Lincoln City 2 Stockport County 1 ( Football League 1 ) Saturday 26 October 2024

 

 

County copped for that defeat today that has been on the cards for a while now , when Michael Skubala`s Lincoln City  side bided their time  before claiming all the points with a win that in the end was more comfortable than perhaps the score suggests.

County started the game well enough ,indeed for the first 15  minutes  their play ,with Powell as lively as he has ever been, threatened to overrun their opponents, especially when a superb ball by Powell teed Tanto up for the game`s opening goal.

We looked quids in…..Imps looked shell shocked but hey ho….Nick picked up a knock necessitating that he be substituted , and quite frankly County just fell apart in his absence!

Goals by House (a  gift from Addai) and neat header from Cadamarteri secured the points for Lincoln .

County should have had a penalty just before half time when Barry was laid out crudely by Sean Roughan and home keeper George Wickens as he advanced on goal in the box, but the Referee Ben Speedie prevaricated…..abdicated the decision to the liner to our left, and that was that- no penalty – no half time lead.

So- you are now expecting me to blame the Referee for our defeat probably…

Well, he did obviously contribute to our demise with the above mentioned decision, but I would rather point to County`s poor application and willingness to carelessly gift possession to the opposition game long as  more of a game decider.

……………………………………… 

 

The game opened with the away end up and roaring as Fevrier stormed into the home back line at speed down the right- it looked promising until the moment the ball reached Touray who was crowded out by a clutch of defenders.

It was by no means all County though as a raft of corners came Imps way in the next 3 or 4 minutes- none of them taken with any kind of precision which was fortunate for County who were struggling to relieve the pressure.

Eventually the blues made it back into the opposition half where a foul on Connolly teed up a free kick albeit way wide on the right. The kick was inconclusive as were subsequent crosses from Bailey and Touray, but the ball found its way to Powell who declared the moment his own sending a superbly weighted pass deep into the box where Tanto responded equally brilliantly by beating the keeper with a powerful finish.

We had the lead and again looked likely to do something as Powell surged onto the ball . Powell was blocked and Bailey sent his follow up fizzing inches wide of keeper Wickens` back post.

And that was more or less where it all went pear shaped for County as Powell had to be substituted, being replaced by Norwood.

Imps seemed to be rejuvenated  - making rapid progress down the left before the centre of County`s back line sorted matters when play switched inside.

But we were struggling to clear our lines as  3 more corners came Lincoln`s way in quick succession- the angst ended with a confident catch by Addai.

Beyond 30 minutes and County were still under the cosh- conceding corners when worse threatened.

It took us an age to put together a worthwhile response and when it came ,through Tanto , he was clattered by Sean Roughan as he shaped to cut inside. We got a free kick but made nothing of it so Roughan will have thought he had done well, and he had!

Ethan Hamilton and Ben House  pushed County back next- Hamilton seeing a shot deflected for a corner, and County`s luck was in ,as the kick was another in a run of anonymous Lincoln corners that failed to extend County`s back line.

Barry had tested the right side of the home defences moments earlier- his run cut off on the edge of the box- that was the good bit, but County then lost concentration and possession allowing Jeffries to charge clear he put his effort wide so again we had traded on our good fortune.

But it couldn`t last, could it? Not when  we played such scant attention to the basics that saw us delay clearing our lines , a situation that ended with Addai gifting the ball to our opponents allowing Ben House to score from close in.

Possibly expecting County to hang on to what they had until half time, Imps were probably as surprised, but not as delighted , as I was to see Barry darting beyond a clutch of home defenders through the middle in added time.

A goal looked on, and then it didn`t as Barry was scythed down by the combined attentions of Sean Roughan and keeper George Wickens- the diminutive County ace was poleaxed!

It looked a clear penalty to this writer, but Mr Speedie prevaricated…..then …..maybe influenced by a blizzard of obfuscation from assorted home defenders ….he abdicated responsibility electing to ask his liner-

 

To be fair I was not confident the result of said `consultations` would fall in County`s favour- I found myself thinking of the boxer facing a bout away from his /her home town knowing that he/she would require to knock their opponents out to get a draw.

……and sure enough the result was  A CORNER!

I had barely recovered from that refereeing travesty when County opted to press the `self destruct button` again as Cadamarteri was fed beautifully by Bailey`s short corner.

Off he charged….soon on his own with only Addai twixt him and glory via a second Imps goal, but he snatched at it missing the target by a distance we had once more lived dangerously and emerged relatively intact.

Thankfully the half soon ended with the score still at 1-1.

……………………………………………

 

There were changes in County`s line up for the second half – one quite eyebrow raising namely Hinchliffe for Addai, with Wootton and Horsfall on for Fevrier and Bate.

For a while after the break County looked to have pepped up a bit .

Lincoln still had their moments though and Horsfall did particularly well under pressure to ensure House  did not find the net with a tasty morsel in front of goal provided by Cadamarteri. The corner saw Hinchliffe punch the ball clear with authority.

County shaped to put the pressure on Lincoln next and for a while it looked OK and then it didn`t as possession was eventually surrendered to Imps and the blues had to pull out all the stops to settle for conceding a corner. That was as good as it got however as the corner picked out Cadamarteri perfectly enabling him to give his side the lead with a perfectly executed glancing header!

County`s defence had much to do after this and I must pick Pye out for praise as he was in excellent nick throughout, and I must say I could get used to a back 3 of Hughes, Horsfall, Pye !

Imps pressed County looking for a third goal- Hinchliffe saving an effort from Reeko Hackett at one point- County came back at them Wootton, Barry, Touray all disappointed with efforts of varying quality.

Touray did well dealing with a late break by Imps- Freddie Draper only stopped from adding a third goal to their tally by Touray`s good work.

Into 5 minutes added time we went then with Draper winning the cheapest of free kicks .

Pye did well to block Draper from this  and County cleared the corner only for the ball to come back as Bailey gave a free kick away.

 Pye and Hinchliffe sorted this , the pressure re-emerging via a free kick conceded by Connelly and Connolly was fortunate not to be penalised on the edge of the box for a clear foul on Draper.

It was hard work for County, and they must have been grateful to hold the score to 2-1 bearing in mind what had gone before.

More evidence that League 1 is no cake walk- we always knew we would lose again some time, so we look to Tuesday`s game in the knowledge that DC and his team will have done the necessary work to address any perceived issues.

See you Tuesday!

 

Lincoln City line up:-

 Wickens, Darikwa, Montsma, O’Connor, Roughan, Jefferies,  Erhahon ( Hamilton, 14),  Hackett, McGrandles,  Cadamarteri ( Draper, 80), House ( Moylan, 88).

Subs not used:  Pardington, Hamer,  Ring, McKiernan.

Stockport County line up:-

 Addai (Hinchcliffe, 46), Touray, Pye, Connolly , Hughes, Bate (Wootton, 46), Powell ( Norwood 16) Olaofe (Mellon, 79), Fevrier (Horsfall, 46), Barry,  Bailey.

Subs not used: Diamond, Fiorini.

Attendance : 9513 ( 1426)

hedgegrower

 

hedgegrower`s Additional Gallery