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Lincoln 2
Rushden 2
11th March 2006
In two months time, people might look at this match as
the game that cost Lincoln City promotion for several
reasons - but hopefully not! First, this was obviously
two points dropped against relegation threatened Rushden
and Diamonds. Second, because Lincoln suffered injuries
to key players during this match.
Imps' boss Keith Alexander made three changes to the
Imps' side that defeated Notts County in their last
match. First, left-back Jeff Hughes failed to shake off a
calf strain, so he was replaced by Paul Mayo, who was
making his long awaited return from injury. The other
alterations were in midfield where Nat Brown was recalled
after suspension to replace Lee Frecklington, while Steve
Robinson replaced Luke Foster.
Lincoln were straight on to the attack, when they won a
free-kick after just seconds of play. The ball was
flicked on to Franny Green, whose volley went wide of the
post. Rushden won a 4th minute corner, but Lincoln
cleared the danger.
Colin Cryan's 5th minute throw-in reached Simon Yeo, but
his sights were slightly out, as his shot flew over the
crossbar. It took Rushden over ten minutes to settle, but
when they did, they almost scored. Tyrone Berry's 11th
minute throw-in gave Tony Stokes the opportunity to drill
a shot at goal. Luckily, Imps' goalkeeper Alan Marriott
made an excellent save to tip the ball over the crossbar.
From the resultant corner, Marriott made a second fine
save, when he punched Drewe Broughton's goal bound header
clear.
This was a warning to Lincoln, in a match that was now
becoming more even. Next to try his luck was Gary Birch
in the 13th minute, but his shot went wide. Rushden
responded by creating their own chance but superb
defending from Gareth McAuley saw him block shots from
Stokes and then Darren Caskey.
David Savage fouled Scott Kerr in the 14th minute to
concede a free-kick that Kerr whipped into the area,
where Rushden goalkeeper Scott Tynan punched the ball
clear. Five minutes later, Rushden won a corner that came
to nothing.
Disaster then struck for Lincoln when McAuley suffered an
injury that forced his 20th minute substitution. Taking
his place was former Boston United player Lee Beevers,
which forced City into a couple of positional changes.
Brown dropped into central defence with Beevers taking
over Brown's midfield role.
Lincoln took the lead a minute later, despite this
interruption to their game plan. Rushden goalkeeper Tynan
was completely to blame because his poor clearance fell
straight to Yeo, who curled the ball into the
net from 30-yards.
The game's first booking occurred in the 26th minute,
when Jamie McCombe was cautioned for a foul on Broughton.
The game then entered a quiet period, with just one
corner for each side the only real significant action.
Shortly before half-time, Green saw a shot blocked by
Tynan, as City looked to increase their lead. Another
corner for Lincoln soon followed, but the half-time score
was destined to remain at 1-0 to Lincoln.
The second half began with a Rushden substitution as the
injured Stokes was replaced by Simeon Jackson. It was
Rushden who took the attacking initiative, as they won
two corners within the first five minutes of the second
half.
A further blow to Lincoln's plans occurred in the 50th
minute when the injury forced Green to end the his match
prematurely. Frecklington came on to replace Green, which
forced Lincoln to switch to a 4-4-2 formation.
Green's injury affected Lincoln, and Rushden had a couple
of great opportunities to score the equaliser. Dave
Savage and Tyrone Berry both wasted their chances by
firing shots wide. In-between those efforts, Jackson
forced Marriott into another save, as City began to
wobble.
McCombe's 61st minute foul on Broughton presented Rushden
with yet another chance. Caskey saw his free-kick blocked
by McCombe but the ball fell to Wayne Hatswell, whose
volley went wide. Rushden could sense that an equaliser
existed, so they chose to replace Berry with John Turner
for a 67th minute substitution.
In the 72nd minute, Rushden won another corner when
Caskey's shot was blocked by Mayo. The injuries to
McAuley and Green had definitely affected Lincoln, who
were struggling to create any goal scoring chances. Even
the few attacking moves that they did undertake were
thwarted by the offside flag. In an attempt to reverse
this trend, Alexander brought on Martin Gritton for Birch
in a 74th minute substitution.
When Broughton wasted yet another good chance for
Rushden, by heading wide in the 79th minute, Lincoln's
supporters were beginning to ponder whether their side
could hold on. This was especially apparent a minute
later, as Turner sent the ball into the goal, only for
his strike to be ruled out for offside.
However, a minute beyond that, Rushden scored their
deserved equaliser. Caskey was the architect by passing
to Turner, who held off Beevers before
drilling the ball past Marriott for 1-1.
Beevers sent a speculative shot wide for Lincoln in the
82nd minute, before disaster struck once again for
Lincoln. In the 83rd minute, Savage's lob reached Jackson, who volleyed past Marriott
for 2-1 to Rushden. Almost immediately, Rushden brought
on Magnus Okuonghae for Broughton, as they sought to hold
on to their three precious points.
It seemed that Rushden would do just that, or rather, it
did until the final seconds of the match. Lincoln had won
a throw-in, and in one last ditch bid to score the
equaliser, they sent up McCombe to attack the throw-in.
As it happens, the ball was cleared but only to
Frecklington. He then crossed the ball towards McCombe,
who headed into the net for 2-2.
Overall, a disappointing result for Lincoln against a
side who are now bottom of the division. However,
considering the injuries to McAuley and Green caused
considerable disruption to their game plan, it was a very
good result that extends their unbeaten run to twelve
matches. The worry now, is over the seriousness of the
two injuries.
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, C Cryan, G McAuley (21 L Beevers) , J McCombe,
P Mayo, N Brown, S Robinson, S Kerr, F Green (51 L
Frecklington) , G Birch (75 M Gritton) , S Yeo
Unused subs: O Ryan, M Robinson
Rushden
& D'monds:
S Tynan, A Nicholls, P Gulliver, W Hatswell, R Bull, T
Berry, D Savage, D Caskey, M Kelly, D Broughton, T Stokes
Unused subs: B Hunter, D Crane.
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