Insipid Imps Drowned – and Out!
Sincil Bank is not a Happy Hunting Ground for Morecambe FC. They have won at this venue only once in their twelve previous meetings with Lincoln City here. That was thirteen years ago in League Two. This happened in a season when the Shrimps enjoyed their only double over the Imps ever. Since then, the best they have managed is a single draw on City’s own patch. All of their last four visits have ended in defeat, most recently a double loss in a few days as they were beaten in both the EFL Trophy and League One twelve months ago. The only other time they have faced Lincoln in the FA Cup was here in 1976 when, as a non-League club, Morecambe were defeated by the only goal of the game. Altogether, the Shrimps have lost ten of nineteen matches against the Imps and won only four. So for Derek Adams’ men to get anything at all from a League One side here today, they would have to turn the historical form table on its head for a start.
Having said all that, Lincoln are far from being unbeatable this season. Mark Kennedy was sacked as their Manager two weeks ago. Unusually, Chief Executive Liam Scully told the media that poor results were not the reason for the change. He said that the decision was partly influenced by Mr Kennedy’s public criticism of one of his own players, who was sent-off in a league game at Burton Albion. He said:
“Certainly, it was not purely a results-based decision. Of course we are ambitious and our aim is to be higher in the table at this moment in time, but it is very early on in the season and there are lots of mitigating factors. I don’t think it was helpful in terms of (his) characterisation of Danny Mandroiu after the game. Is that part of it? Yes. Is that the reason? No.”
Well that’s cleared that up then, hasn’t it? Whatever, Mark Kennedy’s interim replacement is former Chester FC Player/Assistant Manager Tom Shaw. His reign started well with wins home and away over Charlton and Fleetwood but since then his side have drawn at Exeter before losing at home 0-2 last Saturday. On that occasion, ex-Burnley goalkeeper Lukas Jensen embarrassed himself with a total howler as he managed to bundle a routine shot into his own net to give Oxford United their second goal. Today, City were ninth in the League One table; thirteen points adrift of leaders Portsmouth. Their temporary boss had this to say about the fixture prior to the match:
“This club has had brilliant FA Cup success in recent times. It’s a brilliant competition and our players know what it’s all about. We are absolutely motivated to try and go as far as we can in the cup competitions. We are excited about this fixture and we know Morecambe are a good side who are going well in their division. We really want to get after them with the football. The confidence and bravery the lads have shown in the last four fixtures with the ball is really pleasing for me. The challenge in the first morning with the group was trying to shift the mindset and gain a bit of confidence over time, so fair play to them because they’ve done really well with it. We want to excite people and try to get them right behind us. There’s potential for it to be a really good day at the LNER Stadium on Saturday.”
For the visitors, the general optimism which greeted a run of eight unbeaten games dissipated somewhat on Halloween, with a truly feeble display at Barrow which led to a loss by the only goal of a very poor quality match. Was it just a glitch, which – as King Derek was quick to point out afterwards, `sometimes happens’? Perhaps today’s clash would tell us…
Prior to departing for Lincolnshire on Friday afternoon, Mr Adams told the media:
“We go to Lincoln, a very difficult team to play against. They’re a League One side. They’ve got an interim Manager in charge. But they’ve still kept the same philosophy as the previous Manager. I don’t see too much difference: their results have been good. They are a well-run football club. They get a great crowd – vocal; (they) still play the sirens when they get a corner kick. It’s always nice to be in the FA Cup: it’s the best tournament in the world. We’re looking forward to it. It’s a cup that we’ve done well in in the past. Hopefully, we get another glamour tie again. You’ve got the opportunity of playing a Tottenham or a Chelsea as the football club have done in the past and that can only help financially. We all know how much money we made from both these ties in the past and we will try and do that again. Any extra money that we can get in, we can re-distribute that in the right way.”
