The fine 1-0 win in Devon that put Lincoln City four points clear at the top of the table had a bit of everything, including a melee after the final whistle.
There may be a fine for failing to control players, but emotions ran high once Carl Brook ended proceedings. Former Plymouth Argyle defender Sonny Bradley seemed to be in the thick of it, and he collected a yellow card during the game, while Dom Jefferies and Exeter striker Josh Magennis were carded at the end.
The club’s official comms didn’t address the issue, sticking to football matters, but as you can hear on BBC Radio Lincolnshire’s Red Imps Club, Michael Hortin did broach the subject, suggesting he felt a bit like a WWE commentator for a moment.
“To be honest, I walked off to up the pitch to come and see the fans and started to walk towards the referee who was over there. So I actually haven’t got a clue what’s going on at the minute,” said Michael Skubala, before offering a potential reason for the melee.
City lost 1-0 at home to the Grecians earlier in the season, and it sounds like there were some celebrations from the visitors that day that got a little out of hand, which haven’t been forgotten by the players.
“I think the lads probably remember when they came to our place, and it was really noisy and putting music on. So I think they wanted to celebrate that.
“They definitely celebrated at our place when they got a smash and grab, so I think the lads returned the celebration there, and it probably got out of hand.”
That wasn’t the only issue. One moment saw McGrandles clipped on the heel, a nasty challenge which was punished by a free kick and nothing more, something that could contribute to the heated exchanges.
“A couple of frustrations I think might have been when Connor was getting clipped for nothing, and then there was no sanction. So for me, I’ll speak to the referee and go in because you have to sanction that, or the emotion gets into the game.
“So I think people making silly fouls on Connor wasn’t the right thing. You have to sanction that properly.”
Rob Street was also caught off the ball, and that may well be something we haven’t heard the last of as well. When asked if something had happened, Michael played it straight, as you’d imagine.
“100%, but we’ll let the authorities deal with that.”
Conor McGrandles was the player interviewed after the game, and when asked if he was in the melee, he was also reluctant to say too much, alluding to the previous game without saying anything that would get him into trouble.
“Not really,” he said when asked if he was in the scrum. “I don’t think I would want to be in there.”
Michael Hortin then suggested it was related to the previous fixture, to which the Scottish Rodri merely replied:
“Yeah, a little bit. We don’t want to go too much into it. But, yeah, we were right up for this game.”
The Imps might have fought hard on the pitch, before and after the final whistle, but when it comes to talking, they let the football do that, which is why we’re four points clear at the top of the League One table this morning.
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