Anderson conjures up a fairy tale first home game

Here’s a tip for you. If a forthcoming opponent states he knows what to expect from Lincoln City get your 50p on the Imps. If he says they’re going to get the ball on the deck and pass us off the park I’d make it £1.

Danny Cowley probably had that ill judged comment pinned up on the dressing room wall. As it happened it was Swindon who ended up, seven players backed up in their penalty area, watching the Imps pass the ball around in the wide open spaces that constituted midfield. The passing didn’t need to be very good to take advantage of the territory available but in the event it was. Very good indeed.

City were breathtakingly, astonishingly good once they’d got to grips with Swindon’s opening gambit. Can they keep up this tempo, this style, this joi de vivre? If they can they’ll sweep straight to the top of league two and through the league above but I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let’s not forget City were not ever so good last weekend but they certainly were this.

For me, the substitutions told of the difference between the two teams. Swindon, not at all bad but when City were hanging on a bit I thought, have we got anyone on the bench who could change things? We soon found out as Jason Shackell came on, we thought to shore things up a bit. Bozzie moved forward and City looked a totally different prospect. That much talked of proposition of the fresh forward coming on to torment tired defensive legs, this time Matt Green, and what a torment he was, then it was City cruising and, as Swindon retreated ever backward. It was City passing them off the park. Corner flag? I don’t think so. It was then the Imps supporters going through the full repertoire of ole’s and farewells to the rapidly diminishing away support.

Bozzie got man of the match, I’d have given it to Harry Anderson who put in, for me, his best performance in red and white. In fact you could have given it to anyone, there would have been no complaint.

The new players were, in my view, a marked improvement on the departed and that included Luke Waterfall and, yes, even Alex Woodyard. Make no mistake this was the best performance by the Imps in a long time. If they can keep this up we’re in for one hell of a season.