Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert was full of praise for Lincoln City after the Imps fought back to claim a point at Sincil Bank, highlighting the courage, energy and physicality of Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw’s side.
City had arguably been the better team for much of the opening period, but Welington’s stunning effort from around 30 yards gave the visitors the lead. For a spell after the restart it looked as though that might prove decisive. Southampton had opportunities to put the game beyond City, most notably when Scienza curled an effort against the inside of one post, watched it roll across goal and then strike the other.
However, the Imps stayed in the contest and gradually began to apply increasing pressure. The introduction of Ladefoged, Hackett, Konak, Bayliss and Ogbene helped change the complexion of the game, with Southampton increasingly forced backwards as City began sending balls into their penalty area. That pressure eventually brought its reward three minutes from time, when Ladefoged rose at the back post to head beyond Daniel Peretz for his first Lincoln City goal and a deserved equaliser.
Eckert felt City deserved credit for the manner in which they approached the contest.
“Credit to Lincoln for a performance with a lot of courage, manliness and energy,” he said.
“I think for us, we knew the game was going that way.
“It’s a lot of long balls to deal with into the last line. The job was to bring the ball down quickly, make sure that the game stays on the floor.
“There were a couple of spells where we’ve done that quite well. There were a couple of spells where we haven’t done it, but we go 1-0 up at half-time.”
For Southampton, the frustration centred on what happened after the break. They had the lead and, particularly during the opening 20 minutes of the second half, had opportunities to make City’s task considerably harder.
Instead, they remained only one goal ahead, leaving the door open for an Imps side that had already demonstrated they were capable of troubling the visitors.
“If you play here, there are two ways to bring the game home. You score a second goal, and we could have done that in the first 20 minutes of the half.
“If you don’t manage to score another one, you know that there’s one ball after another coming into the box towards the end of the game.
“If we don’t manage to score the second one, we need to find a way to grind these games out, and that’s the disappointing thing about today.”
That final phase of the match was arguably where City’s strength became most obvious. Ladefoged gave the Imps another imposing presence in attack, while Draper remained on the pitch and Ogbene provided fresh running from deeper positions.
There had already been a warning before the equaliser when Wickens launched a free kick forward, Ladefoged won the first contact and Coubis volleyed narrowly over. Ogbene then forced Peretz into a save with his legs and saw another effort blocked, while Draper headed over from close range.
Southampton were struggling to make the ball stick further up the pitch, meaning clearances were increasingly coming straight back at them. Eckert acknowledged that his side needed to manage those moments better, but again paid tribute to City’s physical qualities.
“I felt we were missing a player in there, especially when they came underneath. We’ve done that last year as well, in a couple of games.
“What we were missing was that we managed to hold on to the ball when the ball went further up the pitch. Then it was just one after another coming.
“Of course, we need to do better with the balls that come in. Again, credit to Lincoln; I think they had outstanding physicality, but it’s for us to deal with.”
Eckert’s comments underline one of the qualities we will need throughout a Championship season. There will be games when the Imps cannot dominate possession or dictate proceedings, but making Sincil Bank an uncomfortable place for opponents, particularly during those frantic closing stages, could prove extremely important.
Each bar shows the two sides' share of that row's total, so it says who had more — not whether it was good, which would need a league-wide distribution this one match cannot provide.
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