Derek also confirmed that goalkeeper Stuart Moore has had a successful operation this week but will be out for `fourteen to sixteen weeks’ recuperating. Today, he shook-up the starting line-up from the eleven who began the game at Barrer. Farrend Rawson, Yann Songo’o and Jacob Davenport were all relegated to the bench and Adam Mayor, James Connolly and Eli King replaced them.
It was dull, cold and really wet – with almost horizontal rain sweeping across the pitch – as the match kicked-off. Morecambe edged the possession in the opening few minutes of the game but the Imps’ Lasse Sørensen took the first shot in anger after six minutes, latching-on to a defence-splitting long pass from Daniel Mândroiu. Adam Mayor did well to block his attempt for a corner which came to nothing. With eleven minutes played, Morecambe won their own first corner of the game, when Jack Burroughs blocked Tom Bloxham’s attempted cross from the Shrimps’ right flank. David Tutonda tried his luck with a shot from distance from this but didn’t trouble Lukas Jensen in the home goal. Eli King was then caught in possession with fourteen minutes played. Mândroiu took the ball forward and set-up Sørensen to effectively slide in to hit the ball against the underside of the Morecambe bar only to bounce back over the line. It was a poor goal to concede and three minutes later, Ethan Hamilton attempted to add to City’s lead with a shot which went wide of Adam Smith’s goal. Then Tutonda followed King into the Referee’s notebook as he pulled-back scorer Sørensen in the twenty-second minute just outside the away penalty area to the left of the `D’. Mândroiu took the free-kick and forced Smith to have to make a good save low to his left. The Imps were making all the running at this point and Morecambe were struggling to string anything positive together. Alistair Smith took a shot which missed after 26 minutes and then Lincoln squandered another excellent opportunity a few minutes later. Burroughs slipped the ball into the path of Hakeeb Alelakun, who in turn set-up Hamilton, who was unable to control the ball in the sopping wetness and the chance was lost. The home side were still asking all the questions but – out of nothing – Morecambe were level after forty-three minutes. Burroughs conceded a corner; Mayor took it from the Shrimps’ right to the far post – and there was James Connolly to head the ball back towards leading scorer Michael Mellon, who helped the ball over the line from very close in. The home crowd – virtually silent until this point – became instantly even more quiet. The visitors almost immediately drew a save from the home keeper as Jordan Slew tried his luck in injury time but the two teams trudged back to the Dressing Rooms through the incessant rain all-square. For Morecambe, a poor initial display was finally rewarded from their first attempt on goal. Lincoln had been the better, more creative side but not by a lot. So it was all to play for during the second half.
As news came through that Barrow had already won 1-3 at League One Northampton, Donald Love replaced the yellow-carded Tutonda at the start of the second half. Morecambe forced their first corner of the re-start after two and a half minutes but Lincoln managed to clear it. Slew then hit the post with a cushioned shot with 51 minutes played as Jensen was a mere bystander. Bloxham drifted in from the right hand side after 53 minutes, latched onto a perfect pass from King and took the ball around the goalkeeper to score his first ever goal for the Shrimps. It was a cracker. As the home crowd grew restive, Lincoln were suddenly offering very little offensively. Sørensen missed with a weak header with almost an hour on the clock. Then Mayor had a piledriver blocked at the other end a few minutes later. Sørensen then slung a dangerous cross across the away penalty area in the sixty-third minute but there was nobody there in a stripy red strip to connect with it. Straight after that, Slew was off again up the left wing and put over a cross which Bloxham walloped past Jensen only for Adam Jackson to miraculously clear it off the Imps’ goal-line. As if it wasn’t already wet enough, all four sprinklers suddenly came on during the seventy-second minute. This produced the loudest reaction from the unhappy natives during the second period so far but Bloxham soon quietened them again in the seventy-fifth minute as he received a pass from JJ McKiernan before unleashing a thunderbolt of a shot which was again blocked. The rain was still pouring down as Hamilton took a run and then shot over the angle of post and bar with ten minutes scheduled to play. The hosts came closer with eighty-four minutes on the clock as Jacob Bedeau did really well to block a Sørensen effort for a corner. From this – with Smith floundering in the away goal – Jackson headed the ball smack against the post only to see it bounce harmlessly away into the wetness. Then Mellon showed some fancy footwork and unleashed a tremendous shot which only just missed the target in the eighty-seventh minute. Referee Martin Coy added-on seven minutes extra time and early during this the Stadium announcer gave details of the home Man of the Match to a noticeable complete lack of reaction from the Imps’ stalwarts as the rain still hammered down. Max Melbourne came on for a late cameo against his former employers but Lincoln were unable to fashion a good enough chance to force the game to a replay and Morecambe finished on top, with Mayor forcing a good save from Jensen at the cost of a corner right at the death.
