Mark Kennedy’s side travelled to the Wham Stadium yesterday and picked up an important three points with an impressive performance, that saw three goals scored for the Imps.
Mark changed the formation back to the back-five system after a disappointing showing against Cambridge last weekend. That change meant Lewis Montsma returned to the side after over a year out from action, the Dutch defender slotted in on the right and partnered Adam Jackson and, for the first time, Paudie O’Connor. Sean Roughan and Regan Poole kept their places in the side too as the attack-minded wing-backs. There was a debut in midfield for the new man Ethan Erhahon alongside Ted Bishop. Danny Mandroiu dropped out of the front three with the change in formation so we saw Jack Diamond, Ben House and Mide Shodipo line up in attack.
We got everything yesterday that we have been wanting for weeks. We got a complete team performance that was full of passion, commitment and skill. Last weekend we saw the opposite of that, and we have to praise Mark before any of the players because he has been put under a lot of pressure lately and he has turned it around and delivered yesterday. Sack culture is certainly a thing these days, so it is easy to say ‘MK Out’ when we are losing games but we are making progress and this is a long-term project, we will have days like Cambridge but on the flip side we will have days like yesterday too.
We started the game on the front foot, something we’ve struggled to do recently, and had two good chances early on with Bishop and House forcing Toby Savin into early saves. The chances kept coming for City, a good delivery from Erhahon from a corner saw the ball flash past the far post, with Jackson and Montsma looking to get on the end of it. We did finally get our reward for our hard work though. It all started with Erhahon in the middle of the park, who broke up play and released the ball to Bishop, who played a stunning pass into House after breaking forward. House still had a lot to do with the finish, but he executed it perfectly to give City a one-goal lead.
We should have had another first half too, and it should have been Shodipo’s first goal in red and white. Bishop was at the centre of our attacking play again and played a neat ball through the lines to put Shodipo through on goal. The latter took a nice touch but his attempt at goal was straight at Savin in the Accrington net. Stanley failed to really threaten the Imps, maybe except a potential penalty shout, which was waved away by the referee. We went into the break with a goal lead, the only negative was the we had only scored one.
The midfield were the real first-half heroes. Erhahon is everything we have been missing since Matty Virtue got injured and even before he got injured too. When he arrived I was excited by the signing but I am a very optimistic person so I’ll hype up any new signings we make anyway, but after yesterday I think he can be an incredible player for this football club. I’m not getting carried away but he makes the basics of being a midfielder look easy. He can break out from defence on the ball, he can break up play, he can play five-yard passes and thirty-five-yard passes. The easiest way to describe him is a mixture of Jorge Grant and Liam Bridcutt. He has the on-the-ball ability, the passing range of Jorge and the defensive abilities of Liam. On top of all of that, he looks like a real leader too, he might only be young but he was pointing, shouting and commanding his teammates all game, he certainly looks like a future captain.
I’m not going to let Bishop’s performance go under the radar either. I think he was helped by the presence of Erhahon behind him, which gave him more license to go forward but that is the best performance we have seen by him in a long time. His pass and run for the first goal was for me the moment of the match and he did it again with that pass to Shodipo but the latter failed to convert. If that midfield duo can keep up their form, I think Lasse Sorensen and Max Sanders will find it difficult to return to the side.
We started quickly in the second half and we certainly got our rewards for it. A neat piece of play saw Poole take an effort on the edge of the area. His effort was deflected high into the Stanley area and of all people, Roughan was quickest to react in the six-yard area and hooked the ball into the opposite corner with a striker’s finish. We had the game wrapped up within a few minutes of our second goal as we added a third. City pressed the ball straight from kick-off, and Shodipo won the ball back from the Accrington defender, who later took him down the ground and was given his marching orders by the referee. The foul and red card gave us a set piece on the edge of the Stanley penalty area. Diamond rolled the ball a few yards into the path of Bishop, who placed the ball beautifully into the top corner, which well and truly finished the game off.
The third goal killed the game, and the action from then on was limited. Charles Vernam got some minutes and actually impressed me. He looked to be on his way out earlier in the transfer window but he has remained with the club and can hopefully provide some competition for the second half of the campaign. My problem with Vernam is his end product, he made so many good runs down the wing yesterday and got himself into a good area multiple times, but it’s always that final pass or shot that is wrong. I think that his final decision-making is the difference between him being a League Two player and a League One player. Luke Plange also got a small cameo too, there wasn’t really much to judge him on, but he looked comfortable on the ball and made some good runs into the channels too.
This win could really put us back on track and hopefully, we can make it the start of a run for us. We have Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers next, which will be interesting, to say the least, and then we have two really tough games in Derby away from home and then Portsmouth at home. If we can keep these eleven players fit then we have a really good chance. One final note from this game, I have to say I’m over the moon that Lewis is back in the side, an ACL injury is one of the worst you can have in football, so to see him back on the pitch and for him to play ninety minutes it’s great to see. Hopefully, he can push on now and become as important to us as he was before the injury.
I’d also like to wish Doug Tharme well after his injury yesterday, it isn’t nice to see a head injury like that on a football pitch, so personally, I’d like to wish him, his family and the club well.