“Probably our best player, admittedly on a poor night.”

Views from Scotimp following Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at home against Exeter City in Sky Bet League Two: “Have just watched the game back on iFollow.

For the Exeter goal, how is that a free kick? I have watched it back seven or eight times and Shackell clearly gets the ball. And how does Gilks let the shot past him? Very strange all round.

Exeter were certainly the better side but Gilks generally had nothing to save except for the goal and a half-chance in the first half that he saved comfortably low to his left.

Our midfield was the main problem, again. It means we provide poor service to Akinde and the No.10, and also permits the opposition to get to within 25 yards of our goal almost unchallenged. O’Connor looked knackered in the second half in particular and O’Hara was anonymous. And Pett must never be played wide again – Lincoln may as well put me on the wing. If Lincoln are suddenly averse to hitting it long, how is Akinde supposed to get the ball?

And I cannot understand how anyone is criticising Akinde (yet again) because he never stopped all match. So isolated, yet involved in almost everything in Exeter’s half. Give him better service, for Christ’s sake. Definite penalty, and a very good finish for his goal. Probably our best player, admittedly on a poor night.

As for the added time in stoppage time, I think we were very lucky. The goalkeeper wastes time on two goal kicks – the first one takes a massive 37 seconds, the second a more reasonable 28 seconds. Then a player throws himself to the ground in the box, claiming to have been hit by Rhead who does no such thing – an embarrassing dive – which causes a further 46 seconds to pass before the ball is back in play. Then comes the substitution (an automatic 30 seconds). Akinde scores on 95:40, which is at the very end of the extra extra time.”

More views from the Match Thread:

imps_joe: “Well. That was painful. Thankfully, despite being very poor for most of the game, the Cowley quality of never die attitude. Heres hoping that the last minute equaliser gives us a much needed push.

We deserved a draw, despite being very poor. Once Exeter went ahead the were happy to sit on thier lead. They created some very decent chances and at one point during the second half they looked like they were going to win comfortably. However, as we often see Lincoln do, they kept sitting deeper and deeper and eventually we got the goal.

Lots of individual mistakes today, poor passing (so many misplaced and underplayed passes) , poor marking, poor tackling and players making poor decisions. Are the nerves getting the best of some players? Eardley seems to be struggling with his crossing at the moment compared to last seasons very high standards. Delighted for Akinde to get the goal and really hoping he’ll kick on, because before that goal he looked to have no confidence. He played some beautiful balls out wide, but struggled with his finishing. He 100% got fouled when through on goal (another big decision that goes against us in recent weeks). Andrade on the otherhand 100% dived, very odd considering he was on the otherside of the defender. On the upside he looked a real live wire for the first 70 mins. Bad news is he was absent for the last 20 minutes and was hobbling after the match, Anderson’s return is much needed.

Tgought the substitutions were a bit peculiar today. When rhead came on it really stopped our already minimal flow. Exeter, to be fair to them looked organised and pressed well (something we struggle against, see Crewe away). Despite all this we actually crested more than enough chances to win the game, not saying we deserved to win, but on another day could have won; Akinde could have had a couple, we should have had a penalty, Pett should have done better and how no one manged to score from the scramble I don’t know!

Anyway, I would have taken a draw before the match, but we could do with some results. A back-to-back win would be nice! To play that poorly and not lose is something. Last minute equaliser, season-changing moment?”

NottyImp: “I think, overall, we can be happy with the outcome tonight. The team showed real character when not playing well and ground out a valuable point.

I just think we need to believe in ourselves a bit more. We’re a damned good team with a talented set of players. Let’s go out there with a bit of arrogance and swagger and take it to the opposition more regularly.”

Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!

"Probably our best player, admittedly on a poor night.":https://t.co/0R7UkOAewL#ImpsAsOne #ECFC #Exeter

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) February 28, 2019

https://www.facebook.com/VitalLincolnCity/posts/2080907535278814

Lincoln City				Exeter City
Akinde 90+6'				Jay 22'
Gilks				Pym
Eardley				Sweeney
Bostwick				O'Shea
Shackell				Martin
Toffolo				K. Wilson
O'Connor				Taylor
O'Hara			54'	Woodman
Andrade				Collins
Rowe			68'	D. Wilson			60'
Pett			83'	Bowman			90+4'
Akinde				Jay			82'
Substitutes
Vickers				Holmes
Rhead			68'	Williams
Angol				Hamon
McCartan			54'	Forte			60'
Bolger			83'	Brown
Roberts				Hartridge			90+4'
Smith				Boateng			82'

Game Statistics
16	Goal attempts	8
4	On Target	2
7	Corners	2
8	Fouls	15
3	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
54	%	46