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Stockport 2
Lincoln 3
5th February 2006
It was only after a pulsating final thirty minutes that
Lincoln City FC managed to secure all three points - but
only just!
Imps' boss Keith Alexander elected to make two
alterations to the side that defeated Bristol Rovers last
Saturday. Simon Yeo was recalled following one-match
suspension and he was partnered by Imps' debutante Martin
Gritton. This meant that Marvin Robinson was demoted to
substitutes' bench, while Ollie Ryan failed to feature in
the matchday squad.
Stockport created the first opportunity of the match when
Matthew Hamshaw's 3rd minute cross was headed wide by
Andy Griffin. Two minutes later, a Stockport corner led
to Imps' goalkeeper Alan Marriott losing the ball but
Gareth McAuley was able to rescue his team-mate.
Fouls, offsides and throw-ins were aplenty as neither
side could take control of this match. There were also a
number of long passes that forced both goalkeepers to
stay alert.
Hamshaw saw a 27th minute shot punched clear by Marriott
but the ball fell to Adam Le Fondre causing Marriott to
make a second save. There were also a couple of corners
for Stockport that failed to trouble the Lincoln defence.
Lincoln won a corner, as the first half drew to a close,
which was taken by Steve Robinson and headed wide by
McAuley.
The Imps emerged for the second half in a new formation
of 5-2-3, which saw Nat Brown drop from midfield to right
wingback.
The first sign that the second half would be a much
better affair than the first, came just two minutes after
the restart. Steve Robinson supplied a cross to Franny
Green, whose header rebound to safety via the crossbar.
Stockport immediately went on their own attack, as
Mickael Wolski saw his long-range shot tipped around the
post by Marriott. The resultant corner was easily cleared
although it did allow Stockport to replace Damien Allen
with Danny Boshell.
A 61st minute foul by Mark Robinson on Yeo provided the
opportunity for Lincoln to break the deadlock. Yeo's
free-kick beat Stockport goalkeeper Jamie Spencer but not
Rob Clare, who cleared the ball off the line. However, Gritton was on hand to fire the ball
into the net for a debut goal.
Stockport then made their second substitution of the
match, as Griffin was replaced by Michael Malcolm. As he
took to the field, Lincoln's supporters gathered their
thoughts and expected their side to defend their 1-0
lead. How wrong they were!
Within a minute of Stockport restarting the match, they
won a free-kick when Steve Robinson was penalised for
handball. The free-kick was played to Keith Briggs who powered a shot past
Marriott for 1-1.
That spurred Lincoln back on the attack, and they too won
a free-kick that resulted in Spencer making a fine save
to deny Jamie McCombe. Lincoln then opted to replace
Green with Lee Frecklington but just before that
alteration, Spencer had made another good save, this time
from Scott Kerr. At the other end, Marriott made a save
from Le Fondre.
It was 2-1 to Lincoln in the 68th minute when Yeo netted his 50th league and cup
goal for The Imps. A lovely through ball from Steve
Robinson released Yeo, who drilled a shot past the
helpless Spencer.
The 74th minute saw the first caution of the match, when
Kerr was booked for a foul on Liam Dickinson. Two minutes
later, Jeff Hughes was replaced by Jude Stirling for
Lincoln's second substitution.
As The
Forgotten Imp
revealed when Stirling signed for The Imps, he has a
tremendous long throw-in. This was evident within seconds
of him entering the game, as his throw-in reached Yeo,
who hooked his shot over the crossbar.
Another Stirling throw-in led to Lincoln's third goal,
which came in the 79th minute. Stirling's throw-in was
headed on by Gritton to Frecklington, whose shot hit the
crossbar. Fortunately, the ball rebound to Frecklington, who scored his first ever
senior goal to make it 3-1 to Lincoln.
Stockport were unbeaten under their new manager Jim
Gannon prior to this match, and they refused to surrender
that record. Wolski was replaced by Liam Foster, as they
sought to achieve the seemingly impossible task of
salvaging a point.
That task appeared more achievable just four minutes
later, when they pulled a goal back. Stockport won two
consecutive corners, with the second falling to Dickinson,
who
drilled a shot through a crowd of players and into the
goal.
The Imps then desperately tried to prevent a rejuvenated
Stockport from scoring a third goal. Despite City's best
efforts, Dickinson did manage to flick Clare's shot into
the net. Luckily, the assistant-referee deemed Dickinson
to have been offside and controversially ruled the goal
out.
Marvin Robinson replaced Gritton, as City tried to eat up
the remaining minutes. With Stockport over committing in
attack, City were able to create their own chances to
settle their nerves.
First, Yeo fired a shot over the crossbar when a pass
might have been better. Then, in the final seconds, Yeo
did opt to pass to Marvin Robinson but it was in vain, as
Robinson's shot hit the post.
An unbelievably five minutes of stoppage time was played,
which included a caution for Steve Robinson, before the
final whistle sounded. Overall, an excellent victory for
Lincoln City against a team who are better than their
league position suggests.
Stockport: J Spencer, K Briggs, R Clare,
A Williams, M Robinson, M Hamshaw, M Wolski (81 L Foster)
, D Allen (50 D Boshell) , A Griffin (62 M Malcolm) , L
Dickinson, A Le Fondre
Unused subs: C Howarth, M Symes
Lincoln
City:
A Marriott, C Cryan, G McAuley, J McCombe, J Hughes (77 J
Stirling) , S Kerr, N Brown, S Robinson, F Green (66 L
Frecklington) , M Gritton (90 M Robinson) , S Yeo
Unused subs: G Birch, L Beevers
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