Lincoln City deserved the win against Leyton Orient yesterday, another step towards the League One title, but how the spirited and energetic opponents are one point outside the drop zone, I’ll never know.
This isn’t an Orient site, so waxing lyrical about them isn’t my thing, and at times, we were unplayable, but they’re much better than some sides we’ve seen this season. They were obviously streets ahead of Blackpool, Northampton and Rotherham, but impressed me more than Bradford, Reading and Stevenage. I don’t know what has gone wrong to find them roaming relegation street with a bunch of inferior teams, but it must have been dramatic.
The reason I want to highlight this is to make sure people understand that we haven’t romped to 93 points on the back of a series of gutless opponents. Wimbledon and Orient both came to ours to have a go, both sent keepers up in the final minutes, desperate for points that it didn’t look like they needed a week before our encounters. We beat both by a one-goal margin and both impressed me for different reasons. The only issue they had on both occasions was they came up against the best side in League One.
We’re the champions-elect, top of the table and with only ourselves to blame if we’re not lifting the trophy in our nice 50th anniversary shirt against Wycombe. A word on that as well, it was Black Friday circa 2014 in the club shop, like the supermarkets when people panic bought loo roll. I didn’t want to buy one of the shirts, from the photos they looked a little like an over-exposed photo. Then Ben went to the club shop, I panicked and thought ‘I need one’, and £50 lighter, it was in the bag. I thought I’d pop in to have a look at the training top, and £50 lighter (and a good ten minutes queuing all around the store), I had one of those too.
You know you’ve made it when those god-awful pop-up fake shops start hawking your stuff, and within minutes of fighting the crowds to secure something from shelves that got emptier and emptier, adverts were popping up from China. Also, you know you’re doing well when the vultures come out with their knock-off scarves along the Sincil Drain. We’re good now. Fans could see it around the stadium, and Orient saw it on the pitch.
Also, a shout-out to Warren Ward. This is indulgent, but back in the early 90s, Warren, fresh from his Football League career, came into our school to take some football training. We often joke about it, but now, he is my nephew’s PE teacher. We grabbed a photo and a chat, which was cool, he’s a top guy.
Team news was interesting, Ivan Varfolomeev pulling out before the game kicked off, leaving Tom Bayliss to step up. Kamil Conteh got a place on the bench, and that warmed my heart. I don’t know why, but I’ve really taken to Kamil, making a move that probably won’t bring football, but always there, smiling and contributing. I’ve grown this massive respect for the lads and I hope away at Port Vale, when neither us nor them have anything to play for, he lines up for us from the start, just for one game.
The next time the TV cameras cover us live, we’ll be a Championship team, but in terms of value for money, the neutrals must have been chuffed after five minutes. We’d had two decent efforts, Orient had the same, with one player looking especially dangerous for them. Sometimes, when a team has a big striker, it means little. He ambles around, then pops up with a goal, like Mo Eisa used to. Dom Ballard isn’t like that, he’s a real threat. He likes a handball, I noticed, I think he gave away two and maybe could have given away three or four, but he’s certainly one who’ll be lining up against us in the Championship next season. £15m? Maybe not, but he’s sure to be shifted for a seven-figure sum in the summer, and rightly so.
After 18 minutes, the game exploded into life, and died a death. A corner from the left got cleared, and Conor McGrandles (of course) nodded back into Jack Moylan. His turn and finish was exquisite, the sort of goal that adds a zero to a transfer value, and it took him to ten for the season. He nonchalantly jogged away as the Bank erupted, and for a moment, I thought maybe it would end up five or six. That’s how I felt we’d started, so brightly, soaking up their early pressure and then easing up a gear.
Then, nothing.
Like literally, nothing. From 18 minutes until 45 there was nothing meaningful on goal. The division’s top scorers, us, couldn’t break down Orient, and the division’s top scorer (Ballard) couldn’t create anything either. There was a huge call for a foul and red card as Ben House looked to get away, one I was furious with at the time, but Ross Joyce got it right, and there is a sentence I didn’t think I’d write. Luckily, he booked House for a very similar offence moments later, proving my theory that he’s one of the division’s weakest officials. One minute, hands and a tumble isn’t a foul, the next, when it’s not also a red card, he’s getting the book out.
First half injury time saw the game explode into life once again. Orient turned the screw with two efforts, which drew saves from George Wickens. The first was a stinging free-kick from Tom James, correctly awarded after a late Darikwa tackle, which brought another yellow, one of six shown in a game that rarely looked aggressive. In fairness, it was a fair yellow, and James’ strike was stopped, but not held by Wickens, who recovered well to punch clear. Orient came again, Tyreeq Bakinson with a weak drive which Wickens saved easily.
Just as it seemed as though we’d weathered the storm for a slender half-time lead, we struck again. We didn’t actually strike, Will Forrester did, but it’s all about Ryan Oné. He controls a big Wickens pass, then breaks after Hackett picks up his knockdown. His cross is decent, but didn’t beat the first man. Luckily, the first man panicked and just sliced it beyond his keeper to give City a 2-0 lead. It won’t trouble the dubious goals panel, but it did effectively kill off the game.
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