I put Ansah in for Russell on the left wing, and Atkinson replaced the injured Christophe—things went as planned with team selection, for a change.
Stockport play a 3-5-2 with an attacking midfielder. This presented us with a new challenge—how to keep the opposition from killing us through the middle, due to sheer weight of numbers if nothing else, while we destroy them on the wings. I told my boys to focus their passing out wide—I wanted them to get in behind the Stockport defence.
Barnes-Homer nearly got us off to a flyer, with a powerful run and shot on five minutes. Then Koroma used his pace to beat the Stockport keeper to a long pass from Power. Once the young striker went round Locke, he had the goal at his mercy. We were up one-nil after eight minutes.
Bore played Koroma down the right wing a minute later, and the striker's cross was scrambled away just shy of Barnes-Homer's boot. Koroma was running wild, popping up everywhere on the right side of the field. He won the ball and queued up Shuker in the 18th minute with a chance from up close at a tight angle, but the winger's shot was blocked.
Power's passing consistently found the gaps, but Stockport did better to recover. Then they equalised in the 27th minute. McConville, the spare man in central midfield who had tried to sit in the gap between our midfield and defence, got the ball on the edge of the area and played an excellent ball through to Wyke, who was left with a simple finish.
Another barn-storming run from Barnes-Homer caused chaos on 29 minutes, leading to a loose ball that Ansah tried to snap up. But the young forward was pushed, and controversy reared its ugly head. No penalty, said the referee. I worried about the impact it would have on the game—my players were furious. If they lost their focus on the game, we could find ourselves a goal down—not just short of a penalty.
Ansah went close with an individual effort from the resulting throw in, then Stockport threatened on the break. Wyke was causing all sorts of problems. Back at the other end, Barnes-Homer had a great chance after he'd beaten his man, but his shot was too close to the keeper.
Marques won the ball with an excellent tackle on the stroke of half-time, then sent the ball forward. We attacked fast, pouring players forward. By the time the ball reached Ansah, we had four players in the box. Ansah's cross need not have been a good one, with five of our players challenging against just two Stockport defenders. But the youngster sent an inch-perfect ball to Koroma, who tapped it home.
I sent the boys out with a slightly different strategy for the second half. We had the lead, and I wanted to protect it, so I instructed them to play a possession-focused counter-attacking game—hit Stockport with a rapid turnover when they send men forward; keep the ball when they don't.
I dragged Chris Shuker, who'd been poor, on 52 minutes—Russell his replacement. Ansah's shot on 60 minutes was parried away. The on-loan forward should have done better. Then Nutter made way for Park in the 62nd minute.
Holden went close for Stockport on 64 minutes, then Sheridan did well to break up our counter attack from the resulting corner. Russell was awfully unlucky not to score a minute later when he struck a vicious effort goalward. Stockport looked to be struggling with the speed of our attack.
Russell set up Ansah with a floated cross on 68 minutes, but the youngster was wasteful again. Then Barnes-Homer and Koroma combined to send Ansah into space on the left wing. Ansah drew the defender to him before releasing Park, whose cross was aimed low and hard towards Koroma. Stockport double-teamed Koroma, but left Russell unmarked on the far post. The ball spilled right to Russell's feet, and the winger made no mistake—scoring his first goal in a Lincoln shirt.
I took the two-goal cushion as the signal that I could withdraw Power, who I wanted to save for the next match on the weekend. Conal Platt took his place in the 71st minute.
A Marques clearance on 75 minutes put Koroma in behind the Stockport defence, but the striker's finish was lacking. I hoped he would get another chance to complete the hattrick he so deserved.
Ansah had yet another chance to get his first goal on 80 minutes, but his shot went into the side-netting when it was easier to score.
Bore was cautioned for an unnecessary foul with eight minutes left on the clock. Stockport appeared to have no ideas left.
We won 3-1, despite not being awarded a crucial penalty. Koroma and Power were brilliant. I think it's telling that we had 21 shots and a whopping seven clear-cut chances, where Stockport had just six and one, respectively.
We climb to 2nd in the league, two points clear of Wrexham and five points behind Mansfield after ten games.
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