The Imps started the second half in much the same vein as the first, very much on the front foot. A free-kick from the attacking right was cleared on 46 minutes before Scully got away, again down the right. and delivered a great cross which nobody could quite get on the end of. Brennan Johnson was next to try his luck, he tried to slide a ball inside, but it was blocked and fell back to him. He drove a decent shot at goal which Cooper tipped wide of the post.
On 54 minutes, the impressive Regan Poole whipped a delivery in for Scully which was tipped wide of the post by the busy Cooper. The linesman’s flag was up anyway, but it was a further sign that City were in the ascendancy. Three mad second-half minutes proved that for a short spell, we were.
Johnson, who I thought had looked strong all game, played a one-two with Scully and burst into the area, only to be felled as he went through on goal. It was a stonewall penalty, and there’s only one man for the job in that instance (unless you’re playing Doncaster or Peterborough), Jorge Grant. The skipper stepped up and calmly stroked the ball home to level proceedings, although it looked for a moment as though Cooper had saved it.
The Imps ramped it up a gear and broke down a Plymouth attack on the hour mark, springing forward themselves and getting a good effort on goal courtesy of Johnson, whose 25-yard drive was saved. From the cleared corner, Grant picked up the ball on the right, waltzed into the area and was seemingly tripped by Mayor. It looked weaker than the first, but nonetheless, the referee pointed to the spot. Grant does what he does and the score was 3-2 City.
No team should come back from 2-0 down to lead, then lose the game, and for a few moments, it seemed as though we might go on and add another. A lofted pass forward saw Scully pick the ball out of the air magnificently. He slid it neatly across goal to Hopper, who got the faintest of touches. All it needed was an inch or two to the right, but it flashed past the post and wide. I’ve seen it described online as a ‘tap in’, which it wasn’t, but it was a great chance to kill off the home side. Like in any bad horror movie, if you don’t kill off the antagonist when you have the chance, they only come back and get you.
Plymouth made a couple of changes, one of which was Luke Jephcott, and although the youngster didn’t get heavily involved, it changed the complexion once again. Ryan Hardie got free on 73 minutes and should have levelled, but Tayo Edun blocked superbly when a goal looked likely. From having such a solid defence, we suddenly look very vulnerable and every time Plymouth got around the 18-yard box, it seemed as though we panicked and expected to capitulate.
That happened on 78 minutes, we failed to clear our lines and Conor Grant lifted a ball over everyone and into the net. It looked like woeful defending and right now, I won’t watch it back, but I thought Montsma might have blocked it and Grant could perhaps have nodded it off the line. It was a horrible moment watching the net ripple after we’d played so well elsewhere on the park, but 3-3 felt like it would be a decent result.
What wasn’t a decent result was Grant going down on 83 minutes with what looked like a nasty injury. Nobody was close to him as he collapsed in the defensive area, and had to be helped from the field by Mickey Hines. Painfully, it took our holding midfielder out of the game, adding further chaos to the back four. With no Bridcutt or Walsh, and now Grant, getting through the final seven minutes plus stoppages would have been a huge achievement.
Before our hearts were broken, we should have snatched it ourselves. Scully caressed a ball through to Johnson in the right-hand channel, and he had two choices, shoot or square to Rogers. The square ball looked on, the shot was too and he opted for the latter. It was good, on target, but Cooper parried it and behind the onrushing Rogers. The chance was gone and quickly, Plymouth swept up the other end, Mayor playing a one-two into the area and seeing his shot blocked.
In a frenetic final few minutes, much like the first 15, Regan Poole had a half effort saved for a corner although he looked to be offside before Plymouth got their winner. Ryan Edwards saw the ball sit up perfectly for him on the edge of the area and (sadly) a sweeter strike you will not see as he beat Palmer. I can’t tell you what happened after that as I turned my iFollow off and shouted obscenities at nobody in particular. In fact, it has taken me all my strength and fortitude not to swear in this report.
Overall, I thought we played really well in the attacking half, looking slick and creating plenty of chances, but at the back, we look in bits. We’re certainly missing the organisation of Liam Bridcutt, the back four are not getting the same level of protection he offers at all. We’re badly missing Joe Walsh too, sadly Montsma hasn’t come back the same player he was before his injury lay off and his partnership with Jackson looks fragile.
If you take away the poor defensive display City were back to their best. Sadly, when you give a good side a two-goal start, you’re always going to be up against it. To rally back, score three and still lose is not just a sucker punch, it is a full-on kick in the crotch, maybe even two or three. On 75 minutes, Peterborough were losing and we were winning, meaning us going back to the top of the league. 15 mad minutes later and I feel like I’ve been given a winning lottery ticket and then had someone burn it whilst I held it in my own hands.
I’ve even been for a walk to gain some clarity before I write this, and have sat back down with the same anger that I left with. Who am I angry at though? An Imps attack that scored three goals? Nope. An opponent who played nice football but would have been happy if they’d drawn the game? No. A referee who made all the right decisions? No. It was even suggested it should be Hopper for missing one chance, but he worked tirelessly all game and should be no more of a scapegoat than anyone else.
Sadly, I’m just angry at football, and our collective inability to defend. Which, when you consider we have (or had) the best away record in the league, is like saying you’re mad at not winning something on the Sky EFL rewards app when you’ve won something every other week. Incidentally, I haven’t ever won anything on Sky Rewards.
My only hope is that we’ve now got this habit of starting badly and buckling under pressure out of our system, because whilst the lead we have built up in the division means we are still second and still favourites to join Peterborough in the Championship, we have begun to use up that credit. If we keep crumbling like a digestive biscuit every time someone applies pressure, then the next few weeks could be very, very tough indeed.
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