Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander admitted his side had ‘committed suicide’ after the Imps crashed to their heaviest defeat of the season, losing 4-1 at a frostbitten Whaddon Road.
After going behind against the run of play after half-an-hour, through a Steve Guinan effort, Paul Mayo restored parity early in the second-half,with his second goal in two games. But just as the Imps went searching for the win, they were hit by two Brian Wilson strikes in the space of two minutes, which knocked the stuffing out of them. Substitute Steven Gillespie then sealed the Robins triumph by adding a fourth in the last minute. And Alexander admitted the result had given him ‘plenty to think about’ on the long trip back to Lincolnshire: ‘I am desperately disappointed,’ he said.
‘We created some decent chances in the first-half and we should have scored. But weíve made another mistake and they’ve profited from it. It’s been the story of our season. We battled hard to get back into it and I think we played reasonably well. But every time the ball enters our box, we seem to cave in. We committed defensive suicide and conceded three silly goals.’
‘I’m man enough to take the inevitable criticism, but we’ll keep battling away and as I keep saying, I still don’t think we’re a million miles away from where I want us to be.’
Alexander handed an immediate start to new boy Richard Logan, signed on a month’s loan from Peterborough, as he looked for a solution to the goalscoring problem that has been hampering the Imps progress this season.
And despite not making a big impression on his City bow, Alexander was nonetheless pleased with his performance: “He only arrived this morning and I thought his work-rate was good and did he quite well out there.”But it remains to be seen whether Logan is the answer to the Imps attacking conundrum, in a bitty display that never really saw him threaten the Cheltenham goal. Alexander is also rumoured to be keeping tabs on Rushden & Diamonds striker Drewe Broughton, news that has not been met with universal glee by City fans.
‘Yes I’ve enquired about him in the past, but the lad’s suspended at the moment so it would be rather pointless to bring him here at present,’ admitted Alexander before the match in Gloucestershire.
Alexander made three changes to the side that lost in the FA Cup to Milton Keynes in midweek, with Marvin Robinson and Derek Asamoah dropping to the subs’ bench, while Colin Cryan was ruled out through injury. Logan took his place in the side up front with Gary Birch, while Gareth McAuley returned to the centre of defence and Luke Foster was handed a central midfield berth as the Imps reverted to a 5-3-2 formation. And it was City who were quickest out of the blocks as they looked to stamp their intent on the game early on. But yet again Alexander’s men lacked any real attacking bite and after weathering the early storm, it was the home side who hit Lincoln on the break, thanks to a blunder by skipper Paul Morgan.
The Ulsterman failed to deal with a long ball out of the Robins defence, with the ball bouncing off his thigh straight into the path of Guinan who raced clear to slam the ball past Alan Marriott into the bottom corner. But rather than let their heads drop, Lincoln launched an all-out assault on the Robins goal, and Birch came within inches of grabbing a leveller as he spun and shot inside the home side¹s area, but keeper Shane Higgs tipped his effort round the post.
And right on the half-time whistle, Scott Kerr saw his powerful drive again saved by Higgs and from the corner, Jamie McCombe headed narrowly over.
The second-half began much as the first period had ended, with the Imps on top. But again it looked like City’s profligacy in front of goal would cost them dear. However, Alexander sprung a tactical change by pushing Nat Brown into attack and it was from his run and cross down the right wing that Mayo crashed home the leveller at the far post.
Two minutes later and Foster saw a shot palmed over by Higgs as City sensed victory was theirs for the taking. But after Foster fired narrowly over from the resultant corner, the Robins performed a lethal counter-attack and regained the lead. With Mayo stranded in an attacking position, John Melligan was afforded the freedom of Lincoln’s left-hand side of defence and he whipped over a superb cross that was firmly headed home by Wilson. Just two minutes later, it got worse for City when they went further behind and yet again the goal came from a lack of concentration at the back. The Imps failed to deal with a ball into the box and amid the confusion, Wilson poked a shot goalwards that trickled past Marriott into the far corner.
So from looking like eventual winners, City were now 3-1 down and chasing the game. Asamoah came on for Lee Beevers, before Alexander replaced Logan with Jeff Hughes another of his strange substitutions considering he had strikers Marvin Robinson and Franny Green on the bench.
By now, the confidence had all but been wiped out of the City side, and in a token gesture, Robinson was given the last eight minutes in order to spark a late rally. But rather than reduce the deficit, City wilted one last time when Gillespie ran unchallenged through their backline and confidently slipped the ball past Marriott to give the scoreline an unfair look to it. There was just time for Kerr to shoot narrowly wide, but on this evidence it is not just City¹s misfiring strike force that requires a severe overhaul, but their defence needs a wake-up call after conceding 13 goals in the last seven games.
Make no mistake about it, City are in a slump and decisive action is needed if they are to avoid being sucked in to the relegation mire at the bottom of League Two. Now more than ever does Alexander need that prolific striker he has been searching in vain for ever since Simon Yeo headed south to New Zealand. And it is time for the board to loosen the purse strings and back their boss in the transfer market in the January window. If not, it could be a long, hard winter for everyone concerned at Sincil Bank.
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By Dominic Picksley
