City put the disappointment of losing a two goal lead on Tuesday night behind them, and bounced back with a smash and grab three points against Shrewsbury Town.
Mark Kennedy made a few changes to the side. Lukas Jensen kept his place in goal but there was a change in the back three in front of him. Sean Roughan and Paudie O’Connor retained their places in the team, while Adam Jackson replaced TJ Eyoma, who missed out on the matchday squad completely, with new signing Alex Mitchell starting on the bench. It’s a shame for TJ – I think he’s had a good start to the season, but with the competition for places, you have to be on top of your game. Unfortunately for TJ, he missed out today but he’ll get his chances later down the line.
Jaden Brown dropped to the bench, with Lasse Sorensen returning to the side. That change moved Jack Burroughs out to the left, with Lasse returning to his right wing-back role. Ethan Hamilton and Ethan Erhahon started as the double pivot, with fellow midfielders Ali Smith and Ted Bishop on the bench. Reeco Hackett and Danny Mandroiu began the afternoon out wide and Tyler Walker came into the side replacing Ben House.
The change up front was interesting. It was the right move in my opinion by Mark. Ben didn’t look his usual self on Tuesday, and we still need to get as many minutes into Tyler’s legs as possible to get him fully fit and sharp. I think the plan would have been to play over the top and get Tyler in behind but the conditions weren’t in our favour and the all we could do for long periods of the first half was try and get the ball in the air to Tyler, which didn’t suit him at all.
At least I hope that was the case. If we want Tyler to perform, we need to play to his strengths. I’ve seen people saying that he hasn’t put the effort in but personally I don’t see why some have said that. We have been spoilt by Ben’s workrate and pressing ability, not every striker can do that, and if something was wrong with Tyler’s effort, he wouldn’t be getting picked. What he may lack in pressing compared to Ben, he gains back in goalscoring. If we make the chances for Tyler, he scores, it’s that simple. Let’s not get on his back this soon. I’m certain he’ll come good, and there were signs of that when he came on against Wycombe last weekend.
We struggled with the conditions in the first half. It’s not an excuse but you could visibly see it. It caused us a few problems with defending set-pieces. Jensen came to claim a few but failed to do so with the wind moving the ball and a few goal kicks went straight out of play. Shrewsbury were the better side in the first 45 minutes but they weren’t that impressive, they didn’t move the ball well and bar a few chances, they failed to give Jensen anything to do in the City net.
It felt like a 22/23 performance in the first half. We sat back and defended our goal, but the keeper had nothing to do. So many times last season, we heard Mark come out post-match and say Carl Rushworth had little to do and it was the same for Jensen in the first half. He made one good save and claimed a few crosses but there wasn’t much to worry City’s summer recruit.
Without a doubt, the first 45 minutes were quite challenging to endure. I wouldn’t categorise our performance as ‘terrible,’ because that would be an exaggeration, and had we truly been that bad, we would have gone in at the break with a few goals conceded. It was more a case of us being off our game; it felt like a lingering effect from Tuesday, although having experienced the atmosphere around the squad at a personal level, I don’t think that would be the case. We were facing an organised and well drilled yet not overly impressive side, and dealing with the strong wind against us.
Coming into half-time, it seemed like we were barely holding on. Shrewsbury had managed one shot on target, while we hadn’t mustered any, but they had taken eight attempts at goal, although many didn’t challenge Jensen in goal. The weather conditions didn’t offer any favours, and Walker appeared isolated up front, making it difficult for us to string four or five passes together.
No changes came in the second half and it almost continued like the first. Shrewsbury looked slightly better than us and had more of the ball but they weren’t working Jensen in the City goal. Their first chance of the half came following a set piece situation but Jensen easily caught the ball with a single hand in the City net. We were coping better with the weather conditions and looked to venture forward on occasion. Our first chance of the half came via Hamilton, the midfielder unleashed a strike from long range, forcing the save from Marko Marosi.
In the 60th minute, City made a couple of changes. Our squad has considerable depth this year, with multiple options to use from the bench, while the hosts lacked the same advantage. Their activity in the transfer window started late, and it appears they have limited options in terms of substitutions. It is nice though to have that capability, there was so many times last season when we couldn’t change a game from our bench and we’d have to settle for a point rather than all three, but this year seems different. Bishop, who played a pivotal role in changing the game last week, came on for Mandroiu, and House swapped positions with Walker. Similar to a week ago when we were locked in a 0-0 draw against Wycombe, we introduced several changes that once again had transformed the match.
A word on Mandroiu. He’s been carrying a toe injury this week and for the Shrewsbury medical team to agree to giving him an injection is a massive credit to their club. To allow us to have one of our best players on the pitch is a really nice gesture and one they didn’t have to do. Many teams in the division wouldn’t have done that yesterday.
Once the changes came on we looked better; we looked like we might get something from the game. Me and Mark have something in common, we both rate Ted extremely highly. I’ve written so many times how I think Ted is one of the best players in the league on his day, and yesterday he showed why myself, Mark and many others believe that. He took the game by the scruff of the neck and wanted to win us the game, and his influence did exactly that.
We could have taken the lead in the 70th minute, Ben pressed an opposition defender into a mistake and stole the ball back on the byline. He pulled it back to Lasse in the area but the Dane’s chance was saved by Marosi in the Shrewsbury net. A word on Lasse, he’s been so impressive at right wing-back this season and that change in position has turned his City career around. Everything positive that came from City, Lasse was involved in. When I come round to awarding the AllLincoln POTS, it will be a tough choice but I imagine Lasse will be right up there in the running.
Lasse was involved in the goal too. Hamilton was about to be taken off for Smith, but he managed to pop up with his first goal for City. We were putting the pressure on Shrewsbury and constantly loading the ball into the box. A blocked effort from the skipper fell to Lasse, who played in Hamilton. The Scotsman turned and fired his effort low into the bottom corner. We were leading a game that was most likely destined to finish 0-0, so it had to be three points coming back to Lincolnshire.
We looked comfortable in the final ten minutes and stoppage time. Shrewsbury’s lack of depth didn’t let them put the pressure on like we had seen Northampton do on Tuesday night. I think everyone was nervous watching after what happened on Tuesday, but we managed the game well and secured all three points in a game where we weren’t at our best, that’s a massive positive. Good teams win in difficult situations. Ipswich and Plymouth did it multiple times last season, we did it in 20/21. It’s the formula to success. The best example is a Jose Mourinho Chelsea side, they picked up points in really tough situations and that was the foundation of their success.
That win means we have 7 points from 12 in the league, which puts us 8th. It’s early days but there are certainly good signs from the opening few weeks to get excited about and once this team has had a few more weeks to gel I think we’ll be an extremely good side. Blackpool will be a tough test next weekend, having not conceded a league goal yet, but we have a week off to prepare and hopefully get our second home win on the season!
AllLincoln MOTM: Ted Bishop