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Oxford 0
Lincoln 1
17th December 2005
Lincoln City's manager Keith Alexander has to take plenty
of credit for this result, as his tactics were spot on
despite pre-match fears from travelling Imps' fans.
Midfielder Dean Keates was suspended for his game, which
meant a recall for fit-again defender Colin Cryan in an
otherwise unchanged starting XI. This also meant a switch
to a 5-3-2 formation, with striker Derek Asamoah playing
a forward midfield role.
The pre-match worries of Imps' fans centred around the
fact that of the ten outfield players, six of these were
defenders! It seemed fairly obvious that Alexander had
come to Oxford with the intention of safeguarding a
point.
However, memories are often short in football and some
people have forgotten Alexander's highly-successful
tactic that he employed during his first season in charge
after taking over from Alan Buckley. It might not make
for an entertaining game, but the tactic of defending to
wear down the opposition before hitting them on the break
for a 1-0 win can prove a good way to claim all three
points. Thankfully, Oxford had also forgotten about this
tactic!
After a minute's silence, the game kicked-off and it was
Oxford's Craig Davies who was the first to try his luck.
Davies' 30-yard drive failed to trouble Imps' goalkeeper
Alan Marriott.
Lincoln came within inches of opening the scoring in the
12th minute when Chris Wilmott conceded a free-kick for a
foul on Gary Birch. Scott Kerr delivered the free-kick
into the area, where Birch saw his header rebound off the
crossbar.
Scott P Fitzgerald volleyed a 14th minute shot wide for
Oxford before Marriott was called into action to save Lee
Mansell's 18th minute goal bound header. A couple of
minutes later, Richard Logan shot wide for Lincoln. The
Imps managed to regain possession from the goal kick and
quickly won a corner. Jamie McCombe met Kerr's corner
delivery, but McCombe's header flew over the crossbar.
Five minutes later, Matthew Robinson connected with an
Oxford corner but his shot also went over the bar.
The remainder of the first half was relatively uneventful
although Oxford did waste a couple of corners. All credit
to Lincoln's defenders, whose tenacity restricted Oxford
to just one further attempt at goal, and this was a
long-range shot from Barry Quinn that went wide.
There were no team changes for either side at the start
of the second half. Three minutes into the play, Oxford's
Chris Hargreaves became the first player to receive a
caution when he was booked for a foul on Gareth McAuley.
Lincoln continued to restrict Oxford to long-range
efforts, although Quinn's aiming was improving, as he had
two shots that both went just wide of the post. Asamoah
showed some fine skills in the 56th minute when he took
on the Oxford defence single-handedly from the halfway
line. Alas, his final shot went across the face of the
goal for a goal kick.
An injury to Willmott forced him to leave the game, and
he was replaced by Chris Hackett in the 58th minute.
Chances at goal were becoming rarer by the minute, and
the few that were created were weak, as Logan and
Fitzgerald both sent tame shots well wide for the two
sides.
In the 67th minute, the game very nearly received the
boost of a goal that it badly needed, when Fitzgerald
conjured up a piece of solo magic. A beautifully curled
shot from the edge of penalty area unluckily hit the
Lincoln post to leave City's defenders scrambling the
ball away for a corner. Even then, the danger was not
over, as Marriott did very well to save Matthew
Robinson's subsequent shot after he conected with
Hackett's corner.
Once again, Oxford were forced to try desperate shots
from distance, although Quinn's powerful 73rd minute shot
would have entered the net but for a fine save from
Marriott. Lincoln replied by winning a 75th corner that
was headed wide by McAuley.
A 79th minute foul by Kerr on Hackett saw the Lincoln man
receive a yellow card, as well as concede a free-kick. In
true Lincoln style though, The Imps defended the
free-kick before breaking away to win a corner. Kerr
swung the ball into the area, where Logan headed it past
Billy Turley for 1-0 to Lincoln.
Could Lincoln hold on for the win against a now stunned
Oxford side. To aid them, Alexander replaced the tiring
Birch with Marvin Robinson. Despite ten minutes of play
remaining, Oxford could only manage one long-range shot
that went wide, plus a couple of wasted corners.
Overall a thoughly professional performance from Lincoln
City that sees them climb into the top half of the table
prior to Saturday's matches.
Oxford
Utd:
B Turley, J Ashton, C Willmott (59 C Hackett) , L Roget,
M Robinson, L Mansell, B Quinn, C Hargreaves, C Davies, S
Fitzgerald, E Sabin
Unused subs: C Tardif, J Stirling, N Roach, M E'Beyer
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, L Beevers, G McAuley, J McCombe, P Mayo, C
Cryan, N Brown, S Kerr, G Birch (82 M Robinson) , D
Asamoah, R Logan
Unused subs: L Frecklington, M Bloomer, L Foster, J
Hughes
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