Although the result was disappointing, there wasn’t much cause for concern over the performance in a game which we dominated but lost due to a couple of uncharacteristic defensive lapses and a failure to take our chances.
The news before the game was that Bradbury was definitely out, so nobody was terribly surprised to see him lining up at right back. If this was a bit of misinformation designed to upset Lincoln’s game plan it’s hard to believe it had much effect as the plan appeared to be: 1 - lump it forward as far and as quickly as possible and; 2 - see number 1. Bournemouth were quickly in the ascendancy, and Connell missed an excellent chance, placing his shot wide of the post after some good approach play from Bradbury and Pitman.
It was something of a shock when Lincoln took the lead against the run of play after twenty three minutes, and disappointing that it came about through our failure to deal with a route one punt down the middle. Pearce attacked the ball but failed to win the header for once, which wouldn’t have been a problem had Bartley not drifted woefully out of position, leaving Somma to collect the ball and advance on goal through a large hole in the centre of our defence. He finished with aplomb, getting Jalal to go to ground early with a little shimmy before strolling around him and rolling the ball into the empty net. Wiggins protested vociferously for offside but he appeared to be one of the players playing Somma onside.
This didn’t affect the pattern of play, which was still largely a succession of unconverted chances at the Lincoln end. Pitman had a first-time effort well saved and was wide with a half-volley following another neat build-up. Connell had a shot blocked and Feeney was just wide with a good effort, and the half finished with Bournemouth well on top in everything but the scoreline.
The second half continued in the same vein, Pitman bringing a save from Burch and going just wide with a header from Feeney’s cross. Then Feeney had a shot blocked and Robinson burst through, but the angle was narrow and Burch saved comfortably. For all our dominance the equaliser remained elusive and at times we seemed to be trying to walk the ball into the net.
A section of the support had been calling for the introduction of Fletcher for some time (although not the staunchly Fletch-sceptic Exiles contingent), and to be fair when they got their wish after sixty-nine minutes his introduction in place of Igoe did produce an immediate result. Distracted by the big man’s largely theoretical goal threat at the back post Lincoln neglected the actual threat of Pitman at the near post, leaving him unmarked to bundle in Wiggins’ excellent freekick. Again there was a question of offside, but a Lincoln player behind the keeper was obligingly putting everyone onside.
Now we were back in the game it seemed there would only be on winner as we continued to press forward. Pitman volleyed over the bar and Feeney shot over after a characteristic run. Then, out of nothing, a long ball found Bartley out of position again and Somma bearing down on goal. Jalal tried to close him down but the ball sat up nicely for Somma to send a lob over the keeper, still stranded in no man’s land.
Bournemouth piled forward in search of the equaliser but this continued to be one of those days in front of goal. Connell shot a foot wide and Hollands’ effort was deflected for a corner in the last minute. Fortunately with none of the chasing pack looking remotely capable of putting a run of wins together this result should be no more than a blip in the final analysis.
Man of the Match Jason Pearce for a typically Jason Pearce performance. The industrious Danny Hollands was the best of the rest.
AFCB: Wiggins, Igoe, Robinson, Hollands, Feeney, Pitman, Connell
Subs: Thomas, Guyett, Cummings, McQuoid, Partington, Fletcher (for Igoe, 69 mins), Goulding (for Connell, 88 mins)
Richie Barker, Leyton