Finally, it comes together: Imps 5-3 Ipswich Town

It had been hard to pick a Man of the Match for the first half (if that makes sense). Despite conceding a goal I felt there had been some big performances, with every single player having plenty of influence. Jake Hesketh, a man who has perhaps not shone as brightly as we would have liked, certainly put a good shift in and Jorge Grant’s distribution was proving to be top quality as well. Tyler Walker worked tirelessly and Harry Anderson’s usual brash and direct running caused all manner of problems on the flank. Those four positions were the ones I commented earlier in the week as being the areas we needed to improve and the players certainly had a similar message by the look of it.

Across the rest of the field we were putting in our usual performance. It seems almost pointless to praise Harry Toffolo these days because ‘excellent’ is his default setting. Bozzy’s immense presence has clearly been missed and he’s on fire once more, with Cian comfortable and Neal Eardley rarely caught out. Joe Morrell looked like a Welsh international every time he got on the ball and Michael O’Connor was terrier-like and tenacious. Josh even had a few saves to make but did so when called upon and it just felt like a complete performance against a side second in the table at start of play.

Ipswich were clearly told to come out and get into us because they looked brutal for a few minutes after the break. They picked up a couple of quick bookings, with Bozzy getting one himself for a cynical pull back on the edge of the area. I was pleased to see that sort of challenge; we’ve fallen foul of it in recent weeks and players have stayed on the park, so at least we’re learning to be a little cuter in our dark arts practice. Given that it suited a right footer, it was odd to see Luke Garbutt waste the chance with his left foot, drawing derision from Steve Thompson.

City took control once more after that, but the game ebbed and flowed like nothing we’ve seen this season. For every chance we created, you felt they might get one at the other end. Harry Toffolo had clearly been marked out as a dangerman as he took a couple of robust challenges, one of which I felt might have earned Gwion Edwards a second yellow card. Jake Hesketh had an effort saved, Neal Eardley lashed one wide and yet that dominance suddenly turned into 2-2.

It’s been given as a James Norwood goal, a corner flicked on at the near post looped across the goal and beyond the stranded Vickers. There was little that could be done about it, aside from the fact it was a weak corner to give away. I’ll give MA his due, he sticks to his principles of playing out from the back, but with Cian Bolger on the left, with no left foot, it’s a dangerous tactic. Bolger sold a pass a little short, the ball ended up going out for a needless corner and the Tractor Boys were back level. Don’t let that cloud Bolger’s overall performance though; him and Bostwick marshalled Norwood and a frustrated Kayden Jackson perfectly.

Jackson didn’t impress me one bit. I was concerned ahead of the game at the firepower they had, but the former Accrington man stomped around the pitch looking like a petulant child. He had an effort blocked by Bozzy which might have made it 3-2, but that was the sum total of his positive input. He did needlessly foul Joe Morrell in the build-up to a chance on 70 minutes, a barge behind the referee’s back which went unnoticed and unpunished.

That fired Morrell up though, because a minute later he got on the ball, surged into the area with power and poise before lofting a ball to the back stick. With the Ipswich right back seemingly still sat around the Christmas dinner table, Tyler Walker wandered into the area unmarked and popped home our third of the afternoon.

I won’t say Jackson’s foul made the goal, I won’t say Edwards at right back was at fault, that would take away from our players creating and finishing the chance. What I will say is if we conceded something as straightforward at the other end, we’d be baying for defensive blood. However, as an attacking side, you have to find those weaknesses and exploit them.

Immediately after the goal James Wilson replaced Gwion Edwards, but didn’t go to right back as many of our fans might have expected. I’m told there was a gesture to the Imps’ fans as he came on, I didn’t see it. I bear Wilson no malice myself, he had a rough time here and clearly thinks he has a point to prove, something he’s yet to do. James Norwood came off too, maybe with a goal but certainly disappointing. Will Keane, a player I thought was rubbish in our recent cup tie, came on. That’s important too.

Before Keane’s moment though, we put the game beyond doubt. Joe Morrell, a clear contender for Man of the Match, provided a wonderful ball for Michael Bostwick of all people to pop up at the back stick. It wasn’t unlike Tyler’s second, Bostwick had all the time he needed to sweep the ball into the back of the net and light the fireworks around Sincil Bank. Bruno Andrade, positioned with the 617 for the second half, clearly enjoyed the goal as much as anyone in the stands. 4-2, Imps in it together (except me, but I was in front of a now raging fire).

Even at 4-2, you felt the goals were still going to come. Ipswich swept forward with danger whenever they got the chance our two-goal lead lasted four minutes. Keane’s goal was perhaps the weakest from a defensive point of view, he had time and space in the area to fire past Josh Vickers, but to be too critical would be unfair. This match wasn’t your ‘run of the mill’ encounter, it was a Christmas cracker, the sort of unpredictable game that defies form. Michael Appleton’s Lincoln City bagging four against the team second in the table? Wouldn’t have predicted that if you’d asked me to go wild. Lincoln conceding three at home and still leading going into the last ten minutes (including stoppages)? Not a chance, I’d have stopped you at ‘conceding three’.

I can’t begin to explain how I felt, sat on my sofa eyes glued to the laptop screen as the board went up for five minutes. Every ball forward by Ipswich had me worried we’d be seeing 4-4. Whenever we got into the corner I hoped we’d hold the ball up and kill time, but that isn’t MA’s way. When Tyler Walker delivered a late cross to nobody I cursed a little under my breath; be savvy for heaven’s sake! Ipswich went up and had a half chance, but the ball came back out.

Now, there’s a pass in the lead up to the fifth goal that has to be mentioned; Harry Anderson’s. He threaded the ball between two defenders with the sort of quality a certain Mr Arnold did in the final minutes of an Ipswich clash. It found Tyler Walker who, unselfishly, fed in Jake Hesketh. Here are three players with 95 minutes or so of football under their belts, rushing forward like it’s the first minute. Norris closed the angle, Walker yelled for a return ball and a hat trick, but Hesketh got his account up and running as he finished with aplomb.

Lincoln City 5 Ipswich Town 3. Who would have predicted that?

The iFollow feed cut off after that and instead of turning the radio on I settled down in silence and contemplated what the result meant. In the grand scheme of things, nothing. That’s harsh, but it’s fact. We are still six points above the drop zone, just as we were at kick-off. However, league position isn’t always the only positive to take. The confidence that oozed from that performance was enough to convince me with time on the training ground, Michael Appleton is the man to take us forward.

We leave this decade in far better shape than we found it. We opened 2010 with a 4-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers using a side comprised of loan players and short term nobodies. We leave the decade a level higher, but having been much lower. We leave it having turned over one of the best sides in the division in emphatic style and looking towards an uncertain future. Not long after the game ended I had messages about this player leaving, that player returning to his parent club and a host of other ‘ITK’ titbits. Nobody knows what the next month holds, nor the next five, but one thing is for certain: there’s never a dull moment at Sincil Bank and we signed out from a turbulent decade with one of its most memorable afternoons ever.

Now, to shake this funking flu before New Year’s Day.

(Thanks to contributors Jake and Richard who have provided their take on the game, dropping those later today. Tomorrow we have a real treat from Graham Burrell, his ‘pictures of the decade, so plenty to keep an eye out for before the end of the year)