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.