The big day at Sincil Bank was spoiled as Portsmouth ran out 3-1 winners against Lincoln City, and head coach Tom Shaw expressed his disappointment at the result.
It was the biggest crowd at the Bank since the 1983 Milk Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur, as the new-look ground got its first outing. However, Portsmouth were in no mood to play patsy, and raced into a two-goal lead.
Reeco Hackett reduced the deficit before the break, but a screamer from Ebou Adams restored the two-goal lead. Rob Street hit the post late on, but it would have been too little, too late on a tough afternoon for City.
“A disappointing result on what was a huge day for Lincoln City, so we’re disappointed not to give the fans something to go home delighted with,” head coach Tom Shaw said after the game.
“I thought the first half was pretty dominant. We were looking at their goal for the majority of the half, and the two goals we’ll go away and dissect. We’ll be really disappointed as a group of staff and players that we’ve given them that opportunity.
“There was that flurry of set pieces right at the start, which gave us a lift and the stadium got right behind it, which was terrific, and then it was a bit of a sucker punch against the run of play. It knocked the wind out of our sails a little bit, but I was very pleased with how we responded from that point.”
Getting back into the game at 2-1 was important, and after the break, hopes were high that City could push on. Tendayi Darikwa’s injury didn’t help matters, but it was a tepid second period from the Imps, as Tom explained.
“The disappointing part of the day is the second half. It just petered out a little bit. We haven’t had to chase many results in recent history of the football club, but if we’re put in that scenario, we’ve got to create more volume.
“Just as we started to, we’ve obviously given them the third goal, which is a terrific strike from Adams. The bit to definitely go away with, alongside the goals we conceded, is how we chase down scorelines better than we did. We’ve got to create a little bit more volume around the goal than what was shown today.”
Before City went behind, there were chances. Adam Reach’s free-kick was tipped over, while Ben House saw a one-on-one saved by the Pompey keeper. Had that gone in, things could have been different, especially as Freddie Draper impressed again.
“I thought Freddie and Ben caused loads of problems in the first half, which is great to see at this level against two good centre-halves,” said Tom.
“Ben creates that opportunity himself, so we can’t be too harsh on him, but he’ll be disappointed. I thought he was fantastic today. He had a big contribution to the football match.
“We started it with another flurry of set pieces, but we can’t concede as many goals as we have in the last couple of games because it makes it very, very difficult.
“We’ve got to go away, think about it, discuss it with the players and figure out how we can be a little bit more solid.”
Next up for the Imps is a trip to Blackpool on Tuesday night, followed by another journey to the north-west as we take on Bolton Wanderers.
Tom told the press he’s hopeful of some transfer business between now and then, while the Blackpool game will likely give first starts to Coubis, as well as Melia, Olafe, Callum Elder, and possibly Yunus Konak.
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