One thing we have not done well in recent weeks is put two halves together that create a satisfying whole. Even in the 3-0 home wins against Wycombe and Blackpool (both top ten now, by the way), we came good in certain parts of the game. Could we look every bit as good in the second half as the first? Would a change by the opposition make a difference, as it did on Saturday?
That’s where Mr Appleton did us a favour – we know he sticks to his guns, so they were going to do more of the same in the second half. That meant we were able to carry on our form as well, with Lasse troubling the goal within minutes of the restart. We controlled possession well when we had it and never truly looked like conceding when we didn’t. Alfie May has been a thorn in our side every time we’ve faced him before, but after his goal, he barely got a sniff. Instead, our back three marshalled their threat superbly, letting them have possession where it couldn’t hurt us and not getting too drawn into areas where they might get in behind. Again, the defence will be overshadowed by other areas of the field, but Mitchell, Jackson and O’Connor were utterly superb.
Everyone was, every single player, and it felt like every single player got a touch of the ball before our second goal. I don’t have any videos left on Wyscout this month, sadly, so I can’t go back and count the passes, but it seemed to go one for an age. Eventually the ball came from the right, Burroughs I think, with Lasse on his bike and past the defender. His ball was across the face of goal, and there was our leading scorer, Hakeeb Adelakun, just onside, to slot home his third league goal of the season. This time we got the usual Haks celebration, a somersault in front of the family stand.
From that point on, the result never felt in doubt.
There was no change of pace, no foot off the gas. A decent Charlton side had some of the ball, but they didn’t create anything that had me worried. They edged more into the game as the half went on, Haks looking absolutely shattered before he came off to a standing ovation. On in his place was a real rarity – an actual striker. We’ve seen Jovon come on, a youngster with a promising future, but we haven’t seen one of our three main strikers on the field for 52 days. Jack Vale made quite the entrance as well, a naughty challenge on their player, which would have brought a yellow from any other referee.
Ah, the referee. Darren Middleton is his name, and I feared he might be a challenge, with 30 red cards from 119 matches. Quite the opposite – he was a delight. He took no nonsense at all, but kept his cards in his pocket. On more than one occasion, there was a yellow to be shown – a block on one of our boys could have earned one, whilst Ethan Hamilton’s habit of two-handed pushes can draw cards. Where Taylor went down off the field and rolled onto it, Mr Middleton was having none of it and made him get up – the same when Ethan Erhahon was thrown to the floor in a little show of handbags. There was one moment I thought it might boil over – Alex Mitchell and Lloyd Jones seemingly trading pushes, pulls, and words as they made their way up the pitch. The ref just let them get on with it, and it was the sensible thing to do. Hats off to him; he didn’t take any shenanigans from both teams, and he officiated sensibly throughout.
The third goal came about from Jack Vale – he attacked a ball, leading to a ricochet that fell to Sean Roughan. In real time, it felt like an age as he took the ball down, one-on-one with the keeper, before slotting home. It was a neat finish, and he, too, resisted the urge to head over the the away dugout. He might have had cause to, having been cast into the wilderness for a season, and his overall performance certainly made a point.
All over the field, we’d been braver. things came together, little pieces of what we know this side are capable of formed to make a whole. We defended well against a decent side; we were strong and organised out of possession, quick and clinical with the ball. I lost count of the number of little flicks and smart passes we made, how many times a player got out of a tight situation by playing football. Of course, we gave the ball away a bit – in fact, we had 113 losses, the same as the Burton game. The difference? 104 recoveries compared to just 73. The numbers show there was an edge, there, a desire, a willingness to fight.
People will say we passed forward more – we didn’t. Against Burton, we made 152 forward passes, 140 last night. We made 62 passes into the final third against the Brewers, but just 61 last night. We made 68 progressive passes last night compared to 66 against Burton. It wasn’t as if we did a lot differently – we just did it better. We made space, we exploited space, and we created chances.
Stats will tell you everything and anything you want, but there are some qualities that cannot be measured by numbers. It’s the simple test of being there, of seeing it with your own eyes. You can see the look in a player’s eyes, see how hard he is running, how strong his tackle is. There’s no index or stat to measure commitment to the cause, no number that can measure desire and togetherness. If there was, last night’s game would have topped that chart.
I could go on and on about last night. I felt better getting home than I did after the West Ham game. That was a one-off, whereas this is the bread and butter of the Football League. his is where we’re meant to be performing week in, week out. Last night wasn’t absolutely perfect, but it was a glimpse of what we might see in the future and what the squad is capable of achieving. As a standalone game, we did well, we attacked heavily, and we got a result we richly deserved.
💬 "We showed confidence and I’ve got admiration for how the group went about their business after conceding."
Catch up with the thoughts of Tom Shaw following City's midweek win! ⤵️#WeAreImps
— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) October 25, 2023
When you add the context of our injuries and the ‘uncertainty’ of the head coach situation, you’re left with an outstanding result, the conclusion of seven days around which the long-term future of the football club could pivot. I’m not one for hyperbole or grand statements, but that is how it felt.
Here’s the big thing – if the next seven days are as successful on the field as the last seven, then Tom Shaw will be making it very hard for the board not to give him the role.
In many people’s eyes, it’s just three points, one game in a season of 46, that matters no more or less than the last. In reality, it was more symbolic than that. The win was a declaration of intent by Tom and his coaching team. It was a chance for players to make a big statement to their previous gaffer, and for supporters, it was evidence that despite a turbulent seven days, the club is still robust, resilient, and every bit as capable of challenging for a top ten spot as we hoped.
Up the Imps.