There was a little ray of light amid the gloom yesterday evening when Oxford put three goals past Blackpool showing that they can be vulnerable but can we get through to face them? I can’t really see us doing it as with the likelihood of Flanagan, Wright and McFadzean being in our back-line you’ve got to fancy Lincoln getting a goal. If we can score first and early on, then we’ll have a realistic chance of getting a second but then there’ll be an awful long way to go, including extra-time, for us to keep Lincoln out and then win on penalties. Like nearly everyone I want to see Maguire on as he can produce something special and hit the target more often than not. What have we got to lose as it’s now or never? I’ll be at the match and hopefully the ten thousand of us can give the side a boost but if Lincoln score first and we play as we did in the first leg, there may well be some early exits and certainly a lot of bad vibes. This might be Lee Johnson’s only ever match with fans at the SoL and if so, it’ll be an unpleasant memory for him. If we do somehow get through, then we’ll all be feeling great. I can dream… Match prediction: 1-1.
I got to the Port of Call at 1.15 and met my bubble, who were in a surprisingly optimistic mood about the game. We got the team-news and it looked positive with both Maguire and McGeady starting as well as Stewart and Wyke. I was also pleased to see that Leadbitter was starting as he can keep a cool head while all others have lost theirs. Flanagan was on the bench. I was starting to feel a bit optimistic myself but maybe that was the Guinness kicking in. We got to the stadium about half an hour before kick-off and the atmosphere was great as the teams warmed up. We took our seats right on the northern goal-line in the East Stand. I remembered the last time I was here for that 2-2 draw against Gillingham in March last year and hoped for better things.
There was great applause for the team as they emerged from the tunnel – the Lincoln side had descended from elsewhere – and many joined in with ‘I can’t Help Falling in Love with You’. There was some booing as the sides took the knee. Then we were off and there was great vocal support from the fans.
It was clear from the off that we were marking danger-man Scully heavily and I was pleased to see that. We won the first corner in the seventh minute and at least produced a shooting chance from it. We’d been having a go from the off and in the thirteenth minute we went ahead when a cross from McGeady from the left was hit home by Stewart. The move started with a good defensive header from McFadzean who, to his credit, had won almost every header in his area so far. The atmosphere was great and the pressure was very much on Lincoln. One of my bubblers said, “Why the fuck didn’t we play like this the other day?” Palmer in goal was getting booed whenever he came near the ball and playing for time didn’t exactly help. In the twenty-second minute Stewart had a great chance to get his second but it was blocked for a corner. Still, we were doing all the pressing and I fancied us to get another before long.
Lincoln were offering very little upfront but a second goal from us would greatly change that. Just before the half-hour mark Wright got a good talking to from the ref but escaped without a card – it looked like a decent tackle to me anyway. In the thirty-third we were 2-0 up and again it was a McGeady cross from the left, this time hit home by Wyke. The stadium went apeshite! “We’re by far the greatest team that the world has ever…,” was echoing from the stands and there seemed to be more noise than from a forty thousand crowd. We had a penalty shout in the forty-first when Palmer appeared to deck Stewart but nothing was given. Soon Leadbitter tried a long-distance shot and he got it on target but Palmer managed to take the sting out of it. It was a sign of confidence, though. A minute before the break we won a free-kick at the right angle of their box and we hoped for a Maguire special. A bloke behind me shouted, “C’mon, bury it! Haway!” and McGeady had a good try but his kick went just wide. There was a standing ovation as the half-time whistle went and we had played better than we had since the Portsmouth match. One more goal and a clean sheet in the second-half would do it…..and that did seem doable.
On a lavatorial note, I thought the stewards had everything very well organised as we queued to have a slash and then of course wash our hands in a suitably distanced style. Apparently things weren’t so well done in the Ladies.
There was much cheering as the team emerged and we kicked-off again. We were attacking our end and I hoped that magic goal would soon come. Lincoln started brightly and five minutes in won two corners in quick succession with the ball hitting our right post in between them. They were getting far too much space in our left back area. They pulled one back in the fifty-sixth minute when they won a corner on our left and Hopper headed home from close range. (The scorer wasn’t announced.) Our fans kept up their support but we conceded a penalty in the sixty-second for a clear foul. Burge made a great save, diving to his right and palming Grant’s shot away to tremendous applause. Next thing Diamond replaced Maguire and Power, McFadzean. The momentum was again with us but Lincoln were looking well-marshalled at the back. I still felt that we could nick another goal before long. With thirteen minutes on the clock we brought on O’Brien for Stewart and Winchester for Scowen. McGrandles had a great chance to make it 2-2 but with just Burge to beat he hit it high and wide. We entered the final ten minutes and a low shot from McGeady hit the post with the follow-up hitting the side-netting. Edun was booked for time-wasting and rightly so. Five minutes to go and I hadn’t seen anyone leave yet while the vocal support was still strong. Lincoln’s defence continued to look solid as we entered five minutes of stoppage-time. We replaced Gooch with Flanagan for some reason and continued to have a go but didn’t create any more real chances and it ended 2-1. Afterwards the team walked around the pitch and applauded the crowd while receiving a lot of applause and a few boos themselves. I wondered how many of them we’d see playing for us again
After a great performance in the first-half we allowed a revitalized Lincoln back into it at the beginning of the second and then didn’t have enough tricks to break down a resolute defence.
