately moaned about short corners. Hackett and Erhahon got involved before Ring delivered his ball into the box. Nobody got a touch, and keeper and defender looked at each other as it went past them and into the far corner. Tom Hamer fancied chalking up another and made sure it went over the line, but there was no touch. 1-0 City.
With respect to loading times for images, I’m going to have to go to three pages today. Sorry.
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