Seven Up Lincoln Triumph
HAVING WON THEIR first league match for twenty months in their last match of last term, Lincoln went on to keep their first clean sheet for almost 22 whilst handing out a crushing defeat to a presumably weakened Exeter side at Bartlemas on Friday.
Clearly taking confidence from victory over Univ. in their last match, and bolstered in the midfield by the first league appearance by Mark Johnson having recovered from a broken leg, Lincoln started the stronger, exploiting space down both flanks.
The left, however, brought particular joy, firstly with Ben Whittaker cutting in from the wing to force a shot through the keeper's hands with the outside of his left foot, and then with a cross from the same player being comprehensively put through his own net by Rob Jarvin-Fisher. Still barely a quarter of an hour in, Exeter's goalkeeper dived over a threaded ball from skipper Jonny Cooke, allowing veteran striker Dave Brighton to put the ball into an empty net from a slight angle.
Exeter, however, now began to use the ball more creatively, with good interplay up front, culminating in a clear opportunity for Rob Turner which was excellently blocked by Nick Day in the home goal. Brighton went on to complete a first half hat-trick with two strikes from close range, and any hopes Exeter may have entertained at this point were extinguished by the break.
The second half was much more evenly contested, but brought the two goals of the game; firstly a flowing move from the midfield allowing Brighton to cross from the right to set up a clinical finish from substitute Rich Douglas, and then a sharp break with only minutes remaining down the left allowing Whittaker to slot the ball past the keeper.
If Lincoln are capable of building on this performance then relegation fears should soon be little more than a memory. There is still some work to do to try and dig themselves out of the hole created by the terrible start to the season that they endured last term, but victories such as this will only help to restore their confidence.
The team only needs to put together a good run of results to find themselves back in the race to remain in the first division.
Exeter, meanwhile, must view this result as a big blow, and can't afford to let it affect them, or else they could well be dragged into the relegation dogfight themselves.
24th Jan 2002