City lost their second game in a row, going down by 2 goals to 1 at Sincil Bank. Although there was much more effort than Tuesday night's debacle, there was simply not enough creativity up front and another poor performance from the defence.
The Tigers did have the best chance of the early stages when Theodore Whitmore shot against the bar, but the Imps took the lead after 30 minutes. Buckley got past Whittle on the left and delivered the ball for David Cameron to volley home unmarked. It was a goal out of nowhere and a bad one to concede.
Yet worse was to come after the break. Despite dominating the early part of the half, City had nearly conceded a second. Cameron got in behind the defence but saw his shot superbly saved by Matt Glennon. Although we had most of the ball, nothing clear cut was being created. And it was to prove costly, as the home side again scored on 65 minutes. Cameron managed to stave off Goodison and cross from the right, and Mike Edwards completely missed the ball as he attempted a clearance, allowing Tony Battersby to knock the ball past the helpless Glennon at the back post. Another awful goal to concede, and at an awful time. City came back, and had 2 good chances to pull a goal back almost immediately after the goal, but Ben Petty and Gary Alexander both headed straight at Marriott from great positions.
The Tigers continued to have most of the ball and most of the game was played in Lincoln's half, but simply did not have enough creativity in the final third. A consolation did come, however, when Alexander hit a free kick in to the bottom corner in the last minute of normal time. There was to be no equaliser though, and the 2,500 travelling fans (outnumbering the home support) left Sincil Bank with nothing to cheer about, once again.
Things are going to have to change. We now lie 5th in the table, 5 points behind leaders Plymouth, and our next League game is a trip to Luton. The fact is, we have not beaten anyone in the bottom half of the table on our travels, bar Exeter on the opening day. Promotion chasing teams should not be losing to Hartlepool and Lincoln within a week. There was more effort than Tuesday, but the performance was not good enough, and one or the other has happened all to regularly on our travels. The team have to improve their displays away from home if we are to challenge for promotion, and fast. |
