Lincoln City finally have their first Championship win of the season, and Chris Cohen felt the manner of it said plenty about the group he and Tom Shaw are working with.
City had to withstand a difficult first half at Bolton Wanderers, with the hosts enjoying the better chances and George Wickens making a couple of important saves to ensure it remained goalless at the break. The Imps improved noticeably after half-time, with Ben House eventually glancing home from Callum Elder’s long throw before City dug in through a difficult final 20 minutes to see out the 1-0 win.
For Cohen, there was no pretending it had been a perfect afternoon, but after a difficult opening few weeks of the Championship season, getting points on the board was the overriding feeling.
“Yeah. It was by no means perfect, Gary, but most important that we put some points on the board,” he told me after the game.
“We knew that, and incredibly proud of the performance. You’ve followed us for however many years. It was a proper Lincoln City away performance. We had to dig in. We had to fight. We’re a football club that’s built on spirit, and I thought the lads showed that in abundance today.”
That description felt about right. This was not City controlling the game for long periods or slicing Bolton apart repeatedly, particularly during a first half in which the home side carried the greater threat.
Sam Dalby struck the outside of the post, Lewis Brunt forced an excellent reaction save from Wickens and Bolton regularly found useful positions around the City penalty area. For all of that pressure, though, the Imps stayed in the contest and continued to defend their box well.
Chris knew what sort of challenge Steven Schumacher’s side would provide, particularly having worked with the Bolton head coach previously, but there is a considerable difference between identifying where the danger might come from and stopping it once the game begins.
“We know that every time we go away from home, these teams are going to be set up really well. Obviously, I know Steven really well. He sets up his teams brilliantly well. We know the threats that they have, but knowing about them and stopping them is really difficult. I just thought we were really connected as a football team, and the moments that we weren’t probably gave them the moments where they had opportunities on our goal.
“And then I thought, second half, the boys come out, another 10-minute spell where we got on top, and we know that if we can have wave after wave of set pieces, we know we can score. And luckily, that’s what we did. And yeah, as I said, not the most enjoyable last 20 minutes, but incredibly proud of the players that they fight for each other like that.”
When the breakthrough finally came, it came from a familiar source. Street, introduced only moments earlier, helped force the situation which led to an Elder long throw, and House reacted quickest as the ball bounced in front of him, glancing it beyond Bonham.
There had been no sweeping tactical change at half-time according to Cohen. Instead, the message was simply to produce more of the moments City had shown during the opening 45 minutes, both with and without possession.
“No, no major changes from either team tactically. I think they swapped wide players over for 10 minutes or so. But no, we knew that in the good moments in the first half, we were really, really good. We just needed more of them, so more with the ball, more without the ball, a little bit more aggressive.
“But like we keep saying to these boys all the time, when they have a spell of possession, when we have a spell of being around the other team’s penalty area, we know we can create opportunities. And yeah, delighted the way it’s worked out with the supporters behind the goal. First win in the second tier for 65 years. It’s an amazing achievement from that group of players and staff, and yeah, me and Tom, really lucky to be working with them.”
More than six decades have passed since Lincoln City last won a match at this level. There will be plenty of afternoons this season when performances are smoother, and the football is more comfortable, but the first Championship victory of this new era came through resilience, organisation and a willingness to defend for each other when Bolton threw everything forward.
For a side still adjusting to the demands of the second tier, there are worse ways to get started.
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