Fighting Spirit: Lincoln City Win Exeter City Battle As Promotion Beckons

The game was really played in three thirds. The first 30 minutes was us knocking on the door, doing what we do best from the off right now, putting it on an opponent. Rob Street (again, olé olé) could have scored inside a minute, and we had seven shots, none on target, before the goal came. After the goal, right on 30 minutes, and either side of half-time, we really turned the screw. 12 shots, four on target, xG of 1.4, we dominated from 30-60 minutes. Exeter did have a brief foray forward in first-half stoppage time. In that period, they created more xG (0.79) as Cardiff (0.48), Blackpool (0.62), Mansfield (0.44), Northampton (0.3) and Plymouth (0.66) did inside 90 minutes. From two corners.

The final third was resilience. Exeter made changes, brought on (for them) some big guns and got a bit of control, and we went back to the Cardiff plan, sitting a bit deeper, soaking up the pressure but always, always fighting. We restricted them to very little, with Towler and Elerewe coming on at the back. This was just three points for Michael and the team, but from 60 minutes onwards, we showed the spirit that got us three points at Northampton and Burton. How strange that we felt more under siege at teams fighting in the middle to lower end of the table than we have at almost all of the sides we’ve played around us.

The lads now have a day off, followed by prepping for another big game, Stockport County. Eight weeks ago, this looked huge, of Cardiff and Bolton proportions, but the Hatters are 21 points behind us now (they do have two games in hand), and while it will be a tough game against really good opposition, it’ll suit us. They’ll come out, they need the points to get in the top six (they only have a two-point cushion) and that might leave gaps. They’ve been scoring and conceding for fun, and with our tight defence, that could be a real bonus for us.

It might not finish in a case of manbags. It might not be played on a white pitch in driving rain, hundreds of miles from home, but it’ll be a challenge. However, promotion (and titles) are won under all circumstances, and before we look ahead, we should look back at the past four days. 27,000 fans on a big pitch in a huge stadium, or 6,000-odd (not seen the official attendance) on a wet and dreary night in a tight, hostile stadium? It doesn’t matter, Lincoln City know how to get a result.

Up the Imps.