I’m not a big wrestling fan as such, but as a kid, I did like the old WWF.
Twice last night, my mind went back to those days. First of all, there used to be a show called Superstars, where the big names would come out, crush a ‘jobber’, which was a nobody name, to build a story. It was a squash, a mismatch where there was only ever one winner, and everyone knew it. That sounds a lot like our performance last night.
Then there was this one wrestler called Bret Hart. He used to label himself ‘The Excellence of Execution‘, and he had a tag line, ‘the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be‘. He wasn’t a heavyweight; he didn’t ooze steroids from every pore, but he was brilliant at what he did. He was the best because he worked and planned, and he could execute those plans. One match he had, against the British Bulldog, was classed as one of the best of all time, and Bret carried that match throughout, given that the Bulldog was coming off the back of a 48-hour crack cocaine binge.
Those words, excellence of execution, really sum up Lincoln City right now. We’re executing game plans to perfection. Bradford City were awful last night, but consider this: they were fourth going into the game. How does a team that were fourth suddenly become awful? Injuries? Maybe. Form? Sure. The opposition being so good that it’s impossible to lay a glove on them? Yes. 100%. That was us last night.
We were excellent in everything we did. I’ll maybe get pulled up for being rose-tinted or for getting carried away, but that’s life, I’ll live with it. I’d have taken a draw, and chatting to a member of City staff recently, they told me not losing would be great for us. Maybe it’s the 39 years as a fan that have given me this pessimism, but I genuinely felt nervous last night. At 1-0, I feared a breakaway; at 2-0, I feared they’d get one, and the game would turn.
At 3-0, I felt more comfortable, obviously.
The truth of the game, easy to look at after it has been lived, is that we were miles better. We were organised and effective, we controlled every single moment of the first half in which our opponent offered nothing.
The early lead crushed them, but it was fair. Stephen Parkinson didn’t have a terrible game, and he got the high boot on Draper spot on. I’m not actually sure why it’s not a yellow, when in the past we’ve seen Rob Street given a second yellow for a similar offence, but that’s nitpicking. From that delivery, executed excellently by Reeco Hackett, Freddie rose highest to give us a lead we would not surrender.
I’ll talk about Freddie now. I always hark back to Michael Appleton saying if he wasn’t our number nine in a couple of years, then he (Appleton) would be doing his job wrong. Here Freddie is, a 21-year-old monster. He bullied Curtis Tilt, a player who has been phenomenal in his career. Freddie scored his goal, but his application was outrageous. We’re watching him grow, just as we did Jovon, and it’s exciting. He went out on loan and maybe came back full of belief, but not fit enough. He scrapped last season, but this campaign, he’s slimmed down, but is stronger, faster, and is now proving to be such a top player. Three goals in four games, an assist against Burton, and the other against Burton coming from his saved shot.
This boy is likely to be going for similar money to Jovon. If we hang on to him, and he does what he’s doing now in the Championship, we could be talking more. A so-called lack of pace doesn’t worry top clubs too much, as my mate Matt said on social media, look at Harry Kane. Wow, comparing Draper to Kane and not feeling ashamed about it really wasn’t on my 2025/26 Lincoln City bingo card.
After the goal it was just one-way traffic. There was a moment I really liked when Jack Moylan wanted to play Street in, but he didn’t make the right run. Moylan was really angry and berated Street, who held his hands up. It wasn’t just Moylan’s standards, but Street’s reaction that showed me this is a team together, a team with standards that they hold themselves up to. I guess Moylan was happy not long after when Street provided a superb assist.
Watch the second goal back and see Street’s header. There is a synergy between our front players at the minute, and his knockdown to Moylan was unselfish and just brilliant, he doesn’t even need to look. The finish, by the way, is the mark of a man in form, and as he wheeled away, there was this look on Moylan’s face. I love the lad, he dropped into space in front of the Bradford back line and caused havoc, but there is a confidence to his play, not cocky, but assured. He’s red hot right now and he knows it.
The Bradford fans turned pretty sour, and were even chanting Andy Cook’s name, which surprised me. They’ve done much better than most teams that come up, and they’ve just played three of the top six, including the top two, on the bounce. They were awful but honestly, I think the team maybe deserve a little better, this division is tough and they were coming up against what feels like Michael Skubala’s finished product, two years in the making.
After the break things went a little quieter, but we were just good. McGrandles and Varfolomeev won the midfield battle, Reach and Darikwa gave us width, while Street, Hackett and Draper were high. If the ball went long, we looked to the seconds. Their defence went deep, and that gave Moylan room to play in front of a nervous back four. You never knew which approach we’d take, and eventually it paid off some more.
Big plusses involved seeing Ben House back, looking as fit as always, and of course, Tom Bayliss later on. House got the third, and I’m not sure if it’s classified as a set piece. Hamer’s long throw was recycled by Reach, and Hamer then delivered a one-touch pass for House to head home. From the opposition perspective, it capped a horrible night for Tilt. He gave away the free kick for Draper to score, and he then stood by Draper just before the free kick was whipped in for the goal. For the second, he stood clapping the challenge before the ball dropped onto Street’s head for the assist and then he was just nowhere near the cross for House’s goal. Horrible night for him.
There is no doubt, City were brilliant last night. We organised perfectly, we had a plan that was executed excellently. It is becoming the norm as well, have a game plan, focus and apply. Look at the Barnsley games, both similar. Cardiff was the same, and Stockport we deserved to win despite it being late. We bully where we need to, but some of our football on the deck is nice as well. We’re a double threat, we do nice things and we do the ugly. We’re now as close to Ian Evatt’s Bolton as I would want us to be, the difference being we look even more together, mixing good technique with our aggression, ability peppered with strength. It’s a really good mix.
Here is a stat I like which was pointed out to be. Wyscout has them with four touches in our penalty area, while we had seven shots on target – almost as many shots as they managed touches in the box. That’s crazy, and it serves as a great example of what happens when you are the modern-day footballing equivalent of ‘the excellence of execution’.
Up the Imps