Forrester Hits Town For Four
Mansfield Town 2 Lincoln City 4

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26th August 2006

It might only be August but Lincoln City highlighted their claims for automatic promotion when they obliterated Mansfield Town at Mansfield on Saturday afternoon.

Lincoln City's Head Coach John Schofield made one team change to the side that were eliminated from the Carling Cup in midweek. The change saw Alan Marriott return in The Imps' goal in place of Simon Rayner, who had let in four goals during Lincoln's 4-3 defeat at Scunthorpe United.

It was a scrappy start to the match but Lincoln won the game's first corner when Scott Kerr's 5th minute shot was deflected out of play. Jeff Hughes delivered the ball to the near post, where it was headed clear.

Two minutes later, Mansfield created their first chance of the match when Lee Beevers was penalised for handball. Jake Buxton's free-kick was met by Ritchie Barker's head, but Marriott was able to punch the ball clear. Soon afterwards, Kerr was cautioned for impeding Stephen Dawson.

Lincoln took the lead in the 13th minute when Alex Baptiste was adjudged to have fouled Lee Frecklington inside the penalty area. Taking responsibility for this penalty was Jamie Forrester, whose powerful penalty saw him register his first goal of the season for 1-0 to Lincoln.

The game then reverted to it original cagey play, with both sides limited to a few long range shots at goal. Mansfield had the pick of the bunch, when Simon Brown saw his curled 30-yard shot caught by Marriott. By now, Lincoln were enjoying the majority of possession and were comfortably holding on to their lead.

That lead was extended in the 22nd minute when Ryan Amoo's superb pass found Forrester. In turn, Forrester dummied his marker before curling a shot into the top-right of the goal to make the score 2-0 to Lincoln City!

The old adage about buses seemed to apply equally to Forrester's goals, as he completed his hat-trick in the 28th minute. Amoo cross was head at goal by Forrester but a defender partially cleared. Forrester reacted the quickest to send a low shot into the net for 3-0 to Lincoln City!

Mansfield almost pulled a goal back in the 32nd minute when Marriott could only half clear Brown's shot away. Thankfully, his defence completed the clearance by sending the ball out for a throw-in.

Mansfield's best hope of scoring was from a set-piece as illustrated in the 37th minute when Hughes fouled Brown to conceded a dangerous free-kick. Fortunately, Marriott was able to catch Matt Hamshaw's goal bound curler.

Marriott clearly had a point to prove after facing criticism for his performance against Walsall last Saturday. In a rare Mansfield attack, Brown forced Marriott into a double save, only for Beevers to foul Michael Boulding inside the penalty area. Barker stepped up to take the penalty only to see Marriott punch the ball to safety.

The half-time whistled sounded with the scores at a deserved three-goal lead for Lincoln. The question was now: are Lincoln City one half wonders? All was about to be revealed.

It was thought that the questioned was answered within three minutes of the second half beginning when Forrester scored his and Lincoln's fourth goal. Once again, it was from the penalty spot after Johnny Mullins had fouled Paul Mayo.

Three minutes later, Mansfield had a good chance but Brown headed Hamshaw's cross wide. Although 4-0 down, Mansfield were now ironically enjoying the majority of the possession. This lead to Boulding having two shots blocked in and around the 55th minute mark.

Five minutes later, Mansfield replaced Hamshaw with Danny Reet in the game's first substitution. Reet was immediately involved when he headed Brown's cross wide of the post. Then in the 65th minute, Reet's aiming improved when he converted Brown's cross to make the score 1-4 to Lincoln.

The goal also signalled Mansfield's second substitution when they replaced Jonathan D'Laryea with Callum Lloyd. Imps' fans might care to remember that it was D'Laryea who earlier this week had expected Lincoln to play a different style - see here!

Paul Morgan came to Lincoln's rescue in the 67th minute when he headed Brown's shot off the goal line.

Amoo collected a caution when he fouled Boulding in the 69th minute. Baptiste and Mark Stallard would quickly join him in the referee's notebook. It between, Mullins had curled a shot just wide.

For some strange reason, Lincoln City play the two halves of a match completely differently. Yet again, the second half performance was vastly different to the first, with Mansfield looking by far the better team - although in fairness, Lincoln were 4-1 ahead!

As the game drew to a close, Stallard and Forrester were replaced by Martin Gritton and Ollie Ryan respectively. Both players were on the field to witness Mansfield score their second goal. Having won a 88th minute corner, they were further rewarded for a possible foul by Frecklington on Barker inside the penalty area. Barker placed the penalty past Marriott to put his earlier miss behind him.

The match would end as Mansfield 2 Lincoln City 4. Please click the links to view cheap merchandise for Lincoln City or Mansfield Town football clubs.