Lincoln United Take Big Step Towards Safety With Victory

Lincoln United took another significant step towards safety on Tuesday night as a superb second-half display earned them a 3-0 win away at Brighouse Town.

There was plenty riding on the trip after Saturday’s 2-1 victory, not least because Brighouse had already beaten United 4-1 at Ashby Avenue earlier in the season. With Dave Frecklington’s side climbing to 15th in the table and carrying a seven-point cushion above the relegation places, this was another chance to keep the momentum going and edge closer to securing their status.

The first half did not offer a huge amount in front of goal, but United looked the more likely side for much of the opening 45 minutes. They enjoyed the better of the play and fashioned a couple of decent openings, although they were unable to find a breakthrough before the interval.

After the break, the game shifted sharply in United’s favour.

They came out with far greater purpose and immediately began to put Brighouse under pressure. Just four minutes into the second half, the hosts were forced to scramble the ball off the line following a United corner, a warning sign of what was to come. As the pressure built, chances continued to arrive, but for a while it seemed as though the breakthrough might not come.

Frecklington shuffled his pack in the 61st minute in a bid to inject more urgency, and the changes helped maintain United’s momentum. They thought they had gone ahead in the 73rd minute, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside, but they did not let that setback knock them out of stride.

The opening goal finally arrived in the 79th minute and it was no less than United deserved. Connor Brown did the hard work inside the area and Kane Hutchinson-Wilkes, on the pitch for only 15 minutes, was left with the simple task of tapping into an empty net.

That goal opened the game up and United quickly made certain of the points. Brown, who had been central to so much of the visitors’ best attacking play, got on the scoresheet himself in the 82nd minute to double the advantage, before Max Baker added a third in the 89th minute to round off an excellent away performance.

It capped a thoroughly deserved victory, built on a dominant second half and an impressive refusal to let frustration creep in when the chances were not initially going their way.

Perhaps most importantly, it is another result that strengthens United’s position in the table and pushes them further away from trouble. When Frecklington arrived, the threat of relegation looked very real, but recent form has transformed the picture. With only a handful of matches remaining, this was another big step in the right direction.