Sadly, the story of the second half was pretty much the same. City, the better side, everything up to the final third looked good, but that bit of quality in the box was lacking. In fact, towards the end, at least one huge chance could have got us a point.

There’s zero doubt we were the better side in terms of chances created, but sadly, we lacked the quality in the final third. Jack Moylan, my man of the match, looked to spark something, but often he was hitting shots high and wide. Given how our strikers looked after the ball this evening, certainly towards the end of the game, I can understand why Jack wanted to shoot.

It wasn’t just us lacking the quality. Ollie Palmer is still a big lump lacking finesse, and after holding off Darikwa, he hit a golden opportunity over the goal of George Wickens. With finishing like that, he might be on our January target list. Okay, that’s harsh, but I’m writing this minutes after the final whistle went, and I have a deep-seated sense of frustration at how well we played, again, and how little we troubled the opposition keeper, again.

Wrexham are a decent side—I’m not sure how they’re top two, if I’m honest, but they’re decent enough. James McClean is undoubted class for them, and I felt if they were going to get anything, it would come from him, and it did. A cross from the left was inexplicably turned in by Tendayi, meaning even when a Lincoln player did score tonight, it was at the wrong end. It was unlucky on him; he had a good game throughout, often carrying the ball into midfield to spring an attack.

I felt we’d create chances after that, as we had all game. We played some really nice football, something that will be forgotten in the bigger scheme of things. Our passing moves created space, and we got in good crossing positions time and again. This Wrexham side are among the front-runners to be playing Championship football, and only the most rose-tinted of home supporters could say they were the better side. The problem is we didn’t get a break, and when we created one ourselves, our decision-making was awry.

The referee was as well. He booked Brunt early for a pullback, then when the same player did a more blatant one on Makama, he waved it away as fair. It was an obvious second yellow card that the official clearly bottled, and while I’m not sure it would have made us clinical, it would certainly have given us fresh impetus in the final minutes.

The really sad thing is we shouldn’t have needed that break, because in the final 15 minutes or so, we spurned three really good chances to take the game. Jack Moylan had another effort of his own which went close before Jovon had two in the space of a minute.

Jovon is getting pelters online right now. He’s getting it in chats on WhatsApp and on Discord, and I’m really hoping his mum doesn’t have Twitter. Some of the vitriol is misguided, but there’s no shying away from the fact he should have at least had two shots on target but instead has not worked the keeper.

The first was the most blatant; it’s a toe poke, but there’s nobody between him and the keeper. It’s about composure, and I keep seeing ‘Bailey would have scored that’ or ‘Joe Taylor would have scored that.’ In honesty, I think probably any other player on the field would have. Jovon looks like he’s lacking confidence, and early in the game, I noticed Tendayi laying into him about effort. Paudie did the same and later in the half patted him on the back when he caused problems. Let’s not be completely blinded to Makama’s strengths, but at the same time, I can’t be blinded to his weakness, which is finishing.

I’d just tweeted out of frustration that he should have scored when he got another chance after a lovely ball into the channel, and again he didn’t take it. The second one wasn’t as easy; he couldn’t get it out of his feet, but it’s circumstantial evidence. The chance alone isn’t evidence that he’s ‘rubbish,’ as some have said on social media, but when put with other misses this season, it does begin to suggest he’s lacking confidence. It was his last opportunity of the game as he left the field for Rob Street, with a few supporters wondering why he was left on and Bailey taken off ten minutes earlier.

As if to pull Makama out of the mire, Rob Street then missed a chance as well. It wasn’t as gilt-edged as the other two, and Street put himself about nicely in his cameo, but he dragged a decent effort wide of the post. Jack Moylan whipped in a corner that almost dropped in the net, but that wasn’t so much a missed chance as a created one.

Late on, as we pushed forward, Wrexham did get a chance to push their xG up, and some data suggests they had three ‘big’ chances, while we only had one. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not a bad side, and they had spells in the game when they took control. That almost makes it worse, because they kept pushing, even bringing a striker on in the dying minutes to get another, rather than shutting up shop. Perhaps they sensed we could play all night, have 38 shots, and still not hit the target, or maybe they felt as we were creating, the best way to finish the game was to score.

In fairness, they probably should have had a second after we got caught a couple of times late on, but those chances also serve to push the stats up in their favour, making it appear a much more even contest.

Bright sparks? Moylan’s endeavour, definitely. O’Connor was outstanding, Sean Roughan was strong once again, and Ethan Erhahon showed some real class in key areas. Dom Jeffries was really lively, Conor McGrandles had a good game, and Ethan Hamilton looked much more like the player we saw last season after coming on, comfortable on the ball. It’s hard to write this article because I want to say how well we played, I want to wax lyrical about some of the performances, but I also feel it’s tough to do after we’ve been beaten.

I’m going to end by simply saying this: we lost, and we’re on a bad run, but we’re not playing badly. I have every confidence that this Imps side is top-ten quality, but on tonight’s showing, I’m not sure our front line is performing as well as the rest of the side. They’re not awful; they’re getting into places to score, and we’re creating, but the difference between us and someone like Wycombe is taking chances.

Tonight, we had a chance to rip up the Hollywood script and write an indie blockbuster of our own. We didn’t take that chance, and it has left our front two, whoever they may be, with some questions to answer over the coming weeks.

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