Bath lined up conservatively, with a flat five-man midfield and Jamie Cook as lone striker. I worried about this, because we’ve struggled against crowded midfield’s in the past. But we’ve got Richardson and Woods in the centre now, and we didn’t before, so I hoped they would make the difference.
We opened the scoring in the 19th minute. Olembé and Park linked well on the left wing before the Cameroonian swung a cross towards the near post. Barnes-Homer managed to get his head to the ball, but couldn’t direct it goalwards under attention from Watkins. Paul Stonehouse found himself in the path of Barnes-Homer’s header and snatched wildly in an attempt to clear. The ball bounced off his shin and rolled towards the goal line. Stonehouse panicked and slid in desperately, only succeeding in bundling the ball over the line—right out of his goalkeeper’s grasp.
Bath drew level on 25 minutes. Cook rose unmarked to meet a corner ball from the edge of the six-yard box. His header went in off the underside of the bar.
Smith should have put us back in front on 30 minutes. With a clear shot on goal and plenty of time, he shot straight into the Bath keeper’s gloves from 20 yards out. Back up the other end, Bath went close on the stroke of half time. Only a quick reaction and great diving save from Halstead kept the scores level.
Woods put us ahead in the 48th minute with a brilliant 25-yard strike. It was the central midfielder’s first goal for the club, and it calmed the Lincoln nerves.
We nearly scored a third just a minute later. Smith ran with the ball down the right and chipped into the box from the byline. Barnes-Homer rose well to head goalwards, but his effort went just wide. Not to worry, though, as it took only a further two minutes for Olembé to double the lead.
Woods intercepted a loose ball deep inside opposition territory, then slid a pass sideways to the onrushing Cameroonian winger. Olembé took a touch before rifling a low left-footed shot at the far-bottom corner. Garner dived well to his left, but the strike was too powerful, and it shook the Bath net—to the horror of the home fans behind the goal.
Gowling made it four in the 58th minute, left unmarked on the far post to head across goal and past the hapless Bath keeper.
I took the three-goal lead as an opportunity to rest Olembé, replacing the winger with Russell before the match restarted. Woods was forced off six minutes later with injury, moments before a planned substitution for Power. I had been looking to keep the midfielder fresh for the midweek fixture; with the injury I just prayed he’d not spend much time out.
Laurent replaced Shuker in the 74th minute, and once again looked bright. The Frenchman’s been impressive since returning from a long-term injury; if he keeps this up he’ll be getting a run in the starting lineup before long.
I could not have been much happier with the second half performance. The boys were brilliant, especially Woods, Richardson, and Olembé. My pre-match prediction that Richardson and Woods would be vital in central midfield proved right; they won the ball and controlled the play throughout the final hour (or the middle half hour, for Woods).
The injury verdict on Woods is a dead leg. He’ll be out for a week, which unfortunately means he may miss the next two matches.
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