Chris Shuker may be back in full training following his injury absence, but he wasn’t passed fit to play today. Francis Laurent kept his spot on the right wing in Shuker’s absence, with Benjamin Laurant again confined to the bench. The entire match squad was unchanged from that which slaughtered Gateshead 5-0 last time out.
We came out firing. A through ball from Birchall gave Barnes-Homer a chance from a tight angle. The striker’s shot beat the keeper but rolled just past the other side of the post. Barnes-Homer and Marques both got close shots in over the following five minutes. It was all Lincoln during the opening stages.
Gowling broke the deadlock from an Olembé corner in the 20th minute. The big defender made his finish look easy, even as he muscled off two Tamworth defenders and directed his header clear of the goalkeeper. That’s his ninth goal of the season. Pretty good for a centre half, huh?
Barnes-Homer doubled the lead in the 27th minute with a brilliant strike from the edge of the box. No keeper would have saved the effort, which whistled into the top corner. He looked brimming with confidence out there, much to my delight.
Laurent hit the crossbar in the 31st minute as we continued to assert total dominance. This was the same commandeering style that saw us destroy a strong Gateshead team. I wondered what it could do to a relatively weak Tamworth side.
Koroma had a goal ruled out for offside moments later, then Tamworth finally conjured up an attack of their own. Patterson should have tested Putnins in the Lincoln goal twice before half time, but he squandered both chances.
Woods added our third in the 67th minute. Laurant did well on the right wing and crossed to the near post. A wild attempted clearance bounced off the defender’s shin and into Woods’ head, then past the hapless goalkeeper.
Olembé was stretchered off with an injury mere seconds before a planned substitution. I was not happy. Woods followed on 79 minutes, thanks to a strong (but admittedly fair) slide tackle from Weatherstone, leaving us with ten men on the pitch for the remainder of the game.
The momentum and general flow of play unsurprisingly shifted to Tamworth’s favour after this, and it took good goalkeeping from Elvijs Putnins to keep a clean sheet in the closing stages.
Ben May picked up his first Lincoln goal in stoppage time. Laurant’s right-wing cross caught the wind and swerved goalwards, forcing a difficult save for the Tamworth keeper. The ball landed at May’s feet, and the striker grabbed hold of the chance to open his scoring account.
An excellent performance and a 4-0 win marred by injuries to two of my best players. I left the ground worried, not jubilant.
Woods will be fine—just a bit sore—but Olembé’s facing another two months on the sidelines. If this keeps up our talisman will finish the season having missed as many matches as he played. I’m very upset to lose him again. But this is why I signed Benjamin Laurant. The French winger will step in and hopefully fill Olembé’s boots as a creative and pacey influence on the left wing.
Joe Anyon completed his transfer to Newport County. I’m delighted to get him and his salary off the books so that we can continue to move forward. But like the fans I’m disappointed at the low transfer fee. If he hadn’t been in the final year of his contract I probably would have had more luck getting a decent price. With Anyon gone, I’m back under the wage budget—comfortably so.
No comments:
Post a Comment