So Morecambe came from behind to beat a supposedly superior club by the odd goal in three. In doing so, they shook-off the Barrow Blues and also got a monkey off their back following a succession of defeats at Sincil Bank in recent times. It was a well-worked victory after a slow start by the visitors and they can look forward to going into the hat for the second round draw tomorrow at 2.30pm. This is what Derek Adams made of it all:
“It’s all about the giant killers. And we’ve come here today and we’re the giant killers. Lincoln City are a big player in League One and we’ve come here on their own patch to win 2-1 today again. It’s great for the supporters. On a terrible day with conditions, so safe travels back to them. We’re into the draw tomorrow at half past two.”
Lincoln City: 1 Lukas Jensen; 2 Lasse Sørensen (Y); 5 Adam Jackson; 6 Ethan Erhahon; 8 Alistair Smith (17 Dylan Duffy 71’); 14 Daniel Mândroiu; 11 Ethan Hamilton (Y); 15 Paudie O’Connor (C); 16 Jack Burroughs; 21 Hakeeb Alelakun (29 Jack Vale 66’); 22 Timothy Eyoma (Y) (27 Jovon Makuma 85’).
Substitutes not used: 12 Jordan Wright; 3 Jaden Brown; 25 Alex Mitchell; 30 Olamide Shodipo.
Morecambe: 21 Adam Smith; 3 David Tutonda (Y) (2 Donald Love 45’); 4 Jacob Bedeau (C); 7 Tom Bloxham (6 Yann Songo’o 88’); 8 Eli King (Y); 9 Michael Mellon; 10 JJ McKiernan (Y); 11 Adam Mayor 12 Joel Senior (Y) (23 Max Melbourne 94’); 14 Jordan Slew; 22 James Connolly.
Substitutes not used: 26 George Pedley; 5 Farrend Rawson; 16 Jacob Davenport; 17 Cammy Smith; 19 Ethan Walker; 20 Charlie Brown.
Ref: Martin Coy.
Att: 4,607 (192 from Morecambe.)
As a postscript, Morecambe FC and Barrow FC both published statements on their respective websites after the game at Holker Street last Tuesday night. This is a related article from Wednesday’s Independent:
“Police arrest 70-year-old man after alleged racist abuse during Barrow vs Morecambe
The incident occurred during the League Two match on Tuesday evening
Cumbria Police have arrested a 70-year-old man as Barrow alleged one of their staff members was racially abused during their home game against Morecambe.
Police said they were investigating “an incident of a racially aggravated hate crime” during Barrow’s 1-0 League Two win against Morecambe on Tuesday night at The So Legal Stadium and that the man remains in custody.
Cumbria Constabulary said in a statement: “Police are investigating an incident of a racially aggravated hate crime that occurred during the Barrow AFC v Morecambe FC football match in Barrow (31 October).
“A 70-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated Section 4a Public Order Act and remains in police custody.
“Any hate-related incidents will not be tolerated and will be dealt with robustly.””
I suppose that the identity of this individual will emerge eventually. It hasn’t helped that social media has been rife with speculation – most of it probably totally unfounded – about who the man who has been arrested actually is. It might help if the police were to publicly identify the suspect. But there again, if he’s innocent – mud sticks. Dilemma; dilemma…
