City stop the rot. Would you believe it?

 

After the last two defeats I posed the question, have the wheels fallen off the Lincoln Loco? Saturdays result, more to the point, Saturdays performance would seem to suggest no. Just as it takes more than a couple of defeats to end a promotion push and for that matter a couple of wins to make a bid for better things, to quote a well worn cliché, it’s a marathon not a sprint.

Of course, just as there are those for whom the slightest drop in form or missed pass signifies certain disaster there are those eternal optimists who believe continued cheerleading will overcome every setback and the extension of the Selenity stand will miraculously give us a stadium fit for the championship. Fortunately our board of management are of the view that club should always seek to move forward or, as with riding a bike, if you stop pedalling you will eventually fall off.

After Saturday I’m certainly more optimistic of City’s chances. Squad members being unavailable are, well, unavoidable, the Imps run a small squad, that increases the pressure. The biggest minus, unless there is some good news to follow, is the injury Jorge Grant is suffering. He didn’t convince me that he would be back before the end of the season. I hope I’m wrong.

On the other hand, certain players are really coming good. McGrandles, Hopper and Edun continue to excel. Palmer was more assured as was Montsma and there was further good news. Morton is back and showing every likelihood of a really strong and effective end to the season, Poole continues to impress and Bramall has overcome that iffy start to show us why the manager put his faith in him.

I could go on, players are coming back, improving and putting in some sparkling displays. What a difference a week makes. When you add in the return of Bridcutt, surely not all that far away, in fact all the walking wounded with the exception of Grant and, sadly Harry Anderson who limped away from the warm up, you have to be optimistic about the run in. I firmly believe a fully fit squad will be the match for any of the teams in this division. Even without the three I’ve mentioned it’s a good outfit.

I suppose I’d better mention Saturday’s game and I thought it was a good win insofar as they’re all good but against a solid team like Crewe, with a savvy, experienced manager and a decent league position, for a newly promoted club it was a good one to win. I have to admit that the fixture said continuation of the run of poor results to me before the game but City were having none of it. I suppose if you watched the game again, which I haven’t, you’d get the impression of a very good top of the table side dismissing a mid table hopeful.

That’s what it was of course but it was a world away from the capitulations we’ve seen lately and even before that there were signs that a blip was on the way. There will be no sterner test of whether the promotion bid is back on track than tomorrow and yet for some reason I seem to have regained some of my confidence.