Inevitability: Imps 1-2 Northampton Town

The second half certainly had more for the bystander and neutral, but for hardened Lincoln City fans, it was tough. Actually, we were the better side in the second half; we had more of the ball, we had more shots on target, more shots off target, and really should have come away with a point. It wasn’t ‘on the edge of your seat’ stuff, and when that is the case week in, week out, some supporters get frustrated, and I can see why.

I confess, although I saw their second goal, I didn’t have my objective eyes on, as I was already five or six pints deep, but looking back, I could point to a certain player and ask what they were doing. I’m not going to call out a scapegoat here, because it was a good Northampton goal, and I wouldn’t want to take anything away from the finish, but watch it back – there’s no way the ball should even get there. One or two players have an issue with tracking and seem to lack basic footballing intelligence at times.

We saw it on Boxing Day with Mandroiu’s tackle, and there’s a naivety within some of the squad which needs to be weened out. I think it will be over the next four or five weeks, but we were 2-0 down in a game where I didn’t feel we’d had to face many shots from our opponent. They’d be rubbing their hands with glee, two goals to the good in a game that had 0-0 written all over it.

After that, a rally, an unexpected push forward that momentarily had me utterly convinced we’d get a draw. I said seconds before TJ’s bullet header there was something in the game, and one of my favourite players popped up to give us hope. The corner came from a lovely bit of play from Ted Bishop, threading the ball through white shirts for Haks to run onto. The keeper made the save, but TJ was there to net from the corner.

A huge roar went up. We’d made attacking substitutions; this was it! This was the time to press forward. 60 minutes on the clock and plenty of time to take the game to the opposition. Earlier in the season, this is where we’d bring Tyler on for Ben House or Ted for Danny Mandroiu. This was where we’d use that deep squad it seemed we had at the time to go and get something from the game.

In the last 30 minutes, we had two shots, both off-target, both from Ethan Hamilton trying to make things happen. Other than that, nothing. Literally, nothing. Okay, that’s a lie. Something did happen, and whilst I fumed at the red card in the stands saying we’d go and get a point if we’d kept 11 men on the field, in the cold light of day without my belly filled with beer, I can say hand on heart we wouldn’t.

That’s due to two things. One (I may have mentioned) is our lack of attacking players, and the other was Northampton’s resolve to see out the win. Fair play to them; they sat a bit deeper and defended, but they didn’t really need to. We weren’t huffing and puffing, so their house was never going to blow down. Mide, Jovon, Jack Vale and Dylan Duffy all came on, but to no positive ends. We didn’t test their keeper once after the goal, in half an hour of football.

Could we have done so with 11 on the field? I don’t think so, but there’s no doubt the red card severely dented our hopes of taking a point. I’ve watched it back, and for me, it isn’t a red. I guess they’re going to say he led with his elbow, but how many times have we seen that against us? Accrington in the EFL Trophy, it happened a couple of times, and there wasn’t even a free kick given, and yet that was deemed a red? I haven’t been on social media today, so I don’t know what the consensus is, but in my eyes, that’s a soft red.

It didn’t change the game, though; it came on 76 minutes, 15 minutes after TJ’s goal, and we’d done nothing of merit in that time. Against Bolton and Burton, red cards changed the game, but against Northampton, it really didn’t. What is interesting is we had a player sent off in each of our home fixtures last Christmas as well, if I recall – Bolton and Ipswich either side of New Year.

That’s it, really. Ethan Erhahon went off injured because that’s what happens to us, so it is likely we’ll be without Walker, House, Hackett, Mandroiu, Erhahon and O’Connor for New Year’s Day, not to mention Lewis Montsma. It’s crippling, and despite the run of results seemingly suggesting there’s a deeper issue, I really don’t think there is. I just think the depth of the issue has become more apparent as we’ve gone later into the season, and January can not come quickly enough.

Of course, I’m disappointed. It’s a game I felt we could take something from; on the balance of play, we should have done but didn’t. We didn’t lose because of our lack of a striker; we lost because we let in two goals that individuals could have done better with. However, we didn’t win because of our lack of forwards, and I firmly believe with two from Hackett, Walker and House in the side, we take something from that game. Even with ten men. Even with the two sloppy goals.

Is there a problem at the club? I saw it described earlier as rudderless (okay, I peeked at social media) and I don’t think it is. The main issue is we seem to be lacking direction on the field, but it’s not as if we’re being outplayed game after game – Bolton were good, granted, but Derby? Northampton? Wigan? Not for me. They were games that a full-strength Lincoln City could get something from, even with all of the perceived issues people dream up on social media. That, for me, is a huge positive.

Go away and have a listen to our podcast with Harvey, and try to stay calm and positive. If we’re still losing games in this manner in two months, still lacking any sense of attack, then I’ll grant you there’s a problem. But until then, we just have to hunker down, weather the storm on New Year’s Day and hope that the solutions to our attacking issues arrive early in 2024.

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