Much Improved City Draw – Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Imps

Mark Kennedy, his backroom staff, the matchday squad and 2,200 Lincoln City fans travelled to Sheffield yesterday hoping that we would bounce back from three defeats in a row against all odds against a side looking to secure automatic promotion in the next few weeks.

Pre-match I spoke about how I would start in a 3-5-2 for this game and Mark followed that exact advice and started with that formation. Carl Rushworth returned to the side after his spell away with the England Under 21 side, as did Sean Roughan, who slotted into the back-three alongside Adam Jackson and Regan Poole. Lasse Sorensen started on the right side of the five-man midfield as a wing-back, with Sheffield United loanee Harry Boyes on the other side. Max Sanders, Matty Virtue and Ted Bishop all started in the midfield with Ben House and Dan Mandroiu together as the front two.

Injuries are seriously hurting us and you can see that from the Imps bench yesterday. Jordan Wright was missing without reason. The most viable option is he is injured and another option is that Mark is prioritising Sam Long because he is younger and we recalled him from his loan at Bromley. We didn’t have a single defensive player available among the substitutes, which was frustrating. TJ Eyoma and Joe Walsh are back in training, but they weren’t fit enough to make the matchday squad, while we also missed Paudie O’Connor to suspension and Lewis Montsma to injury. Mide Shodipo returned to the bench, which is a big boost after another winger’s loan was terminated this week. However, while we get one boost with Mide returning, it’s coupled with yet another injury negative.

Mark announced after the game that Charles Vernam is out for the rest of the season, which is a massive loss for us but also a big shame for him. With the Diamond news, he has a good chance of getting more regular game time but now he won’t have that opportunity. Dylan Duffy and Jovon Makama also made the bench, a big moment for the two young lads, who haven’t had much first-team experience with us yet, at a stadium like Hillsborough.

I’m optimistic but even I couldn’t see us getting a result away at Sheffield Wednesday. The teamsheets confirmed my theory that we weren’t going to get anything either, they have a better team than us, even if we had everyone available but we have players in our side that can battle and we missed some of them yesterday. Ethan Erhahon was only fit enough to start on the bench, meaning we missed our best midfielder against easily the best midfielder in the league, Barry Bannan. Who can I just say is such a good footballer, I don’t like praising opposition and all of that but Bannan is one hell of a player. Championship standard and on his day, he is a better passer of the ball than most in that division.

The atmosphere was good, from both sets of fans that was and the first goal mattered. If they scored first, I thought that the atmosphere would swing their way. That isn’t in any way disrespectful to our fanbase, but we are on a bad run and conceding early always lowers the noise. On their side, they are battling for automatic promotion and had a chance to go top, so a lot was riding on it for them.

Them things did happen when they scored funnily enough. The goal was an annoying one to concede because it’s basic errors that could have been avoided. The long throw was defended but headed out to the wrong area and we fail to deal with the second ball back into the area and Michael Smith beats Rushworth to the ball to head home. At that point, you started to get a feeling it may be a long afternoon.

The players impressed me, the goal didn’t kill us off at all. We struggled for possession after the goal but we didn’t look nailed on to concede the second. If anything their goal brought us into the game. Boyes, who was excellent throughout, started the move for our equaliser. The Sheffield United man picked up the ball on the halfway line and drove forward before hitting a good effort on the edge of the area. David Stockdale was unable to hold on to the strike and spilt the ball straight to the feet of Mandroiu, who tapped in his sixth goal of the season.

From our goal onwards, we looked the more likely. Sanders had a good effort saved and parried once again by Stockdale, but that time we weren’t able to capitalize on it. The Wednesday fans weren’t as loud as they were previously and you can tell they are a team that are losing their composure at the moment, the fanbase is getting nervous and frustrated at the prospect of losing out on automatic promotion and we played on that fact and put them under pressure. I think we went into the half-time break as the better team, which after the first fifteen minutes was certainly an achievement.

We aren’t a bad side. We never have been a bad side. We have been on a poor run and apart from the Peterborough loss, I don’t think some of the reaction has been totally justified. The performances haven’t been awful albeit they haven’t been good but from what I’ve seen people saying, I would have thought we were in the same position as Forest Green. We saw yesterday what we have built our season on. Hard work, defensive solidity, being hard to beat and commitment. It wasn’t the fancy way of drawing yesterday, we didn’t play thrilling attacking football and try to play them at their own game because we would have been battered, we dug in and earnt a point, and for me that is just as satisfying as an attacking game plan.

That being said though, the game was exciting, especially the second half. The second half wasn’t exciting for the usual reasons you might expect. It was a nervous half, but an exciting one. The lads had to dig in and defend the goal for their lives and I thought it was a joy to watch. The back three were excellent. Jackson was faultless, his clearance off the line in the last minute was incredible. I think we all thought it was in but he came out of nowhere to get back and save us a point, simply remarkable. I feel like Poole goes under the radar constantly, I think he has been our best player this season once again. Yes, it’s been closer with a lot more good performances from others but he has been consistent once again, he is always available and he has taken on that captaincy role with such maturity and professionalism. Roughan was also great yesterday too. I think some people forget he is nineteen, it’s just unthinkable. He is nineteen and played in a less familiar position away to an automatic promotion contender and played the game like he had already accumulated up to three hundred senior appearances. Sean won’t be here for long and I have a feeling we will make a decent sum of money for him too, but right now he is crucial for us.

The midfield three were excellent as well. Virtue is starting to get on with his business like he was doing pre-injury and looks to be a crucial part of our midfield engine again. Bishop was once again a massive threat for us and like I said in an article last week, this formation really suits him and he looked really good once again yesterday. Sanders was flawless, and I feel he went under the radar due to the performances of others. I hope we keep him around next season, especially if we stick with the 3-5-2 as he still has the potential to be a big player for us and that showed yesterday.

Despite all the players I’ve mentioned, Harry Boyes was the best player on the pitch. He has struggled to really get going so far this season and hopefully, yesterday can be the start of a really good patch of form for him going towards the end of the season. He will also need a loan spell next season, and why not come back to us like TJ did a few years ago? If he can continue like yesterday, I’m sure many fans will be thinking and asking the same question.

I could go on about individual performances but it would take over the normal sort of wordcount so I didn’t want to go too overboard but on a final point I just want to say that I’m so proud of everyone yesterday, the fans, the players and everything that goes on behind the scenes. Going to Hillsborough and getting a point is something that some of us would have never dreamt of happening. I know we always say it but the rise over the last six or so years is remarkable and to play at venues like that is something special. Now let’s have a good easter, up the imps!