In March, Exeter came to the Bank, offered nothing, grabbed a late goal and should have had three points.
On that occasion, the goal was wrongly chalked off, and we escaped with a point. Yesterday was a carbon copy: a stodgy game in which they slowed everything down, then smashed us late on with a sucker punch. Some fans get snobby about that approach, but not me – we have done it to teams, albeit defending a lead; it’s a reasonable way to get something on your travels.
The perfect away performance is keeping it tight, not conceding chances and then getting the goal, so from that perspective, this was not the perfect away performance. We should have been done and dusted by 94 minutes, not clinging on to a 0-0 draw. The fabled xG said 1.76 to us, 0.11 to them going into injury time. It should have been 1-0 at worst, maybe 2-0, with us sitting second in the table.
You have to take your chances, and we didn’t. Exeter scored, we lost, and that’s football. I am bitter about one or two things from the game, but not Exeter’s approach. We’re Lincoln City, a team everyone else thinks does what Exeter did yesterday, so it would be hypocritical and a little arrogant to start going, “but they just defended,” blah blah blah. The truth is, 99 times out of 100, we score in that game early on, Exeter’s plan goes out the window and we win two or three nil.
But, we didn’t.
Ironically, Conor McGrandles missed out through injury, and the usual suspects were on social media claiming he missed out and so postponing the Bradford game was pointless. Talk about missing the point! If McGrandles is indeed injured, surely that is the whole point of moving the Bradford fixture, because Ivan Varfolomeev replaced him. He’ll be on Ukrainian duty next Saturday, so if McGrandles’ injury does persist, then we’ve absolutely made the right call with Bradford. Still, there is always someone looking to beat the club up – you just get used to it now.
The weather was horrible: windy, a bit overcast, just a windy autumn day, and the game reflected that early doors. We were shooting towards the visiting supporters, which was unusual for the first half of matches. I’m sure there’s no connection, but I think that’s the first time it’s happened this season, and they scored a late goal heading towards their own fans. I’m a firm believer in having them kick towards the South Park end of the ground in the second half – a slightly more hostile environment than right in front of their own supporters. I don’t like it when we change ends before the game, another bad omen.
Both sides began cautiously, with neither goalkeeper seriously tested in the opening stages. The Imps started to build momentum midway through the first half and carved out the first clear opportunity after 23 minutes. Exeter failed to clear their lines, allowing a cross to be recycled to the back post where Rob Street climbed highest to nod the ball back across goal. James Collins met it with a firm header, but Josh Magennis reacted quickly to block on the line and prevent the opener.
City continued to press, switching play well and forcing the visitors into several hurried clearances. On 42 minutes, Adam Reach sent a perfectly weighted diagonal ball to Tendayi Darikwa on the right flank. The full-back delivered a well-placed cross into the penalty area, looking for Collins again, but it was headed away by the Exeter defence before it could reach him.
Two chances, but that was about it for a rather tough first half. It wasn’t the end of the talking points, though, and a couple of things annoyed me about match referee Andrew Humphries. I thought in the main he started okay, but as the game wore on, he broke up play more than Exeter did. His performance played into their hands, and while the cards stayed in the pocket, I felt he lacked any authority. Two things really bugged me, and neither were game changers in terms of the score.
Firstly, he booked Joe Whitworth for kicking the ball away after conceding a throw. The keeper rushed out, cleared for a throw, but was out of position. He kicked the ball clear so we couldn’t do a quick restart, and got a booking. It’s a yellow card, but at the same time, it’s one you take for the team – no complaints. The issue I then have is Whitworth got carte blanche to drag his heels for the rest of the game. The official didn’t have the minerals to give another yellow; he never looked like clamping down on the time-wasting, so they got away with it. No complaints about them – we’ve done it as well – but the referee got all serious for a minute, and then never bothered again.
I also have a real issue with the high boot rule. We saw Rob Street booked for a second time against Wigan for a high boot, dangerous play, whatever you want to call it. I said that wasn’t a booking, and therefore the incidents of Exeter doing the same shouldn’t be bookings, but Street was booked, and so Exeter’s players should have been as well. One of those was in the area, by the way, so maybe it was a game changer.
Bubs captured a great picture of it which you’ll see here. How is that any different to Street a couple of weeks ago? The officials have to be consistent, and while this is more of a moan about the Wigan game rather than this one, it shows the differences in the application of the law – and that is why fans get so irate. As I say, I wouldn’t be so bold as to start shouting for fouls and penalties when I said it wasn’t a foul a couple of weeks ago, but by the precedent set prior, we should have had a penalty.
Half-time arrived with the score level at 0–0. It had 0–0 written all over it, so at half-time (unusual for me) I stuck a little bet on, 0–0 at full-time. I’m not a gambling man, but at the beginning of the season I usually stick £20 in an account for matchday interest, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.
You must be logged in to post a comment.