City started a busy Easter Weekend by travelling down to Portsmouth looking to secure League One football for next season. Appleton made two changes to the side that lost to Wigan. Norton-Cuffy and Marquis came into the side for Maguire and Walsh. We lined up with our usual 4-3-3, with Poole back in the centre of defence and Norton-Cuffy at right-back. McGrandles captained the side and played in midfield with Lewis Fiorini and Ted Bishop. John Marquis led the line, with Scully and Cullen either side of him.
As I mentioned earlier, Maguire and Walsh both missed out. It turns out they are both out for the season with injury. I thought we looked much better without Maguire in the side. We had much more speed in our attacks by moving the ball quicker and had a threat on the flanks with more pace. Losing Walsh is a massive loss, but I think he may have now played his last game in a City shirt. He has played twelve games this season, which is simply not enough to command the wage and place in the squad, when we have someone like Sean Roughan. I said the same about Liam Bridcutt last week, we need players who can play at least thirty five games a season.
I thought we started the game better than Pompey. Norton-Cuffy showed what we have been missing since his injury, and he was causing real problems down the right hand side. Fiorini was the best of the bunch in the first-half, and he was causing issues for Morrell in the centre of the field. I think that shows how far Fiorini has come this season. Earlier in the season, our midfield got overran and Fiorini struggled against Morrell but this time he was much better. Despite a tough patch during the middle of the season, Fiorini has been a bright spark in a poor season and will be playing Championship football next season.
Ex-Imp Joe Morrell went off with an injury, which probably helped us, considering the quality he has. Obviously I hope it is not too bad as he is a top player and has a top attitude. We looked confident in the opening 45. Lewis Fiorini had a crack from 45 yards and had the keeper scrambling, and John Marquis had a few hard chances.
The second half couldn’t have started worse for City. A Pompey ball in the area caused problems and Liam Cullen gave away a penalty. It was a penalty, no arguing that, he was going for the ball but he makes contact with the other man rather than the ball, so no complaints from me. Hirst took the penalty for Cowley’s side and tucked it in bottom right, with the ball just going under Jordan Wright.
Jordan Wright made a massive save a few minutes later, which led to a devastating imps counter attack but Liam Cullen’s shot was saved by Manchester City loanee Bazunu. We soon found ourselves two goals down thanks to an excellent free-kick from Jacobs. As much as I hate the opposition scoring, you have to respect that finish, he beats a 6′6 fully stretched Jordan Wright from that far out. You could argue that it was a needless foul by Jackson, but with it being further out than a normal shooting distance free-kick, I think that is an a soulless argument.
We did finally get our goal just a few minutes later through Ted Bishop. Poole played a ball over the top to Norton-Cuffy, who slipped in Bishop, who slotted home. It was actually a really well worked move from us and it just goes to show the sort of football we can play when we are on it. Bishop makes that five for the season, which is certainly not bad for a midfielder turned right-back at some points in the campaign. This season, Bishop has played in seven positions. He has played all three midfield roles (playing as a 4,8 and 10), at right-back and across the front-three (even as a false nine against Oxford in August). I’ve seen Jorge Grant comparisons on Twitter, but we need to remember Grant is a perfect League One midfielder and was the ideal fit for us. Despite it not working out at Peterborough, he was the best midfielder in League One last season, and Bishop is still a work in progress for us.
We showed incredible fight and got ourselves an equaliser through Ben House. The striker came on and grabbed his first goal for City after just twenty four seconds on the pitch. It was a poachers finish, and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t start on Monday. Robson put a quality ball in the for the goal too. I think Robson has had a good return to the side, he may not have the pace of Bramall, but he links up well with Scully and has a quality cross on him too.
House’s goal looked to earn us a point, but Curtis scored it put Pompey ahead after an error from Jordan Wright, but we support him, especially considering the saves he made during the match and since he has come in. He saved a point at Sunderland, and kept the score down yesterday too.
I didn’t feel too down about yesterday, as I thought we played well and we are almost safe. Social media reaction has been positive to the game, as we have seen the boys fight for us and the badge. We looked much better without Maguire in the side, and that is coming from one of the few people that rates him. City play another game on Monday, where we will hopefully secure safety, especially with Fleetwood playing Gillingham.
AllLincoln MOTM is Lewis Fiorini.
I thought I’d add this into this article as you can take what you want from it. The budget issue surrounded both pre-match and post-match. Liam Scully mentioned that we will have a lower budget this season, but what some people have missed is what he actually said and meant. The playing budget for next season will be around the same as it was at the start of last year, but it won’t be as much as January as we went overbudget to strengthen the squad. Please listen to the interview and take your own views rather than listening to other people.