United 3 Lincoln 0 - summary/ratings

[Grappler]

The lino on Kitching's side couldn't keep up with play, and Kitching gave him a telling off on two occasions, as he totally missed off side situations.

McGuinness won just about everything in the air, when he came on.

Ref was shocking.

3 goals and 3 points will do.

 

[JohnDenver]

For 40 minutes Lincoln pressed high and used their superior strength and energy to keep us pinned in. They weren’t much of an attacking threat but we didn’t know how to get up the pitch.

Then it stopped, and we won the game without much stress.

Why? What changed? Did they tire? Did United do something different to get upfield?

 

[BerksBlade]

Concur with what most people are saying. We were as poor as we have been all season for 35 minutes but after we scored we played much better helped by Lincoln having no plan how to get back in the game. The key moment for me was Chong and BBD switching wings as this gave us more width as we didn't have to consistently try and come inside all the time. This helped to open up the Lincoln defence which had been pretty comfortable up to that point.

The big positives apart from the win and score line were good performances at last from Rothwell, Chong, BBD ad Choudhury. Second half Bamford was back to his best and two excellent finishes. I also thought contrary to many that Cannon put in a decent shift and did a lot of the dirty work up front allowing others to be more effective. For once we didn't end up making a load of substitutions on 60 minutes so perhaps we have improved some fitness levels in the break. Having said all that Lincoln lacked any real quality albeit are very awkward to play against. The first goal was always going to be key which thankfully we got due to our superior quality.

This has to be a stepping stone for the rest of the season and we need to build on this with two tricky long distance away games coming up this week. Yesterday the second half performance should be the absolute minimum requirement given the better opposition we are going to be facing. Still feel we need to look over our shoulder at looking to put distance between the teams below us at the moment rather than any thoughts of challenging in the top half. However lets enjoy a deserved win and move on to Wednesday night,

Agree that 2nd half should be the benchmark for performances from now on.

 

[Bell4]

Don't think Wilder and Cohen see eye to eye. However it's not unlike him to cause friction after all!

Agree on BBD probably his best game for us this season. The positional switch in the second half led to our third goal. Maybe Wilder reads this forum after all

BBD mom

Gave us energy and inspiration

 

[Bell4]

For 40 minutes Lincoln pressed high and used their superior strength and energy to keep us pinned in. They weren’t much of an attacking threat but we didn’t know how to get up the pitch.

Then it stopped, and we won the game without much stress.

Why? What changed? Did they tire? Did United do something different to get upfield?

We scored - they didn’t have a game plan

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

For 40 minutes Lincoln pressed high and used their superior strength and energy to keep us pinned in. They weren’t much of an attacking threat but we didn’t know how to get up the pitch.

Then it stopped, and we won the game without much stress.

Why? What changed? Did they tire? Did United do something different to get upfield?

We just did what other teams do to us,moved up 10 metres. They had big lads,that hardly pressed us and they lost energy until a couple of subs came on. 2 poor sides with not much of a pattern of play,anyway,take 3 points but hardly thrilling,it must have been the most diluted cheer I’ve ever heard when we scored first.

 

[Dkc]

What's encouraging for me is that we've looked competitive in our last three games. Before that I feared for us. We'd picked up a few points but in almost every game we didn't deserve anything. Against Wolves, Stoke and Lincoln we've been deservedly in the game and been competitive. Okay we lost to Wolves and Stoke but the performances were better. We looked more organised and created more chances. With injured players coming back you can't help feeling a bit more optimistic.

 

[CopenhagenBlade]

Don't think Wilder and Cohen see eye to eye. However it's not unlike him to cause friction after all!

Agree on BBD probably his best game for us this season. The positional switch in the second half led to our third goal. Maybe Wilder reads this forum after all

I thought it was BBD’s best game for a long time. The number of times he dropped off going in for a header he was bound to lose and took up a position where the ball would land and he won the ball was excellent.
Far better all round performance against a poor Lincoln side. They have a game plan which only works when they are not losing. They don’t have the tactics to chase a game

 

[Houston_Blade]

For 40 minutes Lincoln pressed high and used their superior strength and energy to keep us pinned in. They weren’t much of an attacking threat but we didn’t know how to get up the pitch.

Then it stopped, and we won the game without much stress.

Why? What changed? Did they tire? Did United do something different to get upfield?

Someone told Rothwell that it’s not illegal to pass a ball forwards, he tried it a few times and liked it.

 

[Keen Blade]

Wilder was pointing to the pitch. I suspect it was about that nasty challenge on Cannon. They got away with that. There was some very poor refereeing. The Tanganga and Peck bookings were a joke, and he was a lot more tolerant of their excesses than ours.

I was interested to see Lincoln given how well it’s being going for them and it’s easy to see why they did so well last year and this year so far. Very good at keeping their shape, huge, fit guys. Also very physical - they are a dirty side. I suspect they get away with it a bit with their feel good/underdog story.

Where they fell down was having to chase the game. The only time they’ve been behind away this season is right at the end of the Boro game. They couldn’t use their system in the second half and it showed. They frayed at the edges.

And allied to what was likely their worst half of the season was our best half of the season, after a pretty dismal first half, well worked goal aside. You have to give a lot of credit to Wilder and the players. Rothwell got on the front foot and Chong, after a busy but indifferent first half, was really good. Ditto BBD who I rated more highly than others in this thread. If we learnt anything yesterday it is that BBD and Chong need to be that way round!

