The Imps lost a 2-0 lead yesterday away from home and went away eventual 3-2 losers at Morecambe, who gave themselves a big boost in their search to secure League One football next season.
Mark Kennedy made three changes to the Imps’ lineup that played against Burton Albion on Tuesday night. Adam Jackson missed out again and was replaced by Sean Roughan in the back three. Max Sanders was replaced in midfield by Matty Virtue and Danny Mandroiu replaced fellow Irishman Dylan Duffy in attack.
We started fairly well, as did both teams. Morecambe weren’t looking for a point as they might have done a few months ago, they wanted all three, and that made it quite a fascinating prospect of a game. We looked like we had more quality in the opening stages. Lasse Sorensen and Mide Shodipo were linking up well on the right and were causing quite a few problems for ex-Imp Max Melbourne. We played some good football in the opening stages, but the first real effort of note was the one that sent us into the lead.
Some nice play from Ethan Erhahon saw the midfielder pick out Lasse on the right-hand side, and the Dane executed his effort perfectly into the left side of the goal. The Imps took the lead and it was another goal for Lasse, which saw his name chanted all over the away end.
When the ball was on the floor, we looked good. As well as causing Melbourne problems on the left, Harry Boyes was impressing once again on the left and linking up with Sean Roughan and Danny Mandroiu. I think everyone felt a second goal would finish the game off, but we couldn’t quite get that in the first half, and we went into the break with just a one-goal lead.
Some Imps fans hadn’t even got back to their seats by the time we scored our second goal. Shodipo did really well on the left and showed something we have missed for large parts of the season, a real piece of wing play from a natural wide player, he showed some patience before picking a nice pass to the edge of the area. Matty Virtue took on the strike and tucked it into the bottom left corner. What I want to point is Mandroiu leaving the ball on the edge and letting it run, that’s a clever piece of play I didn’t notice in real time.
We barely had time to stop celebrating in the away end before Morecambe pulled one back and of course it was Cole Stockton. There was nothing we could have really done about it, while we could have maybe defended a little harder, the finish was excellent and it was a bit of a wonder goal. It was that moment though, for me, that turned the game on its head. If we don’t concede that goal, we win the game either 2-0 or by even more. The stadium erupted, they knew they had a chance and their players reacted to that.
Aas the game progressed from end to end, both teams worked to land the next blow, in recent weeks, we haven’t been as cautious and even with a lead, we didn’t look to sit back. Erhahon started a great play that ended with Sanders connecting with Danny, whose shot skimmed the goalpost. City would soon regret missing this opportunity with Rushworth being beaten by Oumar Niasse’s (Yes, the one Premier Lague Everton bought for 13.5 million pounds) header from a cross, bringing Morecambe level, just seconds after Danny’s opportunity.
However, the outcome of the game was uncertain, and ten minutes after the equaliser, City came dangerously close to taking the lead again. The head of O’Connor met a cross from Roughan, his shot bounced off the crossbar before Poole fired the rebound over.
It was the hosts who broke the tie in the latter moments of an increasingly stalemate-inducing game. Poole was deemed to have fouled an opponent after a City corner, I thought it was a great challenge but we all see things differently from the stands I guess, the foul gave the Shrimps a free kick in the middle of the pitch.
Ash Hunter, who had come on for Dan Crowley, rose to the occasion and gave the home crowd some hope with a cross that looped beautifully straight onto the head of Stockton who managed to get the ball beyond Rushworth into the City goal, to send the home crowd into celebration. That celebration was extended with news getting around the stadium that MK Dons had just lost a 4-1 lead at home to Barnsley, meaning Morecambe were level on points with 20th in the league.
There were positives, Boyes and Shodipo were excellent and I really hope we get to see them in Lincoln City shirts next season. I really like the pair of them, they are hardworking and they are technically brilliant. Boyes is a great wing-back, one that in this system is perfect and he has a good dead-ball delivery too, if we can get him back on loan next season, we’d be very lucky. Mide would also be a great acquisition, I think if we are in for him, he shouldn’t even question the decision. The fans love him already, and he needs a bit of stability in his career, which he can get here (and he also needs to stay so we can keep that chant next season!).
It feels like he doesn’t get mentioned as much nowadays but Erhahon was my MOTM, he goes under the radar but he has changed the course of our season for the better, he was central in the attacking play yesterday but on top of that, he was there defensively multiple times too.
I’m not happy we gave up a 2-0 lead but we see results like this every season. We are better than Morecambe in terms of our squad but they have something to fight for and seeing the celebrations at full-time, you can see how much it means to them at a club. It isn’t an excuse but we didn’t play badly yesterday, I thought we were pretty good for 60 minutes and once the momentum turned we struggled. Morecambe maybe wanted and definitely needed to win the game more than we did. I hope they go and stay up, and hopefully send the franchise down.