If the second goal killed it, the third absolutely put it beyond doubt. Okoro, shockingly, was involved again, this time as creator. His good work down the flank teed up the towering Vanderpuye, who finished easily to end the game as a contest, or so we thought.
Honestly, the first half felt quite long, getting to grips with the ‘new’ faces and approach, but the second half just flew by. The game was played at a really good pace, and perhaps without the pressure that 9,000 supporters pile on seniors in a league game. The Imps players tried a few little tricks and flicks, and there was a lot of expression on the ball I didn’t expect. You can see a robust approach that fits the seniors and will prepare the younger players if they’re to make it, but they’re also allowed to express themselves, and on several occasions, I felt fans getting up off their seats as another Imps attack suddenly materialise from a smart pass, a little flick or a quick pass smuggled forward.
However, Wrexham also came out fighting, and while we were 3-0 up, they certainly weren’t rolling over and having their bellies tickled. As the game wore on it became a little more attritional, a few little tackles going in and an edge began to develop. It was never nasty, not at all, but when Tommy Clayton capitalised on a loose ball in the box, striking a deflected effort past Taylor to reduce the deficit, you sensed they believed they could get something from the game.
For 22 minutes, the game remained poised at 3-1, and it felt like the next goal would be crucial. I think it began to show in the Imps play, and I’m told they were frustrated in the dressing room afterwards as they did come in and out of the game. Wrexham didn’t swarm all over us, they never really looked like getting back into the game properly, until they actually did.
Their first proper sight of goal came from a free kick (that was never, in a million years, a foul) on the edge of the area. Alex Moore’s crisp strike looked destined for the bottom corner, but Taylor appeared late to parry it away and keep the lead at two goals. Sadly, moments later, Keane Hazeldine’s close-range finish for the visitors in the 82nd minute made it 3-2, and with plenty of time to play, you could see the belief beginning to appear in the visitors.
That belief was sapped almost immediately, as a City break (I think it was Wifa) was cruelly thwarted by what Steve Thompson would call an ‘agricultural’ tackle, which I think means it had the subtly of a plough. The Wrexham youngster might feel a little foolish today, as Wifa was felled with little finesse, so shortly after the visitors got back into the game.
The Imps celebrated winning the penalty (which I always hate to see) and I crossed my fingers that they were not premature. They obviously knew something I didn’t know – Okoro could smash a penalty in a way John Akinde could only dream of, and only the net stopped it from knocking mortar out of the brickwork in the stand behind. 4-2, game over.
Things began to get a bit tasty after that. Wifa was fouled again in the area moments later, but inexplicably, the referee booked him for diving when, from our view on the top row of the GBM Lower, it should have been a chance for Okoro to have another go at taking the net off the posts. The Imps then decided to sub Wifa, who had been a constant threat, and as he turned to leave the field, Rio Owen needless started shoving him to one side. I can understand Owen’s desire to dampen the game management, but the official ignored the raised hands completely, much to the ire of the home crowd.
Owen’s urgency really didn’t affect things, and as Wifa took the applause from the crowd and walked around the field, the game once again just petered out. City had started brightly in both halves, and finished brightly in both halves, and had it been the case the the two middle periods had been as dominant, the game could easily have been 6-2.
Wrexham’s youngsters weren’t bad, but it did feel like the Imps had more experience and bigger players. Okoro, Oliver and Parks obviously stood out, with Wifa putting in a strong shift, but Ford was a real highlight for me as well, a wing back with a bit of power, but who also looked strong and committed. I like that. I’m told that he is a real pro (as I’m sure they all are) with a great attitude to extra training, diet and all that stuff.
Onto the next round, and there’s every chance the young Imps will get another night under the lights. It can only be good for their development, and it would be great for a Man United or Liverpool to come along, boost the crowd a little more and give those young players another chance to show me, you and anyone with a £5 to spare what they can do.