Proper First Steps As Lincoln City Defeat Boston United – Analysis

There is always a temptation to read too much into the first pre-season friendly, especially after a long summer without Lincoln City.

This weekend, the Imps faced Boston United in the first pre-season friendly, and we saw 44 players used across the two sides. The weather was warm, the result did not matter, and there were several senior players missing as a precaution. None of that stopped more than 600 Imps from making the trip, because the first game back always feels important, even when we know deep down that it is not.

That was probably the overwhelming feeling at Boston United. Walking out and seeing the pitch again, seeing familiar faces and watching City warm up brought that sense that football had properly returned. It was only the pilot episode of the 2026/27 season, and plenty will change before the league campaign begins, but there was enough in the 1-0 win to make the afternoon worthwhile.

The first thing to clear up is the list of absentees. Callum Elder, Josh Honohan, Ryley Towler, Freddie Draper and Ben House were all left out, but there was no suggestion that any of them are facing significant time on the sidelines. Other than James Collins, whose injury is already known to be a long-term one, the message from the club was that everyone is expected to be available during pre-season.

That matters because a team sheet with five senior players missing can easily start a discussion that is not really there. In reality, this was the first match of the summer, and there was no reason to take risks with minor knocks, rolled ankles or general tightness. Had this been the opening league game at Middlesbrough, several of those players would probably have been in contention, but Boston away in July is a completely different proposition.

The absences did create opportunities elsewhere, most notably for Jack Thompson in the back three. The former Nottingham Forest B team captain, who spent time with Barrow last season, was brought in to help City after Towler picked up a minor ankle problem. It appeared to be a case of the club doing him a favour while he helped us out in return, rather than the beginning of a serious trial.

To answer the question of ‘why not play a youngster’ – our game plans are refined down to minute details. Lewie Oliver could have played after Towler rolled his ankle late, but he was scheduled for 90 minutes against Lincoln United. By bringing in a trialist, we protect the game plans so meticulously put together by the coaching staff and protect Towler from exacerbating his injury.

Thompson did perfectly well across his 45 minutes. There were one or two moments when he found himself on the wrong side of the ball, but there is little value in dissecting the performance of a player who had only recently joined the group and is unlikely to be seen again. He slotted in, helped the team through the first half and allowed the club to avoid disrupting the academy plans.

That academy pathway was also represented by Donald Inyama, who started in midfield and looked comfortable at senior level. There is no need to place any pressure on him or talk about a first-team breakthrough, because he remains a young scholar and is likely to spend most of the season continuing his development. Even so, it was encouraging to see him handle the physical side of the game without looking out of place.

Inyama was neat in possession, competitive without the ball and generally composed throughout his appearance. He did not try to force the issue or show too much, which can sometimes be the danger for young players in first-team surroundings. Instead, he played his game, got involved and looked capable of coping with senior football.

That may become the more realistic route for academy players now City are in the Championship. The jump into our first team is enormous, but that does not mean the academy is not producing useful footballers. A player such as Inyama showing he can compete against National League opposition suggests there may be opportunities for loans, training exposure and gradual progression, even if the first team remains some distance away.

The player who caught the eye most in the first half was Oscar Thorn. His last senior appearance came in the EFL Trophy win against Barnsley, the same game in which Adam Jackson last featured, and this was a timely reminder of the physical attributes that made him an interesting signing. He is tall, quick and carries the sort of frame rarely associated with a winger.

On paper, City appeared to line up with a back three, with Thorn operating as the right wing-back. That was certainly the shape out of possession, as he dropped into a five alongside Jackson, Thompson, Tom Hamer and Adam Reach. Once we had the ball, though, the structure changed and began to resemble the 4-2-3-1 used so often last season.

Thorn pushed high and wide, Hackett moved into more central areas, and Hamer shifted across to protect the space behind. That left Thorn as the main source of width on the right, and he performed the role well. He carried the ball with purpose, stretched Boston’s defence and showed the energy to recover when possession changed hands.

It would be foolish to assume that this shape will be the main system once the competitive football begins. Pre-season is for experimentation, and the coaching staff will want to see players operating in different roles and reacting to different structures. Even so, the movements were familiar, and there was a clear logic to how the team shifted between the two shapes.

Thorn may also be one of those players who feels he has a little more to prove after last season. The established senior players know their standing within the squad, whereas someone in his position may see pre-season as a chance to force himself into the picture. That urgency was visible in his display, and while one friendly cannot change a career, a good performance is always more useful than a quiet one.

