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Lincoln 1
Bury 1
15th April 2006
If Lincoln City do qualify for this season's play-offs,
it will because other clubs have messed things up more
than The Imps have managed to!
Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander sprang several
surprises via his team selection although illness forced
some of the changes. Despite stating on Wednesday that
neither Gareth McAuley nor Paul Morgan were anywhere
close to a return from lengthy injury, both started this
match! There were also surprise returns on the
substitutes' bench as Paul Mayo and Matt Bloomer were
given a place.
This all meant that Lincoln started with a defensive unit
of Lee Beevers, McAuley, Morgan, Jamie McCombe, Jeff
Hughes plus goalkeeper Alan Marriott. The midfield was
stable as Scott Kerr and Steve Robinson continued their
partnership. However, Nat Brown was preferred in attack,
as he partnered Franny Green and Jamie Forrester. Gary
Birch, Colin Cryan and Luke Foster were notable absentees
from the side. Pre-match, very few Imps' supporters would
have predicted this Lincoln City line-up!
The opening minutes saw little goal action apart from
Forrester's shot from the edge of the area, in the 4th
minute, which went wide. A 10th minute Bury corner
promised much but came to nothing.
Jon Daly dispossessed McCombe in the 13th minute but his
20-yard shot flew too high. A minute later, Lincoln
missed a half decent chance when Forrester shot wide from
6-yards out.
Although devoid of clear cut chances, Lincoln were
looking the likeliest to score. Kerr's powerful 19th
minute shot was excellent turned away by Bury goalkeeper
Kasper Schmeichel, who is the son of Manchester United
legend Peter Schmeichel. Kasper completed his job when he
caught the resultant corner to end the remaining danger.
A 21st minute Lincoln throw-in found Forrester, whose
shot went just wide of the post. Five minutes later,
Forrester sent another long-range effort wide of the
target. In-between these attempts, Bury had won two
consecutive corners, with the second one being cleared.
On the few occasions when Bury did create an attack, they
looked reasonably dangerous. Lincoln were fortunate not
to concede in the 31st minute when Tom Youngs headed a
6-yard effort over the crossbar.
Despite that let off, Lincoln did concede the opening
goal, which came in the 35th minute when Kerr fouled
Brian Barry-Murphy. The subsequent free-kick was taken by
Dave Challinor, with the loose ball reaching Marc
Pugh, who
sent a left-foot shot past Marriott for 1-0 to Bury.
Lincoln's immediate response was for Brown to fire a
20-yard shot wide. Hughes was unlucky in the 41st minute
when his shot was chested away by Schmeichel. The
resultant corner was cleared by ex-Imp David Flitcroft.
There were no substitutions at half-time, and it became
noticeable from the commencement of the second half that
Bury were prepared to defend their lead.
A 53rd minute throw-in from Beevers was headed wide by
McCombe. A minute later, Schmeichel caught Hughes' drive,
as Bury continued to frustrate The Imps. Alexander then
opted to make a tactical substitution with Robinson being
sacrificed for striker Martin Gritton. Just before, Bury
had replaced Youngs with Colin Marrison.
Gritton made an instant impact but alas, his 58th minute
shot went wide. Corners for both sides followed before
Bury chose to take off Thomas Kennedy for Dwayne Mattis
in the 68th minute. Almost simultaneously, Lincoln
replaced Kerr with Lee Frecklington, whom many feel
should start more matches.
Alexander, as Lincoln struggled to break down relegation
threatened Bury, opted to replace McAuley with Bloomer in
the 78th minute. Bloomer's first job was to help defend a
Bury corner, which City easily managed to do.
Frecklington fired an 80th minute shot wide, but he soon
made amends in the 85th minute. With time running out, it
was more a case of shoot on sight, and that is precisely
what Frecklington did as his 20-yard shot
bypassed Schmeichel on its way into the goal for 1-1.
Lincoln, buoyed by this goal, almost scored a second just
a minute later. Hughes' in-swinging corner was met by
Gritton but his shot was cleared off the goal line by
Barry-Murphy.
Deep into stoppage time, Bury's Ian Ross replaced Pugh,
as the visitors were quite happy to settle for an
unexpected point.
The draw moves Lincoln into eighth place in the League
Two table. Combined with other results, including
Peterborough United's surprise defeat at home to Boston
United, it means that Lincoln are just one point behind
the final play-off spot.
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, G McAuley (79 M Bloomer), P Morgan, J McCombe,
J Hughes, S Kerr (68 L Frecklington), S Robinson (58 M
Gritton), L Beevers, F Green, J Forrester, N Brown
Unused subs: P Mayo, D Bacon
Bury: K Schmeichel, J Fitzgerald, C
Woodthorpe, D Challinor, T Kennedy (69 D Mattis), M Pugh
(90 I Ross), D Flitcroft, C Brass, B Barry-Murphy, J
Daly, T Youngs (57 C Marrison)
Unused subs: A Parrish, J Speight
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