The second half followed a similar pattern, with Doncaster carving out the first opportunity when Luke Molyneux drifted through midfield and forced Wickens into an acrobatic stop with an ambitious drive. Molyneux was a real menace, and it was nice to see him in the flesh after he got me so many fantasy league points last season. I liked the look of Sterry, too, coming down the right, another tricky individual. They looked decent, perhaps without a focal point. When one-time Imps target Brandan Hanlan came on, it gave their attack extra purpose.
It really should have been 2-0 by that point. With 25 minutes left and us having weathered the tough post-halftime period, Okoronkwo had a glorious chance. It was not unlike his goal against Barnsley: a big recycled ball found Bradley free, his first-time touch took the keeper out of the equation, the goal is gaping, and while he is 14 yards out, there is no keeper, no defender, nothing. All he has to do is touch it in, and it goes wide. An agonising moment to kill off the game.
The xG numbers on Wyscout had that at 0.08. That means 92 times out of 100, a player misses that in Wyscout’s opinion. I am pretty sure 92 times out of 100 I score that. I’m not saying I’d get into the position, work as hard as Frankie did all game or anything like that, but I’m pretty sure I could hit the target. But that is the game, full of pressure moments. Okoronkwo had a really good game overall, and I will not judge him on one miss when he put us 1-0 up.
I might not have been so benevolent had their goal sparked a renaissance. In my eyes, by that point we should be 3-0 up, but Rovers levelled with 20 minutes remaining. It was a nice sweeping move that sent Hanlan clean through, and he finished calmly past Wickens. The away end erupted. They had been noisy all game, perhaps too aggressive for some stewards, but they played their role in making it a big afternoon.
1-1, their end lively, some of ours silenced, it felt ominous. The rain drifted in sideways, the pitch was laden with water, and the temperature had dropped. It looked like it was going to be a cold, miserable night in Lincoln.
The response from City was exactly what Michael Skubala would have wanted. Still in the moment of conceding, we got a long throw directly from the kickoff. Tom Hamer launched it in, Bradley flicked it on, and Ben House, on as a sub, twisted in the area to draw a save from Lo-Tutala. He could do nothing as the loose ball bounced off former Imp Robbie Gotts and into the net.
It was another moment, perhaps stretched over a minute, but a moment nonetheless. If we do not work the kick off as we did, something from the training ground, do we score? We had shied away from a couple of long throws and had not scored many from them, but that moment was the one it all came together. I would argue two training-ground routines, one to win the throw and one to get the shot. The rebound was lucky, but without the structure to get into that area, you do not get the luck. Rotherham got it with their opener on Saturday, and we got our slice back.
I did check the referee to see if his ever-changing interpretation of pushing and pulling would rule it out, but no. He slipped into the frustrating category rather than the incompetent. That is not the flex he might think, but it is a little nod to everyone who told me this week that we only criticise referees when we lose.
The closing stages brought predictable tension as Doncaster pushed bodies forward. Tom Nixon’s driven cross almost found Bailey in added time, and O Riordan lifted another late chance over the bar as the ball pinballed around our area. We did not settle as much as fight hard for what we had, but they gave us 26 minutes of pressure and atmosphere. Our fans were decent, far better than some home support we have seen on our travels, and Doncaster made sure they stayed loud too. It felt like a cup tie, especially with the weather and tension.
Doncaster created as much xG in the last 20 minutes as we did in the entire 90, and they are certainly only a consistent Brandon Hanlan or a deeper squad away from being a real threat. What they do have is flair and creativity, something we lack. More of an observation than a criticism, but we get where we want to go through hard work, organisation and application. Doncaster seemed to have a little more je ne sais quoi yesterday.
Whatever they had, it was not enough to break down a stubborn City rearguard. I know some gave Okoronkwo Man of the Match, but for me Bayliss or McGrandles were the correct choices. Both worked tirelessly, winning tackles and trying to set other players off. They were calm under pressure and did not give the ball away a great deal. Bayliss lost the ball eight times, below his season average, but not once in his own half. That is careful possession.
Once the moments had passed, all of them bundled up and collected into highlights, we won a game that the opposition did enough to take something from. It was the flip of Exeter at home, where they got the points after we dominated. We did not start fast, we finished deep, but the moments in between went our way.
Apart from the disallowed goal.
Apart from Okoronkwo’s miss.
Those aside, it was a resilient win, not one to look back on as a benchmark, but the sort of result good teams get on the right side of. It is the first victory over them at the Bank since I could be considered an adult, and importantly, back-to-back wins inside a week.
We now sit joint top of the table going into late autumn and have, to some degree, arrested the perceived slide over the Halloween period. The real trick is to stay there and ensure we have a treat to look forward to over Christmas.
Up the Imps.