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Wycombe 0
Lincoln 3
18th April 2006
Lincoln replied to their critics via this excellent away
victory at fellow promotion hopefuls Wycombe Wanderers.
Surprisingly, having watched his side struggle against
Bury on Saturday, Imps' boss Keith Alexander made just
one team change. Midfielder Steve Robinson was dropped
from the 16-man squad in favour of striker Marvin
Robinson, who returned after illness. This meant that Lee
Frecklington, Lincoln's goal scorer from Saturday,
continued as a substitute.
It was a scrappy start to this match with neither side
being able to find the passing rhythm to create chances.
Wycombe did win a corner in the 2nd minute but Lincoln
cleared. Two minutes later, Jamie Forrester hooked a
long-range shot over the Wycombe crossbar. Several
Lincoln players claimed that Forrester's shot had
deflected off a Wycombe player's arm, but the referee
waved play on.
A 9th minute foul by Kevin Betsy on Jeff Hughes provided
Lincoln with a free-kick. The ball eventually reached
Forrester, who headed wide. A minute later, an attacking
throw-in from Hughes was headed over by the crossbar by
the lively Forrester.
Play was continually interrupted by fouls and throw-ins.
A rare goal attempt saw Danny Senda volley wide from
distance in the 18th minute. Three minutes later, Lincoln
should have scored a breakaway goal but Franny Green's
shot was blocked by Wycombe goalkeeper Frank Talia. Green
had created the chance via some skilful ball control.
A 31st minute corner to Wycombe briefly provoked some
excitement, that was until Alan Marriott easily caught
the ball. Marriott made his first save of the match just
two minutes later, when he was required to catch Senda's
shot.
Little else of significance happened during the first
half, although Roger Johnson (36th minute) and Marvin
Robinson (41st minute) sent long-range efforts wide for
both Wycombe and Lincoln respectively.
Wycombe won a dangerous free-kick in the 48th minute,
when Hughes fouled Senda. Fortunately, other than a
caution for Hughes, there was no further punishment as
first, Clint Easton's free-kick was blocked for a corner.
Then second, Easton's corner was also cleared.
A 57th minute foul by Jamie McCombe on Betsy conceded yet
another dangerous free-kick. Once again, the free-kick
poised few problems as Marriott easily caught the ball.
McCombe was cautioned for the foul before the free-kick
was taken.
There was little to choose between these two sides, as
both cancelled each other out. For the sake of
entertainment, the match required a goal, and Lincoln
duly obliged by scoring in the 61st minute. The
impressive Hughes provided the cross for Forrester to send a right-foot shot past
Talia for 1-0 to Lincoln.
Lincoln now had the initiative, as proved by winning a
corner almost from the restart. Unfortunately, the
referee spotted an infringement and ruled out Gareth
McAuley's header which had entered the net. This allowed
Wycombe to make a double substitution by replacing
Jermaine Easter and Stefan Oakes with Tommy Mooney and
Matt Bloomfield.
The Imps were seemingly content to defend their lead, and
restricted Wycombe to just one chance, which came in the
70th minute when Russell Martin sent a speculative shot
wide. Just before, Nat Brown had sent a 25-yard effort
over the crossbar for Lincoln.
The biggest difference between these two sides was that
Lincoln took the few chances that they created, unlike
Wycombe. A 73rd minute throw-in reached Brown, who
dummied an attempt at goal before passing to Green. The
move was complete when Green controlled before drilling a
shot into the goal for 2-0 to Lincoln.
Two minutes later, Green came close to extending
Lincoln's lead but Talia made a good save to deny him,
although a pass to Marvin Robinson might have proved a
better option. Wycombe's only response to the potential
defeat was to bring on Ian Stonebridge for Joe Burnell.
However, Martin's 25-yard drive in the 79th minute, did
at least test Marriott.
With the match heading towards a Lincoln victory,
Alexander sacrificed Green for Paul Mayo. Although a
negative substitution, Lincoln managed to score a third
goal, which came in the 81st minute. Mayo was the creator
when he lobbed the ball forward to Forrester, whose right-foot shot beat
Talia for 3-0.
As the match drew to a close, both Forrester and Marvin
Robinson were replaced in a double substitution by
Frecklington and Martin Gritton.
Overall, this was one of Lincoln's best results of the
season, which comes at a crucial time of the season.
Combined with other results from Easter Monday, it means
that Lincoln's play-off hopes are now entirely in their
own hands.
Wycombe: F Talia, D Senda, R Johnson, M
Williamson, C Easton, S Oakes (66 M Bloomfield), R
Martin, J Burnell (78 I Stonebridge), K Betsy, C Griffin,
J Easter (65 T Mooney)
Unused subs: R Lee, W Antwi
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, P Morgan, J McCombe, L Beevers, G McAuley, J
Hughes, S Kerr, N Brown, M Robinson (86 M Gritton), J
Forrester (86 L Frecklington), F Green (80 P Mayo)
Unused subs: M Bloomer, D Bacon
Please click the links for Lincoln
City or Wycombe
Wanderers
football club.
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