Kane Hutchinson-Wilkes scored twice as Lincoln United defeated Lincoln City’s under-18s 2-1 at the Sun Hat Villas and Resorts Stadium, writes Abi Hartnell.
United responded well to Tuesday’s defeat against Basford, with Hutchinson-Wilkes producing two excellent finishes against a confident young City side. Following Tuesday’s defeat, Darren Dye said:
“We looked fit, we looked strong, we looked organised, we looked like a proper team.”
His side were determined to build on those positives against the young Imps.
Lincoln City kicked us off as they sent a long ball down the left side. Much of the game started panicked from both sides as the ball kept going up and down the pitch, with no team really gaining possession.
After some forward play, in the seventh minute of the game, we had our first corner of the night, which came from Leo Priestly. He sent it directly into the box to cause City some chaos, before their number nine cleared it to gain some control of the game.
The game started out evenly with a few Lincoln United attacks. Free-kicks were whipped in from the left and right, but City still could not find a way through. The game remained quite equal in the 14th minute as the ball went between both sets of players.
Rio Molyneaux grabbed the Whites’ first shot on target. It came from a run down the left side and then a quick change of pace, as he drove through players to get a low-driven shot away, which ended up in the City goalkeeper’s hands.
Corners started flying in from the Whites, particularly from the right side, where Kane Hutchinson-Wilkes found different players in the box every time. Another spell of possession came for City, but relatively quickly, the ball was turned back over to United, which led to more attacks.
Within 20 minutes, City found their first corner of the game, which was defended very well by the Whites. It also found United up the other side of the pitch, where Liam Moran had another shot, but the ball went straight into the goalkeeper’s hands.
City looked like they were onto something after they won the ball back in their own box and got themselves down the pitch at a fast pace, but still nothing happened. The young Imps grew in confidence as the half progressed and began to test Liam Flitton more regularly.
The biggest chance to go ahead came in the 24th minute, when Liam Moran was one-on-one with the City goalkeeper, but he sent his effort high over the bar. Much of the first half carried on equally, as both teams showed more fight in their attempts to get a goal.
Referee Andy Park almost could not keep up with the play as the ball changed possession so many times, but United’s ball work became sharper as the sun went down and the players got used to the pitch.
Just as half-time was drawing in, a goal came. From a nasty foul just outside the box, it was Kane Hutchinson-Wilkes’ time to see if he could put his team 1-0 up. Seconds later, he stepped backwards, took a breath and struck the cleanest shot of pre-season so far. Park thought that was enough to conclude the first half, so he blew his whistle.
The home side kicked off the second half as they played possession rather than attack, but it soon worked.
United dominated the opening ten minutes of the second half. Another important attack was led from the left side and Hutchinson-Wilkes fired his team 2-0 up with just over 35 minutes left to play.
City did not find themselves in many good areas, but they did have another good spell of possession. United stepped up their work rate by a gear, which slightly fooled City’s tactics. All the corners came from the left side in the second half, but they were all too powerful and went over players’ heads.
The second half went on with City making some substitutions at the back, with both Oliver brothers coming off and some taller players coming on to try to change the outcome of the game.
With just 12 minutes left of normal time, City found a way back into the game, with a superb top-corner effort going in from Kian Sagoo, cutting the Whites’ lead to one.
This was the point at which the game became a rivalry, as more sliding tackles came in, as well as more pushing in and around both boxes. It looked as if there was no way for City to come back into the game. However, they generated a few more chances in the closing minutes.
Andy Park blew his whistle to signal the end of the game, with the Whites getting the better of the young Imps after 90 minutes.
The player of the match was Hutchinson-Wilkes, as he struck two fantastic goals to help his team win the game. He also provided plenty of attacks and set pieces for his team on the night. The official attendance was 246.
Lincoln United’s next game is scheduled for Tuesday, when they will take on Gainsborough Trinity at the Sun Hat Villas and Resorts Stadium in the county cup. Kick-off is at 7.45 pm. The Imps travel to Boston United this afternoon, where a more senior side will take on the National League outfit.
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