I thought the second half would be very much us coming out on the back foot and defending, but actually we came out all guns blazing. It was as if we’d satisfied ourselves that Barnsley were not Ipswich or Sheffield Wednesday quality, and that gave us a bit more scope for attacking. It wasn’t free-flowing attacking football, not at all, but it was controlled, at least for the most part.
The stats might say Barnsley had more possession (58%), but it wasn’t possession with a purpose. The numbers will say they had more shots (13 to our 7) and more on target (2 to our 1), but in truth, they never truly looked like scoring. It’s odd, throughout the battering we took at Ipswich (the one we won 1-0), I never really felt challenged, and the same went for tonight. If Barnsley had the ball and looked to get between the lines, I never thought they’d actually do it. Everything they tried, we matched. Every time they got into wide areas, one of Roughan or Eyoma was there. If they launched a ball to a striker’s head, a defender took it away.
We weren’t under constant pressure, and whilst some of our possession left a bit to be desired, we still had the better chances to make it 2-0. Regan Poole’s late effort, courtesy of Max Sanders’ strong run into the area, could have brought a goal, and when the xG stats come out, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us topping that. Unlike the Charlton draw, we did have chances. Unlike the Ipswich second half, we weren’t overrun. Unlike the Sheff Weds game, we were never chasing. It was like the last three league matches all coming together in one complete away performance. Sure, Tykes fans won’t say we’re the best team to play there, and there’s zero chance that Barnsley’s side get near the top six this season, but it is still a win worth remembering.
Last season (here we go again), we always looked like conceding, you knew we had a goal in us, and if the opposition couldn’t find it, we’d give it to them. The only goals we’ve conceded this month have been gifted, nobody has got the better of us from open play on their own accord, and considering the ease with which Bristol Rovers sliced us up, that’s incredible. When we get a lead, I feel like we’re in with a shout, and yet last season, we could be 2-0 up, and I’d be thinking, ‘we could get a point here’. This is with the same personnel, bar O’Connor; the same players who couldn’t block a sink last season are putting their bodies on the line and committing everything to the cause. The spirit was typified late on by Eyoma for me; he got a block in the area and celebrated it like a goal. It shows the players care, the fighting spirit is there. There’s something about the group of players that feels honest.
We’ve got some decent lads as well in terms of technique. I thought the subs did well when they came on; Garrick worked hard, Vernam showed some skills to get us up the pitch late on and Sorensen offered the legs you need in those dying stages to keep everything moving. However, hats off to the players who completed 90 minutes tonight, having done the same on Saturday. TJ Eyoma, Matty Virtue and Sean Roughan in particular, because those three play in a position where they’re up and down the pitch all game long, and yet 180 minutes (closer to 200 with injury time) later, they were still putting bodies on the line. I had to chuckle when a late Eyoma run helped alleviate pressure for us; there were those saying he was unfit after 60 minutes of Saturday’s game. Hell, I think I even said it.
There wasn’t a huge amount to discuss in the second half. There were moments it got a bit stretched, but we regrouped quickly when that happened. There were a couple of times balls into the box caused us an issue, but if the back five did get breached from a set piece, Carl Rushworth commanded his area superbly. He’s a brave keeper; I thought that after his performance Saturday after his mistake, and I certainly thought it when he came to punch two balls clear in quick succession tonight, then gathered at the third attempt. He is fearless, not just about getting a boot in the face, but in terms of mistakes. He hasn’t let that one affect him, and whereas we’ve seen keepers in the past make two or three in as many games, Carl has shown quite the opposite. I’d imagine he’s the type that if he got bitten by a dog, he’d be outside the same kennel five minutes later, lathered in Pedigree Chum with his sleeves rolled up, waiting for a rematch.
There will be an awful lot of Lincoln City fans in the same boat as me tonight, feeling this odd sense of calm at how we’re doing. I don’t expect us to be in the top half come May, but given how we’ve navigated October (so far), there’s no reason why that couldn’t be the aim. Imagine, if we’d actually got maximum points from Fleetwood, a game we led until the 97th minute or something, we’d be seventh (joint on points at least) now. I know that’s a stupid thing to say, football is all about the score after 90, but I think we’ve been good enough to win four more points at home than we have. That’s top seven form, something I thought we’d be a long way from at this stage.
The thing is, we keep getting better, step by step, week by week. It won’t be like this all the way through the season; we will dip, we will miss the crucial chance and lose a game we should have won, but we’re not among those clubs at the bottom. A lot of pundits had us struggling this season; a lot of fans did too. I thought we’d be just outside the bottom four, and yet here we are, almost a third of the way through the season, and there’s already an eight-point gap between us and the drop zone. By the way – according to this table, we’ve still had the second-hardest start to the season; only Barnsley are now thought to have had a tougher start than us in terms of the points average of the teams they’ve faced.
As for the man of the moment, I think Danny Mandroiu is turning into the player I shouted a lot about when we thought Stephen Bradley might be coming here as manager. He’s started five games for us and scored three goals. He’s shown himself to be capable of making the right runs, and I dream of the day when Lewis Montsma is able to ping his 50-yard cross-field ball into the wide man’s path. I had hoped Mandroiu could make an immediate impression; when he signed I said he wasn’t one for the future, he was one for right now, and already I think he’s paid back whatever his lowball five-figure fee was. His goal against Newcastle Under 21s was surely worth £5000 at least, just in prize money! What I would say is there’s a lot of love for him on social media tonight, but not so much aimed at Jez George, a man whose transfer acumen was questioned in the summer but who was instrumental in getting Danny into the squad. Not quite as much vitriol pointing at him now some of those players are slotting in nicely, is there? Let’s not forget, it’s Jez who was the driving force behind Sean Roughan coming here as well. Maybe he’s not all bad, eh?
There’s always fear of failure when a new era starts, and this was no different, but after 19 matches, we’ve kept more clean sheets than we managed in 53 last time out. We’re level on points with Derby County, for heaven’s sake, and we’ve lost just four matches in all competitions. I’m not getting carried away, I’m really not, but I am hopeful for the future. I don’t think we’ll be off our seats week in, week out, but I do think teams will fear us a bit more, might give us a bit of respect and perhaps, just perhaps, struggle to take points from us as easily as some did last year. Yes, we have to see how we do against the teams we ‘should’ be competitive against, but the signs are positive. It really is getting better, man, and I’m excited to see where the next few months might take us.
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