The changes I felt we needed didn’t come, not at first, and Shrewsbury still looked more likely to score early in the second period. I can’t overstate how much the wind affected the game, but they looked to cope better with it after coming out for the second half, and they tested the keeper once again, a Dunkley header that looked awkward for Jensen. In fairness to our stopper, he made it look quite easy with a simple one-handed stop. After the indecision with the early corner in the first half, I thought he had a strong game; coming for crosses and ensuring set pieces didn’t do us much damage at all.
Our first chance of the second half fell to Ethan Hamilton. Him and Erhahon had toiled away in the middle of the park, but up against a 3-5-2, they often looked swamped. The chance came after some nice work from Sorensen, who is always impressive at full-back. Marosi saved, parrying the ball clear. In fact, from that effort, they went up the other end and got a corner, a really swift breakaway.
City made a couple of changes on 60 minutes, which Mark Kennedy deemed as ‘turning the screw’. We do have a decent squad with depth on the bench, and the hosts have not. They started late in the transfer window, and they do look a little less powerful in terms of who they can bring on. Ted Bishop, who turned the game a week ago, replaced Mandroiu, whilst House switched with Walker. A week ago, drawing 0-0 with Wycombe, we made a host of changes, and it turned the game. Exactly the same happened again.
City didn’t go into swashbuckling mode, and there was still an air of menace about the home side, but it was like a dog growling but having no teeth to bite you with. I thought Sean Roughan, in particular, looked very composed throughout at the back, and Bowman barely got a sniff. I’ve said it before, he’s not a striker I particularly rate, and one moment where he smashed O’Connor with an elbow had me quite angry. That said, it was about the only really physical challenge he put in, which surprised me. Still, with Udoh’s pace and Bowman’s assumed physicality, I expected a little more – perhaps the wind in the second half nullified that threat as much as our back three, who scraped for the clean sheet, but certainly weren’t hanging on to save it as the game progressed.
We could have taken the lead around 72 minutes when Ben House did Ben House things, fighting a defender for a ball and winning it on the byline. He cut it back for Sorensen, close to man of the match in my eyes, but Marosi made the save. It seems mad that a year ago, we were debating whether Lasse would make it as a central midfielder for the Imps, and today he’s surely the first name on the teamsheet at right wing back when he’s fit. I thought he was solid and dependable once again, and when we did try to get forward he looked threatening.
Lasse played a part in the goal when it came. Ethan Hamilton was about to be taken off, but he popped up with his first goal for the club. The Imps were all about loading the ball into the box, and a blocked Paudie effort fell to Lasse, who played in Hamilton. Mark Kennedy explained his delight at the first touch, which saw our new recruit facing the goal, and from there, he rifled in a good finish. Marosi wasn’t happy as he felt O’Connor was in an offside position when the ball went in, but as he wasn’t interfering with the play, it was irrelevant. City led 1-0 in a game that, if we’re being honest, had 0-0 written all over it.
Good teams get results when they don’t play well, and certainly, for 60 minutes, we hadn’t played well at the New Meadow (I know it’s called something else, but it’ll always be the New Meadow to me). However, after the changes, I felt we were worthy of taking something – all three might be a push, but there’s no doubt the game changed. Ted Bishop added a real dynamic to our forward play, and whilst he didn’t get a lot of joy today, I’ve got to have a word on Reeco as well. When he signed for us, Portmsouth’s football Twitter were quick to laugh and joke. I’m not sure they’re laughing now, and I don’t understand how they ever did. I really like the lad, he’s got good energy, he’s always a willing runner, and whilst both his efforts were high or wide, he has the desire to get shots away.
In midweek, we were under siege in six minutes of injury time, but this week it passed without any real incident. Shrewsbury, lacking the depth, didn’t really have a counter to our changes, they had to keep doing much of the same, but the players they brought on didn’t have the impact our two did. House and Bishop changed the game, but the switch in shape certainly helped – I think (and I’m happy to be corrected) we went to something more like a 3-5-2, with Bishop having some license to drive forward with the protection of Hamilton and Erhahon. It worked, and whilst Ted might only get 30 minutes here and there if he’s as effective as he was today from the bench, then he’ll be a real benefit in the later stages of games.
Ross Joyce has irked me in the past, but I thought he handled today’s game well. There wasn’t a lot of malice, and he let the game flow as much as possible, so fair play. There were a few yellow cards, and I’d be hard-pushed to criticise any of them. Given the niggly conditions and the nature of the first half in which neither side found a rhythm, it was nice that we didn’t have a referee who added to that. Also, he understands that a throw-in needs to be taken where the ball goes out, which made a change from Tuesday.
City now have seven points from four games. That ratio is akin to 80 a season, which is play-off form. We’ve played four of our five games (including the cup) away from home and scored in four of those matches. We’ve won playing well at home, we’ve won twice away, and we’ve won today when we weren’t at our best and chances were at a premium. Today wasn’t a good watch, but when you get three points, especially from a game where the opposition struggles just as much, it feels like the performance is secondary. Sometimes, you just take the points and move on.
That’s not a negative, by the way. There’s more to come from this City side – combinations to try, players yet to make an impression. We’ve got goals throughout the team – Hamilton is already the seventh different scorer this season – it was September 13th by the time a seventh different face scored for us last season, and that included an EFL Trophy game. I feel we’re more potent up top now, there’s more belief that if we get three chances, we’ll take one of them. Ultimately, that was the difference today – we got three decent chances, tested the keeper twice and scored once. Shrewsbury got a couple, and they didn’t take them.
On the way home from the game last week, I said to my dad that four points from the two away games would be a massive boost and that we’d know a lot more about this Imps’ side. We do. We know that we’re always in with a shout in games where we’re not on it. We know we can dig in, we know we can make significant changes mid-game and affect the balance of play. These are all huge positives and give us plenty to be hopeful for.
I will say this – at some point this season, I don’t know when, I really believe a team is going to take a proper thumping. It’s easy to say, it’s the sort of rhetoric that gets rolled out most seasons, but I can see it here. We’ve scored three goals in two games that, with respect, we’ve had to really scrap in. We netted three last week against a decent side defensively. If a team comes to Sincil Bank on its arse or a side with a frail mentality go 1-0 down early doors, I can see us smelling blood and being ruthless. I can see us handing out a proper hammering, and I’m talking a four or five-nil.
For now, I’ll take three shots on target, one goal and three points from Shrewsbury. Here’s to a good week, where the team can reflect on a busy but successful opening 14 days of the season. That thrashing at Bolton feels a long way away now, doesn’t it?