City’s winning goal arrived after seven minutes and came from one of the better attacking moves of the afternoon. The goalkeeper may feel he could have done more with the finish, but the build-up was the important part from a Lincoln perspective. Hackett and Bayliss were both given licence to move inside, while Street linked the play rather than remaining isolated as a traditional centre-forward. It was fluid, quick and ended with the sort of opening that comes from players understanding where each other want to move.

At that point, there was a fleeting thought that the afternoon might become one-sided. We have seen City win heavily at Boston before, but the home side responded well and gave a decent account of themselves. Lenell John-Lewis provided a bruising physical test for the defenders, while Boston had enough quality in midfield to prevent us from dominating every phase of the first half.

The opening period became fairly even after the goal. City were comfortable and looked the better side, but there were not many clear-cut chances. We had plenty of promising moments around the final third without always producing the final pass or shot that the move deserved.

That was probably the only minor criticism from the afternoon as a whole. There was enough good play to suggest we should have scored more than once, but the final action was often missing. It is the first friendly of pre-season, though, and sharpness in those areas is usually one of the last things to arrive.

The second half was where City really began to impress. Jack Moylan brought energy and intelligence to the attacking shape, while Ivan Varfolomeev played with the sort of intensity that suggested nobody had told him it was a friendly. He flew into challenges, covered ground and generally made life uncomfortable for Boston.

There were a couple of tackles that felt closer to league action than a summer run-out, but they were fair and well timed. That competitive edge was welcome, because friendlies can sometimes drift into little more than organised training. Varfolomeev ensured that did not happen.

The most encouraging part of the second half was not necessarily what City did with the ball, but the way we operated without it. Boston attempted to play from the back, and the Imps repeatedly trapped them inside their own third. It was not a case of players charging around individually, because the press looked coordinated and familiar. It felt a lot like the good things from last season, and that bodes well for us, as we’re going to need to be everything we were last season as a starting point.

Moylan played an important role in that. On our podcast, Chris noted that rather than sprinting directly at the centre-back in possession, he blocked the passing lane into midfield and encouraged the ball to go wide. Once it reached the full-back, he curved his run to remove the return pass, while the nearest Lincoln player applied pressure and a midfielder stepped forward to block the inside route.

Boston were suddenly left with nowhere safe to go. They could play backwards, take a risk through the middle or hit the ball long, but there was no easy exit. We forced turnovers and kept the game in their half, which is one of the reasons the second period felt much more dominant, even though the possession statistics may not have reflected it.

That tactical familiarity was probably the most valuable takeaway from the game. The squad is not complete, and several important players were missing, but those involved already understood the basic principles of the system. They knew the pressing triggers, the covering positions and when to step forward as a unit.

There were other useful moments in the second half. Tendayi Darikwa and JJ McKiernan combined quickly from a throw-in, with McKiernan flashing the ball across goal, while Oisin Gallagher and Zane Okoro both brought energy. Charlie Parks also appeared to have filled out considerably since his last first-team involvement.

Parks looks physically much closer to senior football than he did before his loan at Gainsborough Trinity. Along with Gallagher and Okoro, he is likely to benefit from another loan this season. The level will depend on how they perform during the rest of pre-season, but all three appear ready for more regular exposure to the senior game.

McKiernan’s involvement was also worth noting. He has become something of a forgotten player and may still leave the club before the window closes, but this was not the performance of someone who had been cast aside. He worked hard, remained involved with the squad and applied himself properly.

There were still moments when the final pass or decision did not quite match the endeavour. That has perhaps been the question around him for some time, especially now the standard required is Championship level. It would be harsh to make a definitive judgement from the first friendly, but it was good to see him involved and competing.

In the end, the result itself was probably the least important part of the afternoon. A 1-0 win at Boston United will not tell us how City will cope in the Championship, and nobody should pretend it does. The scoreline will be forgotten quickly, especially once the games begin to become more competitive.

Most importantly, the afternoon felt like a proper first step rather than a meaningless exercise. Players got minutes into their legs, younger members of the squad gained exposure, and the team worked through patterns that should become more refined over the coming weeks. There were no fresh injury concerns and no obvious reason to leave Boston with anything other than cautious satisfaction.

It was not a finished performance, and it was never supposed to be. To borrow an analogy from the podcast, it was the first pint after a few weeks of abstinence. While the third or fourth friendly may not carry the same excitement, the first always tastes refreshingly good.

Up the Imps.