Lots of good second half displays although Tanganga annoyed me with his lackadaisical play throughout. His refusal to mark Ogbene almost cost us a goal. Fortunately Cooper and a remarkable miss from the rebound bailed him out.

Bamford is a class act. Peck my Motm as he was one of the few who were good for 90 mins. Cannon had a tough day amongst the giants.

More of this please.

Interesting interpretation of our improvement after we scored - but we struggled until that went in.
Can we please be more incisive without relying on the opposition to fade ?
Totally agree with swapping our wingers over but that won't suprise anyone coz I've been bangin on incessantly about feckin inverted wingers
The ref was appalling - inconsistently fussy & lax.
Can we appeal Tanga's card ?
He was totally innocent after the warning but the Lincoln thug just assaulted him !
From my pov , Peck was tripped , didn't dive - has anyone seen it on video ?

 

[Keen Blade]

We just did what other teams do to us,moved up 10 metres. They had big lads,that hardly pressed us and they lost energy until a couple of subs came on. 2 poor sides with not much of a pattern of play,anyway,take 3 points but hardly thrilling,it must have been the most diluted cheer I’ve ever heard when we scored first.

Atmosphere was somewhere between silent & ugly , until we scored from almost nothing (to everyone's surprise).
Thank God for McCallum's enthusiasm and Pat's deft finish

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

Atmosphere was somewhere between silent & ugly , until we scored from almost nothing (to everyone's surprise).
Thank God for McCallum's enthusiasm and Pat's deft finish

I almost spilt my cocoa. Us 4 have ordered duvets for the foreseeable future,ssshhhh.

 

[Hollinsend]

For 40 minutes Lincoln pressed high and used their superior strength and energy to keep us pinned in. They weren’t much of an attacking threat but we didn’t know how to get up the pitch.

Then it stopped, and we won the game without much stress.

Why? What changed? Did they tire? Did United do something different to get upfield?

I also think (Blade59 made this point already) a key change was BBD and Chong switching wings. It happened on about 40 minutes, I think - just after a moment when Chong lost the ball turning inside and running into traffic, creating pressure on the defence. We seemed to have greater width and made it harder for them to defend.

 

[Yewsman]

I also think (Blade59 made this point already) a key change was BBD and Chong switching wings. It happened on about 40 minutes, I think - just after a moment when Chong lost the ball turning inside and running into traffic, creating pressure on the defence. We seemed to have greater width and made it harder for them to defend.

Totally agree this swap seemed a game changer. On the left BBD continually just cut off right and ended up in a cul de sac.
Lincoln players were big and physical. We struggled to cope in first half and hardly won any headers. I thought in second half we would be overpowered as we faded in other games but we seemed to learn to cope and they ran out of ideas. Master stroke by CW to bring on McGuinness and move Tanganga to RB. I don't think T is good at RB (Too slow) but McG was superb in dealing with the high balls which T had certainly struggled with being at least a foot shorter than their replacemrnt CH who looked to be over 7 feet tall ( certainly from the sought stand).
Vital 3 points.

 

[Revolution]

Totally agree this swap seemed a game changer. On the left BBD continually just cut off right and ended up in a cul de sac.
Lincoln players were big and physical. We struggled to cope in first half and hardly won any headers. I thought in second half we would be overpowered as we faded in other games but we seemed to learn to cope and they ran out of ideas. Master stroke by CW to bring on McGuinness and move Tanganga to RB. I don't think T is good at RB (Too slow) but McG was superb in dealing with the high balls which T had certainly struggled with being at least a foot shorter than their replacemrnt CH who looked to be over 7 feet tall ( certainly from the sought stand).
Vital 3 points.

The lad they brought on was 6 foot 8. He didn’t look that good.

 

[The Vicar]

Bit harsh on JT, he made 2 important blocks in the first half and was no worse than the others until we scored. He was up against a tall muscular forward who was always likely to win the high ball, you can’t criticise his lack of height or muscle. For the Lincoln late chance he was moved out to the right in a changed formation, we were 3 up with minutes to play and he had pushed on as our FB’s often do. If it had been all level or we were 1 up then I get the criticism, but it was no issue, and they did not score!
Same with TC, he was up against a tall muscular centre back who was always likely to win the high ball high we continued to loft upfield. We don’t play to his strengths, there was nothing to run onto, but he battled, made himself available, played some nice passes and was in positions where he had to be marked, which created space for the others to score. If next week he scores 2 and Bamford none I’m sure Bamford will not get the negatives TC has to suffer.
The only chance he had the ball was bouncing and he had to wait for it to drop, which allowed the defender to get the block in.
First half was awful, all 10 outfield players, second half was much better, all 10 outfield players. For once CW made the right substitutions, not to change the result but to secure it.

 

[Chris the Blade]

Thank you Deadbat as ever a sound and accurate summary. But I would mark Cooper down two points for not wearing a bloody cap in the first half!! Why do so few keeprs wear them now??

What a strange game. The first 30 mimnutes were painful and if Lincoln had been more aggressive & positive would have scored. If they had then the crowd would have turned. On such fine margins careers hang.

Thereafter we improved and second half looked a division better than them. Several encouraging performances - Peck, Bamford, Chong, Kitchen, to name a few.

I also thought the movement and formation worked well. Much more fluid than I've seen for a long time. I really want to see One get some proper game time now. He could offer everything that the two TCs don't.

Overall a good day out and back to London by 7:30pm for once.

Lucky bloke living in London!