Proud Night at the Bank – Imps 0-1 West Ham

The Imps battled away last night with Premier League side West Ham, leaving everyone proud despite the final result.

Mark Kennedy made two changes to the side that narrowly lost at Fratton Road. Lukas Jensen retained his place in goal in the Carabao Cup – leaving Jordan Wright on the bench – after winning the Player of the Round after our win against Sheffield United. Alex Mitchell came into the back three replacing Adam Jackson, while Paudie O’Connor and Sean Roughan kept their places. Lasse Sorensen and Jack Burroughs started as the wing-backs, with Ethan Hamilton and Ethan Erhahon in midfield. The second change came in attack, Ali Smith came back into the side, replacing Ted Bishop. Reeco Hackett started on the right hand side, while Hakeeb Adelakun made his third consecutive start.

We could only name 7 substitutes, despite being allowed to name 9 by in the competition rules. As well as Wright, we had Jaden Brown, Adam Jackson, TJ Eyoma, Ted Bishop, Dylan Duffy and Jovon Makama to impact the game from the bench.

West Ham put out a strong team – despite leaving the likes of James Ward-Prowse and Jarrod Bowen at home. Lukasz Fabianski started in goal for the Irons, with an experienced and youthful mix in the back four. Thilo Kehrer started for PSG against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final not too long ago, but yesterday evening he started at right-back at Sincil Bank. Angel Ogbonna, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Ben Johnson rounded out the defence. Tomas Soucek retained his place in David Moyes’ side that started a 3-1 loss to Liverpool at the weekend. Pablo Fornals and Mohammed Kudus also started in midfield. It was a rotated yet impressive front three for the Irons, with Said Benrahama and Max Cornet attempting to provide Danny Ings up front.

The game got underway and although it was clear West Ham had quality, we were up for it and we were giving the visitors problems. The first half chance of the game went to the Imps, Mavropanos’ defensive header dropped to O’Connor, but his powerful volley sailed over the crossbar. A lapse in concentration saw West Ham have a massive chance to go into the lead, Roughan slipped inside his own half, presenting Cornet with an excellent chance to get down the right wing. The former Burnley man probably made the wrong decision and the opportunity was squandered.

I have to talk about Adelakun again. His redemption story is so special, and one that I still can’t quite believe. In pre-season, he couldn’t even get a kick and here we are now watching put absolutely everything into a Carabao Cup tie against the current Conference League Champions. Whether he has a long term future at the club once our injured players return I don’t know but if last night is anything to go by, he certainly deserves a chance to turn his City career around.

Some in the stadium had thought we’d taken the lead through an Alex Mitchell goal. It was written in the stars – Millwall centre half scoring against West Ham to potentially knock them out of the cup – what a story that would’ve been. Unfortunately, our moment was taken with the goal being ruled offside. I’m not disputing it was offside, but it was a split second piece of joy for the Imps.

The final fifteen minutes of the half saw us take control of the game in many ways. The next big chance fell to us and we really should’ve been in the lead. A delicious ball from Smith on the left-hand side was perfect and found the head of Hackett, the former Pompey man connected with it perfectly but an incredible save from Fabianski kept it out the net. That felt like the moment, but some heroics from an excellent goalkeeper kept it out. I also have to credit Adelakun’s long throw for the goal Ings had West Ham’s biggest chance of the first half – perhaps even the game. The former Southampton man let the City defence off the hook and completely missed the target from close range. Everyone impressed me at both ends, but Hamilton in particular was incredible. He seemed to be covering every blade of grass and was influential for us at both ends.

Half-time. 0-0. That’s what we would’ve aimed for but I couldn’t help and wonder if we’d regret not taking the chances we had. When you consider the fact West Ham had over £170 million in their starting lineup and we had the better chances in the first-half, you could have argued we deserved to be in the lead.

The second half made me realise how much I now respect David Moyes. He showed us the upmost respect with the way they went about the game, they were disciplined. They obviously wanted to win, but they went about that with respect.

We didn’t have too much of the attacking play in the second half, and you could see that we were starting to fatigue somewhat. We were camped back in our own half but I never felt threatened by the Hammers. Sorensen and Burroughs were doing really well defensively, dealing with Benrahma and Cornet respectively, and they didn’t have any real chances of note. Set pieces have been our downfall this season some could say, and against a real physical side such as West Ham, I felt nervous it could be our undoing.

Unfortunately my set piece fears came alive. Benrahma whipped a low ball into the box and it was bundled in by Soucek. It wasn’t the sort of goal you’d want to concede, and certainly not the sort of goal you’d want to lose to, especially after how much effort we’d put into the game. No matter what happened, we’d done ourselves proud and I think everyone thought the same.

We tried to react after conceding and I always thought we had a goal in us. It was clear we fatigued and Mark looked to the bench to add some energy. Duffy, Makama and Bishop entered the pitch replacing Adelakun, Hackett and Smith. They did exactly what Mark wanted them to do and we had some new found youthful energy on the pitch. Duffy nearly found himself on newspaper headlines across the country. The young Irishman found some space on the edge of the box and unleashed a powerful strike but once again an excellent save from Fabianski kept the ball out of the net.

I feel like I’d be repeating what everyone else has already said on Twitter but I was so proud after the final whistle, although I only had time to recognise that feeling once I left the ground after 11pm. The players deserved the chance to get the game to penalties and potentially have the chance to play Arsenal at Sincil Bank. The result was gutting, but the performance was one to remember and be proud of. The players gave everything they had last night and we couldn’t have asked for more.

We go again on Saturday. Up the Imps.

Referee: Josh Smith  

Assistant Referees: Edward Smart and Nick Greenhalgh 

Fourth Official: Leigh Doughty 

AllLincoln MOTM: Ethan Hamilton