I had this lovely dream last night that I went along to watch the Imps play a not terribly good team at Sincil Bank and, instead of huffing and puffing their way to a draw or defeat a reasonably fit and certainly motivated City team crashed in three good goals and sent the opposition packing and the sparse crowd home celebrating the fact that, whilst 3.0 may have flattered the home team a little nevertheless it was three more points and, lets face it, City have been on the wrong end of such a performance so many times themselves.
Imagine my surprise to open my Sunday paper and find it was not a dream at all, City are becoming like a lot of other teams, working hard and winning home games. That’s two on the trot and furthermore the last ten minutes did not have to be watched with hands over the eyes.
Make no mistake about it. Other clubs seem to be able to survive and even prosper on the sort of gates City get but if home attendances do not improve markedly the whole future of the club is in jeopardy let alone the prospect of getting back into league football in less than a decade. David Holdsworth has come up with a novel (for us) strategy; play well and win home games. I’ve commented before that Holdsworth has an enigmatic way about him which reminds me of previous successful Lincoln City managers and even such luminaries as Mourinho, Clough, Shankly etc. Can you see where my overactive imagination is taking me? Well I’ll stop right there and limit myself to this one achievable objective. If we win the majority of our remaining home games and pick up a few points on the road we’ll be ok. That shows us what a shambles of a season we’ve had so far and I don’t suppose I’m that unusual in now being happy just to have the chance to compete at the same level next season.
Having got all of that out of the way I’ll now admit I really enjoyed yesterday’s game v Ebbsfleet United. For those (many) that didn’t go it was a lot closer than the 3.0 scoreline suggested. Again for those that have stopped going City are not achieving a little more success by going long ball or Beck-esque, we’re not. There is some very good football on offer and there is some pragmatic play too. Holdsworth admitted the players are receiving intensive coaching in two touch football and that showed yesterday, the players frequently bettering their admittedly limited opposition in those close quarters situations that seem to increase the further you go down the league pyramid. At times it’s like watching school football as everyone runs after the ball but at least City are showing an increased ability to get to grips with this standard.
A cracking opener, a 20 yarder from Conal Platt, a volley from Simon Russell and (for once) a very well struck free kick from John Nutter saw City home. The new players are all performing a lot better than the players they have replaced. On this evidence, fears that Tyrone Thompson might not be up to scratch seem to be groundless, apart from the fact that he’s the spitting image of Ali Fuseini.
York away next, which might bring us down to earth with a bump followed by Newport, again away but surely that one is winnable.
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