Our last meeting with West Ham United produced a night of pride at Sincil Bank, little hinting that Mark Kennedy’s time in charge would be over just three weeks later.
We didn’t know Kennedy’s time was up; indeed, maybe it wasn’t at that point, but a run of five games without a win, starting at Sheffield United, ironically, extended to six against the Hammers. Oddly, it is still rated as the finest Lincoln City performance of recent times by Stacey West readers, and while Kennedy was gone less than three weeks later, this was perhaps the pinnacle of his outings as coach.
On 27 September 2023, we welcomed the reigning Europa Conference League winners for a Carabao Cup third-round tie. We were a League One side with limited attacking options thanks to injuries to Ben House, Tyler Walker and Jack Vale, facing Premier League opponents packed with internationals. By the final whistle, the difference between the teams had amounted to one poorly defended corner, and our disappointment was accompanied by considerable pride.
We had already knocked out Sheffield United on penalties at Bramall Lane, so there was reason to believe we could make another Premier League side uncomfortable. West Ham represented a different challenge, but Kennedy had a team capable of staying organised against stronger opposition. That evening, almost everything we needed from them was there.
There was plenty to absorb before kick-off, with 10,168 inside the ground and a minute’s applause for Colin Murphy, who had died earlier that month. The West Ham supporters brought their rendition of “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles”, a piece of football tradition I had wanted to hear at Sincil Bank. Their European success was still fresh, and the occasion felt suitably big.
David Moyes made ten changes from the side beaten at Liverpool, but this was hardly a collection of youngsters. Mohammed Kudus, Saïd Benrahma, Danny Ings and Tomáš Souček provided ample evidence of the quality we were facing. In my report afterwards, I estimated their team had cost around £170 million, against roughly £400,000 for ours.
The weather complicated matters, with the wind holding up Lukas Jensen’s clearances and carrying West Ham deliveries beyond their intended targets. The visitors moved the ball with the assurance we expected, but their final pass frequently failed them. Our task was to stay in the contest long enough to make the pressure work both ways.
Sean Roughan’s early slip showed how quickly that balance could change. West Ham immediately broke forward, and Jensen produced the saves needed to prevent an early goal. Roughan recovered to deliver an excellent performance, but that moment underlined how little room we had for error against opponents of this quality.
We offered more going forward than I had expected, too. Lasse Sorensen’s surging run created an opportunity for Reeco Hackett, before Hakeeb Adelakun’s long throw produced our briefest moment of celebration. Ali Smith’s sliced effort reached Alex Mitchell, who bundled it home, only for the flag to cut short the joy.
The offside decision was correct, but there was something encouraging about seeing their defence unsettled by a weapon we could use repeatedly. Adelakun’s throws gave us a route into the box without having to pass through West Ham’s midfield. Against players who could dominate possession, that offered us a useful way of making our presence felt. Any of this sounding familiar?
Our best first-half chance followed another Smith delivery, this time a beautifully inviting cross for Hackett. He rose unchallenged and forced Lukasz Fabianski into an excellent save, the sort that reminded us of the level we were dealing with. Ings then fired wide at the other end, leaving the tie goalless at the break.
Adelakun’s involvement was a story in itself. Only weeks earlier, he had appeared miles away from the first team, yet here he was covering ground, working relentlessly and providing a threat from an unfamiliar forward role. His return from the cold was completed after Kennedy left with a double again Charlton, another plotline that ran beyond this encounter.
There were strong performances throughout the side, with Ethan Hamilton particularly impressive alongside Ethan Erhahon. Hamilton wanted to drive forward, take responsibility and have a go when space opened up, while Hackett looked comfortable carrying the ball against illustrious opponents. Roughan’s recovery from his early slip reflected the determination running through the team.
At half-time, the dangerous emotion was hope, as it always is. We had survived the opening 45 minutes, created chances and would have the wind behind us after the restart. A goal, or even the opportunity to take another Premier League scalp on penalties, suddenly felt within reach.
The second half remained competitive, although finding a clear opening against West Ham’s disciplined defence was difficult. There was enough in our performance to keep the crowd involved, even as the minutes passed without a breakthrough.
When the goal arrived in the 70th minute, it came through the most familiar route imaginable. Benrahma delivered a corner and Souček supplied the decisive touch, turning one defensive lapse into the difference between the teams. After all the effort spent containing their movement and individual ability, conceding was particularly frustrating. Again, sound familiar?
Even then, we kept searching for an equaliser. Dylan Duffy forced Fabianski into another save with a fierce drive, while a late Hamilton free-kick struck the wall. The final whistle brought disappointment, but it was difficult to identify anyone who had failed to give everything to the cause.
Reading my report again, the optimism is striking, given what followed three weeks later. Despite a third successive defeat, I felt we were moving in the right direction, and wondered what Danny Mandroiu, Tyler Walker or Ben House might have added had they been available. A forward line assembled without our established strikers had still made a Premier League defence work.
That is why the game feels like a swansong when viewed from this distance. Kennedy followed it with a 2-0 win over Cheltenham, courtesy of two Sorensen goals, but defeats against Peterborough and Burton followed. He called out Sean Roughan for a so-called mistake against Peterborough, dropping him for the Burton game. He called out Jovon Makama, despite his 90th-minute goal, against Wolves Under 21s between the two defeats and then hung Danny Mnadroiu out to dry after the Burton defeat. That might have been the right call, but made in the wrong way.
On 18 October, Kennedy and Danny Butterfield departed, with Tom Shaw taking interim charge.
The West Ham performance remains a strong memory from those final weeks because the players gave us so much to appreciate, perhaps the endgame of the Kennedy era. We had stayed organised, competed and created enough chances to make a surprise possible. For an evening, it was easy to believe that the commitment on show could carry us towards better things.
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