I watched our last home win against Doncaster Rovers through the eye of an 18-year-old excitedly waiting for his birthday the next day.
That game was turgid, punctuated by a couple of moments on which the game turned. Thirty years later, through the slightly tired eyes of a 46-year-old approaching a birthday with caution and a lack of excitement, I watched the next home win against Doncaster, a game won and lost on moments.
It sounds obvious. Of course, a game is won and lost on moments, they are called goals, and they are the only stat that matters. I got criticism in midweek for only highlighting when we did enough to win a game and did not. Here is a big old factoid for you: Doncaster did everything better yesterday, other than get more goals, and we deserved more from the 3-0 defeat at Rotherham.
You were not expecting that, were you? The propaganda arm of Lincoln City is actually being critical after a win?
Not so much. We did enough to win because we won. Walking away down the Sincil Drain, we spoke to some Donny fans who were really downbeat. They lamented certain players and wondered where their next win was coming from. In terms of xG, it should have come yesterday.
I will say this: they were one of the better sides, if not the best, to grace the Bank this season, and when the end-of-season curtain draws, it will be a travesty if they are not firmly placed in the middle of the pack. Their 1,400 supporters made more noise than 7,000-odd at Rotherham, and like a proper cheeky away end, they even had a few chucked out.
Anyway, we won the game, but it was important for me to clarify that the numbers showed this to be one we could not really have complained about had we come away losing 3-2, but that is not because of us being poor.
Michael Skubala had made eight changes from the midweek win against Barnsley in the Vertu Trophy, and there was a welcome sight on the teamsheet as Dom Jefferies returned to a league squad for the first time since April. I was a bit disappointed to see Erik Ring dropped, and early doors if Frankie Okoronkwo did something wrong, I would lean in to Steve next to me (I have moved into Dad’s seat) and say, ‘Erik would not have done that’.
We did not start as quickly as we normally do, but Doncaster looked a good prospect from the off. We gave a slightly disjointed start, and Doncaster sensed it early, carving out the first few chances of the afternoon. Harry Clifton’s clever through ball forced George Wickens into a sharp early save from Jordan Gibson, and a well-worked corner routine later allowed Clifton another sight of goal, only for Wickens to gather at the second attempt. Those two chances brought an xG of 0.75, more than all of our chances that followed combined. That in itself is a concern for the xG fans, but you will know why later.
Our first serious eye-test warning arrived shortly after. This was the chance you will remember. You might think they did not do a lot in the first half, but you will remember this chance. Sonny Bradley’s errant pass back left Wickens in no man’s land, and was picked off by Owen Bailey, who sent Billy Sharp running through with the goal gaping. You would put your house on Sharp to score as he twisted and turned, and Wickens did well to recover and make himself big, only for Sharp to take him out of the equation again. With the goal gaping, Bradley atoned immediately, positioning himself on the line and heading away when all hope looked gone. From zero to hero in a moment.
From there, the game began to open up, and we started to pose more of a threat in the final third, but it did come after the scare. The next moment had me screaming at referee David Rock, who had a mediocre game at best. He has lost it at the Bank before, sending off a Port Vale player wrongly and getting Darrell Clarke the sack in the process. I am sure he is not still trying to even it up, but Rob Street’s header should have stood.
I have watched it back, and I guess at full speed it looks like a two-handed push. It took me back to us against Ipswich in the 2021-22 season and a Macaulay Bonne header for them that was exactly the same. It is not a push; it is weak defending, looking to draw the ref to rule it out, and he did. I am not saying we deserved to be leading, but on another occasion, that is 1-0 City.
It does feel like we have been on the receiving end of a few recently. Maybe I am particularly pessimistic, but the offside at Rotherham, the free kick at Rotherham, that goal yesterday, it all makes me less confident in officials at present.
Okoronkwo, described by my mate Pete as the best player on the pitch in the first half, should probably have made it 1-0 on 28 minutes. McGrandles and Bayliss, the best two Lincoln players on the pitch all game, combined well to rob the ball and feed Street. His cross was inch perfect, but the Everton loanee nodded down, the correct decision, but wide.
Luckily for him, the breakthrough came shortly after. This time Hamer and Darikwa combined, with the latter delivering a superb ball into the box. Okoronkwo had more work to do, but his finish was excellent, a glancing header that gave Lo-Tutala no chance at all. 1-0 City. Would Erik Ring have done that, I was asked with a smile. No, probably not.
That was our last chance for 30 minutes of football, and in that time Doncaster only really created one in first-half stoppage time. I was a little confused how Rock found three minutes in the first half when I can barely remember the physio coming on, but he did. You would say, if you cannot do something in 45 minutes, how likely are you to do it in three? Matty Pearson, a former Imp, was 28 percent likely to score from their deep free kick. He did not.
We took a 1-0 lead into halftime. I would argue it should have been two, given the ruled-out goal, but those without rose-tinted spectacles might say we could quite easily have been pegged back at 1-1.