Love Spreads: Derby County 1-1 Imps

February 15, 2023 Gary Derby County, League One, Lincoln City, Matches, Reports 0

In 45 minutes, we had gone from ‘this is a free hit’ to ‘we can win this’, and the latter was 100% true. We just needed to weather that 15-minute period after half time to stand a chance of doing the double over Derby, of getting our first away win against them ever. Could we do that? Or would we shrink away? After all, bar a couple of blocks, they hadn’t had an effort on target, and we’d had a three and Diamond’s shot off target. Despite the chasm in club stature, the depth of their pockets and the First Division title they won the year American Pie was released (the song, not the film), we were in with a real shout of three points.

Even the first ten minutes of the second half saw us looking comfortable – Jack Diamond had managed a shot on target (which he might have played into Ben House for a better chance), and we’d got another through Ted Bishop. We weren’t in control of the game as such, Derby were still having more of the ball, but we looked comfortable. Bold shout – if the game stayed 11v11, I think we win it 1-0. Derby struggled to make any real headway into our half, and our defence started with the excellent, if not over-exuberant, Ben House.

Ben’s second yellow wasn’t stupid, as I felt at the time. He’s genuinely gone in to win the ball, McGoldrick has poked it away, and he’s brought the forward down. It’s yellow and clumsy but with zero intent. The outcome was inevitable if it’s yellow and he’s already on a yellow. It’s been a mad spell now; our last three matches have all seen a player sent off, and someone has been dismissed in five of our last eight matches (three for us). The craziest thing is the worst incident in all of those games, against Bolton, the referee missed!

For the third consecutive match against a former Premier League club chasing promotion, we’d have to play more than 40 minutes of football with one player fewer than them. We played around 45 minutes with injury time, a full half, which was the average against Ipswich and Bolton. From being arguably the better side in terms of chances, we would have to do backs-to-the-wall defending, scrapping, game management and display character and commitment that I know we lacked before Mark Kennedy came in. We’d done it before; we’d been under the cosh with 11 men at Ipswich and Barnsley and won; we’d done the same against Bolton and Ipswich at home with ten men and drew – was 45 minutes against Derby County, a bridge too far?

We immediately brought off Shodipo for no reason other than to go 5-3-1 and look to nullify their attacks. They reacted to the red card as if they’d scored a goal, their fans erupted, and they were energised. I had to remind myself that we were still winning, but as the white wave swept over the game, I feared the worst.

It took them 14 minutes to get the almost inevitable equaliser. McGoldrick’s shot was blocked, it fell nicely to Hourihane in a marginally offside position, and he scored from close range. 1-1, neither goal was legitimate. I confess, despite our great record against teams after going down to ten men and against teams in the play-off race, I feared the worst. 5-3-1 became 5-4-0 as we just dug deep and let them attack, almost as if it were a training exercise. Joe Wildsmith’s goal need not really have been up; he could have packed the net away, aside from one moment on 76 minutes, our one moment to shine. Lasse, who had a solid game after coming on, nodded a lovely little ball through to Jack. He stayed on his feet as their number six tried get a bit of a sneaky Valentine’s cuddle, and had he not, there would have been a shout for another red. Instead, our little Diamond forged on, out wide and then fired across the keeper, who parried away. Someone would likely have followed in if we had 11 on the field, but we didn’t.

After that, the traffic was all one way as Derby knocked on the door like the police during a drugs raid – they were certain they were coming in, and there wasn’t a lot we could do about it other than hope they’d go away. When we got a chance, we hung onto the ball and indulged in the sort of game management that would have me spitting feathers at the Bank. Players went down injured, but the ref did try to get a handle on it. One moment infuriated me – Paudie and Regan were down, but Paudie seemed to insist he needed a minute before he got up. The physio attended him anyway, and he seemed to lose it with the poor guy for a moment. Because he’d been seen, he had to go off on one side, Regan had to go off on the other, and we were down to eight men. Then, rather pedantically, Paudie wasn’t allowed straight back on – it had shades of John Aldrige at the 1994 World Cup, only in a much more important game. Obviously.

Somehow, we made it to injury time, but if the player’s wives and girlfriends thought they might get a belated Valentine’s visit, they were wrong, as the ref (rightly) went with nine minutes of injury time. We can’t complain, we broke the game up as best we could, made it tough to watch and likely tough to play in. The man in the middle only did what he should and added those minutes on, and we nearly paid the price – Derby had as many chances in the nine minutes of added time as they did between their goal and the end of normal time. Louis Sibley, a player who really impressed me when he came on, rattled the underside of the bar from a tight angle. McGoldrick had a header ruled out correctly for offside, but they just kept coming. Every time I checked my watch, it felt like there was longer left than the time before.

Finally, the whistle went and City had secured a point in unlikely circumstances, again. How contrasting, the draw with Cambridge and now with Derby, both giving us the same points, but such a different reaction. At Pride Park we were proud, proud of the way we could have won with eleven, of how we had to change and deal with the circumstances with ten. It was obvious for all to see that the fans appreciated every second of the player’s efforts, and that’s where the Valentine’s love came in.

One game last season, I recall Lasse Sorensen being booed onto the pitch (not the only player to suffer that fate) – his name rang out from the stands last night. I felt the ‘Kennedy’s red and white army’ was more passionate than any game I’ve been to this season, and it was a lot louder than the dissent from a couple of weeks ago. Lewis Montsma is mental and mad, and my partner knows it because as I made my way upstairs after writing most of this article at 2am, I was singing it and woke her up. The players came over applauding, and for a minute, it felt like my trip to St Pauli, a club defined by its unity. Pathway Chris, with whom I went to the game, summed it up on the way home – he said it felt like the start of something. Remember the unity from the 2016/17 season, the complete connection between fans and players? We lost that, maybe around Covid, and certainly when we were away from the stands, and it never really came back last season. It’s why John Marquis used to get a lot of love because he clapped and walked around the pitch. Watching MK banging the badge on his chest and the players not just applauding the crowd but looking, noticing and responding, it felt proper again. It was a show of affection on Valentine’s Day that said more than garage-bought roses and whatever cards Tesco had left on the shelf, that’s for sure.

Two weeks ago, the MK era was, in my opinion, on a knife edge. There were clear positives, even in those 0-0 draws; clean sheets, never looking under threat, but there were clear worries too. Could we rely on getting points against the top clubs anymore? Could we find a way to win some matches? Could we sign players who would impact the first team? I said that January was to be a defining month, and that this little six-week period would dictate how the MK era goes. If we’d drawn with Accrington and Bristol Rovers, would we have taken 2285 to Derby? Would those fans have shared that loving moment, and felt that connection? I’m not so sure.

However, we did win those games, we did have our proud moment at Pride Park, and I feel the knife edge that the era balanced on has now been taken away. There will be those who are always critical and those who are always positive, but there’s a huge demographic of supporters who want Mark Kennedy, Danny Butterfield and the rest of the players and staff to make this a success, but who came away from Cambridge with shaken faith. Those draws, the ones which brought the boos, are now the first two results in a five-match unbeaten run, a five-game spell where we’ve conceded one (offside) goal, and where we’ve taken nine points from a possible 15. They’ve proven, in context, to be the start of something (I hope), and for the first time in weeks, I started looking at the results from teams above us after the game rather than below.

The love is spreading, the Imps are seemingly back on track, and we’ve got yet another memory of a great away result, a fine performance, and the character this group of players has. The transfer window added quality, not quantity, and the boos of a fortnight ago seem like a distant memory.

Happy Valentine’s day from your favourite football club. We love you, and last night, you showed us you love us too.

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