Michael Skubala believed the Imps’ 2-2 draw with Stevenage felt like a win despite only bringing in a single point.
City twice trailed, firstly through Louis Thompson’s opener, and then by Jamie Reid’s header. Tendayi Darikwa got City back on terms in the first half, but it took a late Rob Street goal to ensure City came home from Hertfordshire with a share of the spoils.
Stevenage certainly belied their reputation as a long-ball side with some neat football, and a compact, aerially dominant display to give City a real scare, but when Neil Hair brought proceedings to a close, the Imps were level, and stretched the unbeaten run to 26 matches.
“It was a tough game,” Michael said to John Helm after the final whistle. “It just shows you it’s really hard to win games at any level. Really hard to come here and win games.”
A relatively poor first half saw City concede a couple of uncharacteristic goals, not least the second from Jamie Reid. Despite restoring parity prior to his header, Michael admitted City weren’t as competitive as we’ve been used to seeing.
“I thought we weren’t as, the first half, we didn’t look like us. I thought they started the game better. Obviously, they have huge things to play for in trying to get into the playoffs.
“So, every ball mattered, and we’d know that. But I thought in the end it just shows the character of the group again, where we just keep pushing, keep pushing the game to try and get that point
“Again, it just showed you the subs, everybody together, and it felt like a win even though it wasn’t a win.”
Trailing at the break, Michael tweaked the system to get back into things, but Stevenage made it hard. Their story would get far more exposure were it not for our overachieving, and Alex Revell’s side know exactly what to do and how to do it. It’s not all kick, rush and fight either: they’ve got some decent players.
“They’re very well coached,” said Michael. “They’re hard to play against. They do not give many chances at all. They’ve lost two games here all season.
“We gave them a couple of chances that we didn’t need to give them. So you’re then on the back foot, especially after we go one all. I thought the second goal, we weren’t tight enough. It comes too quickly, and we could have worked way back into the game more.
“But then at halftime we changed things. Thought we needed more width, more intensity in our game, and to keep going and not lose the game and keep the unbeaten run going is amazing.”
City now need a single point from games against Doncaster Rovers, Wycombe Wanderers or Port Vale to be sure of the title, with a very real possibility of a title presentation on the day of our commemoration of the 1975/76 season. We could clinch the title against Doncaster, the same team we clinched the title against 50 years ago.
As for Stevenage, they have a two-point gap in sixth, keeping Plymouth Argyle at bay, and a three-point advantage over Luton Town. With home games against Barnsley and Wigan, and a trip to Doncaster, who are safe, it would be a fool to bet against them in the play-offs, and they’ll certainly be a team nobody wants to face.
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