A rumour that Roddy Collins and John Cunningham had resigned was going round the ground before the start, but the boss himself moved to quash the speculation. Steve Soley was made captain in the absence of Stuart Whitehead who was suspended. Tony Hopper took his place in midfield. Ian Stevens returned to the first-team but had to make do with a seat on the bench, the in-form Steve Halliday retaining his place up front alongside Richie Foran. The first action came in the 3rd minute as Stuart Green's 35-yard-free kick flicked a head of a Lincoln defender and hit the bar. Soley followed up but saw his effort saved. Lincoln's first effort was a shot over the cross-bar from Peter Gain. Then Gain fired in a cross and that was met by a header that was just wide of the post from Battersby. On 15 minutes Mark Birch turned a corner on to his own post and within a minute the referee was turning away penalty appeals by the Imps. The breakthrough arrived on 29 minutes as Lee Thorpe pulled clear of the covering defence, went round a stranded Peter Keen and scored from an acute angle. United hit back and Alan Marriott made a good save from a Soley header after a testing cross in from Brendan McGill. On 34 minutes City hit the post when an unmarked Grant Brown missed a clear chance with a header. The Cumbrians were looking distinctly wobbly on crosses. Marriott then made a solid save after another free-kick was fired in by Green. Poor United defending cost them dear seconds from the interval when Tony Battersby was left unmarked and beat Keen with a header from the edge of the six-yard box. After a poor first half, Jonny Allan was brought on for the second half in place of Hopper and there was instant success for the Cumbrians. Birch put in a great cross and McGill got a touch to divert the ball into the net and claim the goal. United needed to consolidate on their start but Green then passed back to Keen who picked the ball up and conceded a free kick just eight yards out. United's wall blocked the ball and the follow-up was wide. Ian Stevens made a welcome return to the action ten minutes into the half as he came on for Halliday. City could have extended their lead in the 59th minute when Justin Walker wriggled away from three challengers and shot across Keen and inches wide of the upright. Foran then headed a Green corner over the bar after he timed his run in perfectly. The action was getting frantic as United went close through McGill and Keen was called on to make a save from Battersby that led to a goalmouth scramble as Lincoln came straight back upfield. Battersby worked himself into a good position on 65 minutes but his shot was well claimed by Keen. Stevens made himself an opening with a neat bit of skill on the edge of the box with 20 minutes left but half-volleyed narrowly wide. Stevens and McGill did well to set up Soley who fired over the bar. 12 minutes from time another good Stevens flick laid on a chance for Green but the talented youngster blasted over the top of the target. United were made to rue those missed chances eight minutes from time when substitute Dave Cameron held the ball up and laid it off for Walker who drilled home his shot into the top left corner of the net past Keen. Al's verdict: United seemed flat after 11 days of inactivity. All the pre-match rumours flying around about their manager can't have helped either. All season our defending at set-pieces has been suspect and it was very poor here. After going two goals down, we had a better second half and if our chances had been taken, it might have been a point. However, we never seemed to be really on our game and the home side deserved to take the spoils in the end. The one bright spot was the return of Stevo who shook us up and gave us some hope in the latter stages. |
