Looking Back: Lincoln City Put Three Past Cardiff In Wales

A long wait for a win finally ended on a grey 1997 afternoon in South Wales, as Lincoln City ground out a scrappy but important victory at Ninian Park.

It was not a classic, and few who were there would claim it was, but three points were three points in the thick of a congested Third Division table.

Lincoln arrived in Cardiff hoping to restart a season that had lurched through several different phases already. There had been the tentative early weeks, the excitement of a Coca-Cola Cup run, and then the winter slump that left John Beck’s side drifting. With the New Year looming, City needed something to pull them back into the pack of sides who still had realistic ambitions of the play-offs.

Cardiff City represented both a challenge and an opportunity. Despite losing four of their previous five league matches, the Bluebirds still sat comfortably above the Imps in the table and carried the aura of a club that many believed would feature in the promotion shake-up by May. Off the pitch there had been turmoil, with director of football Kenny Hibbert selecting the team while Russell Osman retained the title of manager, yet Beck was wary of assuming the Welsh club would be vulnerable.

Before the match, he described Cardiff as a “sleeping giant”, warning that their indifferent form could easily spark a reaction. Lincoln had problems of their own. Several players, including captain Grant Brown, Gareth Ainsworth and Jason Minett, had been battling a flu bug during the week, while postponements meant City had gone more than a fortnight without a competitive fixture. Their last outing had been the Boxing Day defeat at Hull City, a result that extended a miserable run without a win.

Even so, there were reasons for optimism. Lincoln had already beaten Cardiff 2-0 earlier in the season at Sincil Bank, with John Taylor and Colin Alcide scoring the goals, and Phil Stant returned to Ninian Park with a reputation intact from his previous spell with the Bluebirds. Alongside Ainsworth, one of the division’s most reliable scorers, the ingredients were there for a lively contest.

It did not begin that way.

Cardiff struck first, Jason Fowler strolling towards the edge of the Lincoln penalty area before unleashing a shot from around 20 yards that beat Barry Richardson and gave the home side an early advantage. Yet if the goal was meant to ignite Cardiff’s confidence, it had the opposite effect. The Bluebirds looked nervous, tentative, and within minutes Lincoln were level.

Tony Dennis, operating intelligently in midfield throughout the afternoon, spotted space where Cardiff defenders had drifted away from their positions. His pass released Stant, and the former Bluebird finished calmly to equalise, a moment greeted with a mixture of groans and applause around Ninian Park.

What followed was a half that struggled to inspire anyone in the crowd of just 2,033. Play was fragmented, the whistle shrill and frequent, and neither side managed to build sustained pressure. It was the sort of football that felt perfectly suited to the cold mist that hung over the ground. City, however, found a breakthrough soon after the restart.

Jae Martin worked tirelessly down the left flank and forced a cross into the Cardiff penalty area. As Stant closed in, goalkeeper Pat Mountain attempted to clear but succeeded only in smashing the ball against his own defender and future Imp, Jason Perry, from whom it ricocheted into the net. It was a chaotic goal, but it put the Imps ahead.

Cardiff nearly responded immediately when Dion Burton met Fowler’s cross with the goal at his mercy, only to fluff his finish from eight yards. It felt like the moment that confirmed the afternoon belonged to Lincoln.

Six minutes later the visitors added a third. Terry Fleming launched one of his trademark long throws into the area and Mountain hesitated again, unsure whether to claim or retreat. Ainsworth reacted quickest, racing onto the loose ball and finishing before wheeling away towards the travelling supporters to celebrate his 14th goal of the season.

From that point Lincoln rarely looked troubled. Dennis controlled the midfield, Brown marshalled the defence with authority, and full-backs Stuart Bimson and Jason Barnett kept Cardiff largely restricted to speculative efforts from distance. Richardson dealt with those comfortably, the goalkeeper enjoying a relatively quiet second half.

The home crowd had begun to drift away well before the end, their frustration expressed through familiar chants aimed at the boardroom. Two minutes from time there was a final flashpoint when Keith O’Halloran hauled down substitute Gijs Bos as the Dutchman bore down on goal. It appeared a clear red card offence, yet the referee produced only a free kick, a decision Lincoln chose not to contest as the clock wound down.

When the whistle finally sounded, the sense among the Lincoln players was relief rather than celebration. The performance had been far from polished, something Beck admitted afterwards.

“We played Cardiff at the right time. They were awful, but we were nearly as bad. Tony Dennis did well in midfield and Gareth Ainsworth looked dangerous on occasions, but beyond that it’s hard to see many good points other than the three points.”