There is less to speak about in the second period, but credit to Wigan, who came out fighting. Joe Hungbo was introduced by Ryan Lowe ahead of the second 45 minutes, and just three minutes after the break, he forced Bradley to head his goalbound effort away from danger. A minute later, Morgan Fox sent a dangerous ball into the box that Owen Moxon looped over the top from a very dangerous position. In less than five second half minutes, the Latics had already offered more in an attacking sense than in the whole of the opening 45 minutes.
In a rare foray forward, Moylan had another effort from distance comfortably gathered, in one of his final acts of the afternoon. Before he was replaced, Wickens also made a straightforward save to deny Asamoah’s effort after Wigan were allowed too much room on the left flank to create the opening. Hungbo also effortlessly drifted past some violet shirts (not Parma violet), before Asamoah, on the opposing flank, saw his cross-shot feebly creep into the gloves of Wickens.
Hackett had a difficult afternoon for the Imps, frustrating some City supporters around me with his inability to use his weaker right foot. At times, he slowed some moves down by cutting back inside, and he made way alongside Moylan as the first Lincoln changes of the afternoon. As was the case on Tuesday evening, Dom Jefferies and Ben House were the two Imps players introduced to the action, for the final 25 minutes on this occasion.
Little else happened before Ryley Towler replaced Freddie Draper, who wasn’t quite able to hit the heights of his previous performances in January. As is customary, the Imps shifted to a back five with 15 minutes to play in order to see out the remaining moments. But just moments later, Wigan should have been level. Asamoah was at the heart of it again, driving down the right flank before sending a deep ball into City’s penalty area, which was fed to Moxon. The Stockport County loanee reacted fastest to the knockdown to send a powerful drive towards goal. But for the second time in the half, an Imps man was on the line, with Reach at the right place at the right time to deny a certain equaliser.
That really knocked the stuffing out of the hosts, as Moxon and Taylor were withdrawn soon after. A quick word on Taylor, and I can’t get behind the booing of the former Imps loanee. I don’t expect City fans to be cheering his name throughout the game, but equally, I thought it was a little odd for the Huddersfield Town man to receive that reception. I did think it would probably only spur him on and score, but thankfully, that never did happen.
Alfie Lloyd and Tom Bayliss were given late cameos as Varfolomeev and Street were replaced. After nothing of note in an attacking sense for almost 40 minutes, City should have wrapped the points up. Towler picked up the ball inside his own half, and with little on offer infront of him, he set about a lung-busting run down the left flank. He eventually had House in support, and City’s number 18 advanced into the area before sending an excellent cross across the face of the goal. His fellow substitute Jefferies made a darting run but could only poke wide from a couple of yards out, and that killer second goal still evaded the Imps.
Four minutes of stoppage time went by without incident, and the final whistle was greeted by sighs of relief before ecstatic celebrations from the 892 City supporters in the away end. It wasn’t pretty in the second period by any means, but Lincoln had done just enough to maintain their six-point advantage over the chasing pack in League One.
Mobile service didn’t exist for me in Wigan, so I was relying on those around me to keep me updated with scores elsewhere. Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers had both won their early kick-offs 1-0 against Doncaster Rovers and AFC Wimbledon, respectively. Stockport County made it a hat-trick by scoring late to see off our next opponents, Plymouth Argyle. Huddersfield Town were also victorious in a dramatic encounter at Peterborough United, extending their gap over the sides outside the Play-Off places.
Cardiff City were the only team in the top six not to win yesterday, as they dropped points for the second time this season against Burton Albion. It does reduce their lead at the top to two points, but I would have rather seen some of our promotion rivals drop points, rather than the Bluebirds. Beggars can’t be choosers, though!
So, our gap in second place remains the same, but we are a game closer to the end of the season, with another fixture ticked off. Sorry for the clichés, but that leaves 17 cup finals between now and the end of the season. Our game against Bolton in two weeks’ time continues to grow in significance, but we’ve thrived in those games so far this season.
First, it’s onto our longest away trip of the season at Home Park next Saturday, as we aim to extend the unbeaten run to 13 games.
Up the Imps!