Lincoln City climbed into the top eight in the Championship with a 1-0 win at Bristol City.
Freddie Draper’s second-half goal was enough to hand three points to the Imps and send us into the play-offs, albeit 30-odd games too early! It was our third 1-0 win on the road, our third courtesy of a second-half goal, and our third clean sheet.
City made changes to the side which beat Preston at the weekend. Ivan Varfolomeev returned to the side, with former Bristol City defender Ryley Towler coming in for Andrei Coubis. Freddie Draper, who hit the winner at Deepdale, also returned to the side at Rob Street’s expense, while there was a first start in the league for Chieo Ogbene, replacing Reeco Hackett.
Dom Jefferies also came into the starting XI, with Daniel Oyegoke the man to miss out. There was no place on the bench for Ethan Wheatley or Josh Honohan, while Callum Elder also missed out on the squad.
The home side boasted Lorent Tolaj in their starting line-up, but there was no place for Dom Ballard, who was a handful for Orient against the Imps last season. He started on the bench alongside summer signing Sam Greenwood and Sam Bell, who bagged twice against us last season while on loan for Wycombe.
Both teams gathered for a huddle before kick-off, something which seems to be an increasingly common feature across the EFL this season, and it was City who fashioned the first couple of openings. Ben House won possession high up the field in the fourth minute, allowing Draper to test Sam Tickle, who pushed his effort out for a throw. That brought another opportunity a minute later when the ball fell to Jefferies, whose well-struck shot cannoned off a defender and was cleared.
The hosts responded with a good move up the pitch, ending with Yu Hirakawa shooting straight at George Wickens, and the winger quickly became the main source of concern for our defence. A lovely reverse pass looked to have put him in after nine minutes, only for Conor McGrandles to slide across and clear for a corner. Rio Cardines’ delivery sailed over everyone, although Wickens was adjudged to have got a touch on its way behind.
Hirakawa was involved again almost immediately, producing an audacious effort which initially looked more like a cross but needed Wickens to punch it over the bar. Every involvement brought a deep cry of “Yuuuuuuu” from the home crowd, and there were plenty of opportunities for them to join in during those opening exchanges. From Cardines’ next delivery, Tolaj headed against the bar, a chance from which the hosts really should have taken the lead.
We were struggling to contain Hirakawa, who was released down the left by Tolaj in the 14th minute. House tracked back to help Jefferies, but their attempts to stop him eventually resulted in a free-kick level with the edge of the penalty area. The delivery found Gibson Yah, whose header went over via a City touch, and the pressure continued when a deep cross dropped to Tolaj at the back post a minute later. Thankfully, he could not guide his effort on target, sending it wide to give us a little respite.
Sonny Bradley gave the travelling supporters something to cheer in the 18th minute, thundering into a tackle on Tolaj down the left and putting the ball behind for another corner. The hosts continued to carry the greater threat, with a cleared free-kick falling to Jed Wallace in the 25th minute. He drove a decent effort towards goal, but Towler was there to make the block.
There was finally another opportunity for City two minutes later, although the move included a high, late challenge on McGrandles which earned Lisav Eissat a yellow card and could perhaps have brought a stronger punishment. We were allowed to continue the attack, with Jefferies delivering a cross which Ogbene headed wide. Back at the other end, Cardines supplied another dangerous ball in the 29th minute, but Rob Dickie could only glance his header behind for a goal kick.
Deji Elerewe helped us get further up the pitch just after the half-hour, beating a couple of players before seeing his cross cleared. He stayed forward, got another opportunity and won a corner, giving the Imps a chance to put the home defence under some pressure. There was the usual pushing and shoving before Adam Reach sent in a reasonable delivery, only for the referee to award a foul against us.
Elerewe then went into the book in the 37th minute after a tussle with Tolaj which initially looked like a fairly equal contest. The striker went down and the yellow card came out, although the replay did show our defender holding his shirt. Tolaj joined him in the book four minutes later after lunging in on House, with our man’s remonstrations seemingly helping to ensure the challenge was eventually punished.
The half was becoming increasingly fractious as the interval approached, with two challenges going unpunished before Draper barged into a defender off the ball. That one did bring a whistle and, rightly, a yellow card for our striker in the 45th minute.
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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