The second half was as inspiring as the first, Vale never looked like a side in the bottom six, but they didn’t give me cause to believe they’re a top half side either. They chased, harried and harassed, we did the same and neither side really got into any sort of rhythm.
Some will say John Akinde coming on was to blame, those people will not be correct. It’s right John offers a little less than Rheady in terms of aerial threat, but he’s more mobile. The thinking, one assumes, was Matt played 90 minutes against Cambridge and was getting involved a bit too much with their lads. John Akinde certainly did his part, but it wasn’t his best display in an Imps shirt. Not bad for someone who ended up bagging an assist of course.
Our six goal hammering of Vale earlier in the season came almost exclusively from corners, so it was disappointing to see us fail to force one until the 57th minutes. True to form, the ball was whipped in, Big John got on the knock down and Shay McCartan bundled home. It seemed to be a big moment, everyone let out a sigh of relief and cheered the three points. Port Vale had retreated since their super start to the first half and surely they were there to be put to the sword. Surely.
That didn’t happen though, did it? For whatever reason we switched off, stopped stretching the play with passes, or at least slowed it right down. The ball went from side to side, occasionally back to Grant Smith, but on the whole we seemed content that we’d done our job, the work was complete. After 57 minutes of football.
Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t incredibly poor, but we looked a little sloppy, maybe even tired. When Kellan Gordon came on for Bruno and swapped wings with Harry, our threat from both flanks essentially faded away. Without that outlet, Port Vale found more of the ball and began to edge closer and closer. We had chances, McCartan had a drive saved as did Harry, but they were flashes in what I could only describe as a lukewarm performance. It was made tougher by having the TV on in the box and seeing MK Dons hit Cambridge for six, the same Cambridge worthy of a draw against us a couple of days ago.
As the minutes ebbed away there was only going to be one side scoring the goals. Some might say if we’d had Matt Green to bring on things would have been different, I’m not sure they would. The players looked to just want things to be over and only a fine display from Jason Shackell and Michael Bostwick prevented Vale getting the equaliser. They began to show real quality, linking nice passes and stretching us. Obviously, they hit the bar and then Grant Smith pulled off a great save too. The signs were ominous.
I would moan about a corner they got just before their goal, but only in a desperate attempt to divert attention away from the failure to see the game out. Their boy went through, slipped or tripped and landed on the ball, pulled it in with his hands as if he’d been fouled and saw the ball squirm out for a goal kick, but the ref gave a corner. They didn’t score directly from it (I don’t think) but it should have given us a chance to alleviate pressure. Instead, Oyeleke got another stab at the long-range drive moments after and this time the bar helped him, not hindered him. 1-1 and that was that, two points dropped.
Was it a travesty? No. After an hour Port Vale deserved nothing from the game, but after ninety minutes they deserved their point. I won’t start saying things like ‘packed Christmas period’, because it is the same for everyone. This wasn’t a defeat and although some might tell you otherwise there isn’t a huge issue we need to deal with at the club, certainly not on the pitch. You win some you deserve to lose, lose some you deserve to win and sometimes draw when you deserve to. We’re still top, we’re still clear of the chasing pack by four points and last time I checked, we’re still on course for League One football. No team ever wins every game, no side ever plays well every week but if we don’t turn up for ninety minutes we’ll get punished.
It was disappointing to see a group of Port Vale fans spoiling for a fight both before and after the game. All the time we’ve had the Fan Zone I’ve seen no trouble, but six or seven dickheads shoved their way through signing Vale songs ahead of the match just looking for trouble. After the game the same idiots came out into the stream of Imps fans heading the other way, doing exactly the same. Mind you, if my local rivals had smashed my ground up whilst I sat at home not doing my homework a few weeks earlier, I suppose I’d be out looking for some sort of small victory, even if it comes via a 1-1 draw 100 miles from home. Think I’ll have some vinegar with my salt.
It’s a disappointing finish to the festive period after the joy of turning around the Cambridge game and that’s a measure of the standards we’ve set. We’re unhappy at a 1-1 draw, a point that sees us remain top not only into the Everton game, but after it too. In the grand scheme of things we know two points from every game between now and the end of the season will see us finish top three, but for some that won’t be good enough. Some will want the title, something we’re clearly competing for, but others will be perfectly happy with third. Me? I wanted the title, but I think right now if you offered me third I’d take it. Not because I fear we’ll finish lower than that, but because I don’t want to have to face the fact we might finish below Mansfield Town, or that a team with £750,000 to spend on a striker might also be above us in the table.
If they’re the only two we end up behind then we’ll be promoted, if we’re above either of them it’ll be down to hard work not spending £5k a week on a loan striker with crowds of 4,000, or spending the sort of money that would keep Morecambe solvent for a couple of years on a single player.
Yeah, can I get some chips now to go with the vinegar and salt? Cheers.
Thank you to those who came for a chat about my article on racism today. It’s sad to hear how many have seen or heard things they’re uncomfortable with, away games at Crewe, Luton and Stevenage last season were mentioned today, as well as games at the Bank. I’d stress that there’s a very small minority who still find it acceptable and as a club our problem is no greater or worse than anywhere else, but that doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye or be complacent.
57 minutes we stopped playing and tried time wasting instead and quite frankly we got what we deserved one point.
We should carry on playing positively! We were only 1up not 2 or 3.Plus its bloody boring,midfield should play the ball forward not backwards all the time.Better teams ,certainly in a higher league will punish us more often than not if we persist doing with so long to go.
Being top of a division at this stage of the season doesn’t win you anything as Danny well knows. Both Luton and FGR the year before testify to that with bigger margins than we had last week. But it’s obvious there are other teams in this league that play more “expansive football” than us. Another striker won’t go amiss if we can get one with pace.
From what I saw, the referee waived play on after Harry Anderson got sythed down. Which puts the blame on him, Anderson was clearly hurt in a foul, there wasn’t too much of an advantage to city and once the ball came the other way so quickly he could have easily blown the whistle. I think he likely missed the original foul and just saw Harry landing, then took the easy option of claiming to play on which then backfired.
You don’t always get what you deserve in football but yesterday was an exception. We never deserved to win that a game in a million years. I like the eerie picture up top by the way.
I thought it was extremely arrogant of us to think that we could just sit on the edge of our own box for the last 25 mins yesterday and not concede – however poor the opposition. Any ounce of positivity in our approach in that time would have seen us secure all 3 points against a side that were generally poor and at best hard-working. Hanging on is a feature of the Cowley era and I find it strange given the talents that we have on the pitch.