City reached the knockout stages of the BSM Trophy on Tuesday night with a convincing win over Notts County.
Interim head coach Tom Shaw named a changed side from Saturday afternoon’s FA Cup first round defeat to Notts County. Jordan Wright came into the side for the first time under Shaw, while TJ Eyoma made his second start in two games alongside Paudie O’Connor and Adam Jackson. Jaden Brown came into the side, with Jack Burroughs on the other side, giving Lasse Sorensen an earned rest. In midfield, Ali Smith started alongside Ethan Erhahon. In the forward line, Jovon Makama and Dylan Duffy started in support of Jack Vale. City named a strong bench, which included youngster Bola Okewoye for the first time.
Notts County named a strong side following their recent FA Cup victory over Crawley, Aidan Stone retained his position in goal. County started with a back four with Lucien Mahovo on the left, Kyle Cameron and Connell Rawlinson in the centre, while Wolves loanee Ollie Tipton started on the right. In midfield, Jim O’Brien played a deep-lying role alongside Sam Austin and Aaron Nemane. Will Randall and Tobi Adebayo operated on the wings to support Macaulay Langstaff up front. Additionally, new signing and ex Watford midfielder Dan Gosling was amongst the substitutes.
City started the game on the front foot, as Makama nearly put the Imps into the lead. Erhahon found the young striker, but a poor touch made it difficult and Stone made the save to keep County level. Luke Williams’ side set up in a similar style to our Carabao Cup tie at Meadow Lane in August, they put an emphasis on keeping the ball, retaining possession and building from the back. The Imps were more than happy to allow County to have possession, with small, controlled bursts of pressure from Vale up front.
City had their breakthrough early in the first half. After another burst of pressure from the City front line, Burroughs found himself bearing down on goal. The Coventry loanee remained calm, and slotted the ball home at the near post past Stone for his first Imps goal. Following the opening goal, the game returned to the same style, with the Imps happy to watch County play the ball rom side-to-side.
Brown created City’s next opportunity with a nice move involving Vale. The wing-back found himself in on goal after a one-two, after reaching the byline he pulled the ball back to Vale, who fired over the bar. Brown, who has not started a League One game since September impressed many last night, and with some better finishing, he could’ve ended the game with an assist or two.
County hardly threatened the Imps’ goal, although they had one big chance at the end of the half. Out of nothing, Austin’s cross found Nemane but his header was cleared off the line by Jackson. That chance ended the half, with the Imps heading into the break with a goal lead and a good chance of reaching the knockout stages of the BSM Trophy.
Ethan Hamilton was introduced at half-time, replacing Erhahon, which was confirmed post-match as a pre-planned change. Duffy was impressing on the left, after earning the opportunity to start and was hurting the County defence, but it was Vale who gave City a two goal advantage mid-way through the second half.
Duffy nicked the ball back from County’s Tipton with a sliding tackle before Blackburn Rovers loanee Vale took control of the ball in the final third. The striker’s bursting run into the box panicked the visitors backline as they all backed away, allowing him to roll the ball into the bottom left corner past Stone.
Mide Shodipo came on with less than 15 minutes to go, replacing Duffy after his man-of-the-match performance. Shodipo looked sharp when he was introduced to action, with a few bursting runs into the box. Burroughs could’ve doubled City’s advantage in the last few minutes but his effort was saved by Stone in the County net.
The game saw City secure their place in the knockout stage of the BSM Trophy, with a few impressive performances against a high flying County side. Goals for Burroughs and Vale will help both players gain confidence in the coming weeks, and crucial minutes for players like Brown and Eyoma may allow them to push for a league starting place, and Duffy’s performance may just force him into the side against Port Vale on Saturday.
The league fixture on Saturday could be Shaw’s last game in charge as the Imps continue their search for a new head coach, and he’ll want to go out in style at Sincil Bank.
