Header photo: Andrew Vaughan/Lincoln City FC
Lincoln City loanee Jay Benn confirmed that his spell with Bohemians has come to an end with a short statement on his Instagram.
Jay joined City from Halifax Town nearly a year ago and despite limited chances, he showed his promising talent when he made his debut for the club in a triumphant three-goal victory against Barnsley in the Papa John’s Trophy. Unfortunately, Jay faced challenges with injuries ever since his debut, resulting in missed chances to appear in cup competitions. Once City had been eliminated from all cup competitions, Jay was unable to earn regular minutes due to the form of more senior professionals in his position, and his injury struggles.
Due to stiff competition in his position, he left on loan to League of Ireland side Bohemians in search of gametime as he looks to work his way into the first team plans for next season. Jay featured nine times for the Irish club, making his debut in a 3-1 over Drogheda United, where he came up against fellow Imps’ Elicha Ahui and Freddie Draper. The full-back was in and out of Declan Devine’s side until recently, but he made three consecutive starts towards the end of his loan spell.
Jay has now confirmed that he is returning to the Imps after a statement on his Instagram, that read “@bfcdublin [Bohemians] it was an absolute pleasure.”
This news means that the full-back will be back at Sincil Bank to fight for his place in pre-season and going into next season. With Regan Poole departing recently, the summer gives Jay the perfect chance to stake a claim with Lasse Sorensen being the only real option in the wing-back position, along with TJ Eyoma, but he has played the majority of his football under Mark Kennedy in central defence. The futures of Ahui and Draper remain unknown, with the Drogheda manager fighting to keep the pair at the club, but the final decision remains with City as it did with Sean Roughan and Sam Long this time last year.
Jay has done well when he has played over in Ireland, but he maybe hasn’t got the gametime he would have wanted on his loan spell. That said though, he has gained some experience that he can hopefully bring back to England, which will help him fight for his place in pre-season, and on top of that unless Ahui comes back, Jay will be the only ‘natural’ wing-back at our disposal going into pre-season as it stands. It’s good to have Jay back and hopefully he can kick start his City career this season.