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Shrewsbury
0 Lincoln 1
30th April 2006
A thoroughly professional performance earnt Lincoln City
a vital three points, meaning that The Imps require just
a draw from next week's match against Rochdale in order
to qualify for the play-offs.
Imps' boss Keith Alexander named an unchanged starting
eleven but there were two changes to his named
substitutes. The previously rested Colin Cryan made a
return, as did for Danny Bacon, for Matt Bloomer and
Martin Gritton respectively.
Shrewsbury knew that they had to win to keep their slim
promotion hopes alive, so it was little surprise when
they won a corner after just ninety seconds of play. It
was also little surprise that Lincoln's competent defence
was easily able to deal with the delivery.
Lincoln should have taken the lead in the 3rd minute,
when a long ball forward was latched on to by Franny
Green. Unfortunately, he fired his shot wide when an
early goal would have settled the travelling Imps' fans'
nerves.
It was certainly a lively opening, as a minute later,
Mark Stallard sent a shot over the Imps' crossbar. Then,
in the 6th minute, Sagi Burton saw a shot blocked for a
corner. This corner was only partially cleared but the
danger ended when Neil Sorvel sent a left foot shot wide.
Next to try his luck was Jamie Trolley, who blasted a
30-yard shot over the crossbar, as Lincoln struggled to
make headway into the final third of the pitch. However,
they did win a 12th minute corner but they could not
capitalise on it.
That was just a blip in Shrewsbury's game plan, which
consisted of an adventurous 4-3-3 formation. Gareth
McAuley did well to block Colin McMenamin's shot but
Shrewsbury quickly regained possession to force yet
another corner. This time, Neil Ashton's corner did reach
its intended target, but Burton headed wide.
Green was gifted possession by a Shrewsbury player in the
20th minute but his resultant shot failed to trouble
Shrewsbury's goalkeeper Joe Hart. Once again, Shrewsbury
recovered and then attacked with McMenamin shooting wide
from distance.
Burton found space in the 33rd minute to lob a shot
towards goal, only for the ball to land on the roof of
the net. However, somewhere in the build-up to the move,
Glynn Hurst suffered an injury and had to be replaced by
Marco Adaggio.
Possibly that enforced substitution threw Shrewsbury's
morale because they were never the same threat again. In
fact, Lincoln could have taken a half-time lead when The
Imps won a 39th minute corner. Jeff Hughes delivered the
ball into the area where Nat Brown headed just wide.
The start of the second half was a very even affair, and
it was not until the 55th minute that either created an
opportunity. The opportunity was created by Burton's
strength over Hughes, but his volley went wide of the
Lincoln goal. Two minutes later, McMenamin volleyed a
long range effort over the bar.
Lincoln, having soaked up the pressure for 61 minutes,
then took the lead when Burton fouled Marvin Robinson.
Scott Kerr swung the ball into the area where McAuley rose to head past Hart for 1-0
to Lincoln.
Lincoln needed to be on their guard immediately after
their goal, as Shrewsbury won successive corners. Neither
trouble Imps' goalkeeper Alan Marriott, who was having a
quiet game. Likewise, Marriott was happy to watch
Burton's 68th minute go wide. A poor clearance from Hart
almost gifted Lincoln a second goal but Kerr was as
surprised as anyone to receive the ball.
Shrewsbury were mainly restricted to long range shots,
and after Stallard's attempt in the 73rd minute, they
opted to make a second substitution. Lincoln were happy
to see Shrewsbury's leading goal scorer McMenamin leave
the pitch to be replaced by Richard Evens.
Shrewsbury continued to win corners but only one, which
came in the 76th minute, caused any panic. This one saw
Sorvel's cross headed over the crossbar by Burton. A
minute later, Burton became the first player to receive a
caution, when he was booked for a foul on Kerr.
Towards the end, it was practically an all out attack
from Shrewsbury, which saw them win further corners. The
pick of the bunch saw Richard Hope head Evans' delivery
over the crossbar.
With the minutes ticking by, Lincoln introduced Lee
Frecklington and Paul Mayo for Kerr and Jamie Forrester
respectively. Despite four minutes of stoppage time, the
only other significant event saw Robinson booked for a
foul on Ashton.
Shrewsbury: J Hart, B Herd, S Burton, R
Hope, N Ashton, C McMenamin (74 R Evans), J Tolley, N
Sorvel, K Langmead, M Stallard, G Hurst (35 M Adaggio)
Unused subs: G Thompson, G Cowan, G Cadwallader
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, G McAuley, P Morgan, J McCombe, L Beevers, S
Kerr (89 L Frecklington), N Brown, J Hughes, F Green, M
Robinson, J Forrester (89 P Mayo)
Unused subs: G Birch, D Bacon, C Cryan
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City or Shrewsbury football club.
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