City took a draw from Sixfields, the only result that probably shouldn’t have happened under the circumstances.
The Imps were dominated in the second half and yet somehow went into six minutes of injury time leading 2-1. They came out of nine minutes stoppages with a point, a draw snatched from the jaws of victory by a referee, new rules, and a decent Northampton side.
The game had a bit of everything – the free-flowing Imps we saw Saturday, the backs-to-the-wall defending we saw last season, and not much in between. it had a tactical change that flopped, and ultimately, a game decided as much by the officials as the opposition.
Before you read on, make no mistake – Northampton deserved at least a point, and even with rose-tinted glasses on, it would be hard to argue that they didn’t deserve all three. They had a decent penalty shout turned down, but that doesn’t change the fact that on 96 minutes, the allotted time, Lincoln City had three points in the bag. Even given that the last of the subs entered the field at 90:40, we’d still played the allotted time when they levelled.
FYI – I’m making the mistake of writing this minutes after the final whistle – I’m shaking with rage, and my watch is telling me to relax with a heart rate of 117. Therefore, it may get a little less bitter as we go through!
Football, Sometimes you love it, and sometimes you have to wonder why.
It all started so calmly. Lasse Sorensen was the only player to miss out from Saturday, the injury he sustained meaning Jack Burroughs got a first start on the right-hand side. In the Cobblers’ line-up was Patrick Brough, a left-back on loan at City during the National League years who has since impressed with Barrow in League Two.
The home side started brighter – I don’t think City had a touch of the ball for the first few minutes, and for a moment, I wondered if perhaps we’d underestimated Northampton. It’s easy when a team comes out of the league below to think, ‘we should beat these,’ when nothing is a given. They certainly moved the ball nicely, and Sam Hoskins, Tyreece Simpson, and Fulham loanee Kieran Bowie looked like they’d pose a threat.
The first chance fell to the home side, and although it was a half chance, it certainly had my heart in my mouth. Burroughs dealt with a ball into the box, which Mitch Pinnock picked up on the edge of the area. He fizzed a volley marginally wide, a scary moment for the Imps.
I thought early doors, Sean Roughan looked confident. He certainly had his hands full with Simpson, a player stronger and quicker than the Irishman, but our 19-year-old prospect did well. One moment stood out, throwing himself at a cross to block a chance.
One player I did think struggled early doors was Jaden Brown. He put some decent crosses into the box, but defensively he looked nervous, giving the ball away a couple of times. It felt for a moment like some of Northampton’s raking crossfield passes were targetting the former Huddersfield man, but he found his feet as the half went on.
City grew into the game and, much like Saturday looked better after the early pressure. Our first serious chance of the game brought an early goal of the season contender. Danny Mandroiu didn’t get the assist or the goal, but his ball to Erhahon on the halfway line was as instrumental as what happened next. Brown made an overlapping run as Erhahon strode forward, creating space for the midfielder. Instead of looking for the ball out wide, he found Reeco Hackett in space, who took a touch before firing in an unstoppable shot from 20 yards.
That knocked the stuffing out of the home side, and we started playing with the sort of style we showed in the second half against Wycombe. We didn’t create anything too clear-cut, but Ben House had two wonderful chances. The first saw him come through the inside left channel but fire wide on his weaker foot. Not long after, a nice move involving Burroughs saw the Coventry man get to the byline and pull back for House, who couldn’t get the strongest contact and saw his shot easily saved.
Still, City looked composed, tight in the key areas, having soaked up that early pressure. However, as the half wore on, the home side roared once more with two really good chances. Mandroiu came back to help out in defence and chested the ball into the path of Bowie, who saw his vicious drive drop just wide. Then, moments after an offside flag had stopped Hackett, Sam Hoskins got under a long ball, nodding over Jensen, but also over the bar.
At half time City led 1-0 in a game that I suspect they perhaps deserved to be drawing. Northampton certainly offered a threat before our goal, and in the final few moments, but City were winning at the end of the promised 47 minutes.
It prompted Mark Kennedy to make a bold change – Jaden Brown coming off for Tyler Walker and City going 4-4-2.