Match Thread: Cambridge United v Lincoln City | Page 21 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Cambridge United v Lincoln City

Wow what a game today. Loved that and look forward to the replay on iFollow. Many thanks for your company, it’s been great fun. Off to cook a chilli now so Mrs Stevie can put her feet up with a glass of wine after a difficult few days. Can’t wait for New Year’s Day.
 
Unbelievable I’m shattered watching it thousands of miles away. Massive result, Big John has shown what DC saw in him and Harry Anderson is a powerhouse, stand by for a bid in Jan. It wasn’t Bruno’s day but he’s going to need to rise above that kind of attention if he wants to kick on, unfortunately I think the ref took a view he went over a bit easily, rightly or wrongly. Kudos to Matt Rhead also for plugging away and giving John an assist although he had a lot to do. Wow, how about those minerals away in a tasty atmosphere!!
 
I was very surprised by many of the comments on here at half time as I didn't think it was that bad.

The Cambridge goal came out of the blue really, they hadn't shown much up to then and we were actually playing it around quite purposefully, just the final ball was lacking.

After the goal, which I thought was a mis-header, we then had 10 minutes of defending the soundtrack to which should have been The Entrance of the Gladiators, such was it's clown-like nature.

Then things steadied down although by that time all fluency had been lost.

I still think Anderson was fortunate not to be red-carded for the head clash incident as he jumped right into their player from a distance and had no chance whatever of winning the ball.

We got lucky with that and a little later when he went on a typically barnstorming run, got his shorts pulled and when he eventually lost the ball Boyeson brought it back for the foul, which I thought was positioned about 10 yards further forward than it should have been, and therefore in shooting range.

Rhead then completely unsettled the keeper standing right in front of him, practically on his toes, while he set up the wall and he got very angry about it.

Whether that had an affect on his positioning I don't know but I don't think it made much difference as you couldn't place a free kick better than Eardley did.

That was like a mirror-image of the first half as to that point we simply had not threatened to score.

Akinde got the winner after a tremendous header from Rhead though Cambridge defended it badly.

We then went from circus defending to Keystone Kops. In the biggest melee we were lucky not to give away a penalty the way players were diving in. I know people like to see this level of commitment but it's no substitute for actual defending.

In the end Anderson was clearly man of the match, though he was slightly fortunate to be on the pitch, and that's after the opening of the game where the ball was just bouncing off him.

Smith ran him second in my view. Cambridge a better side than their league position.
 
Luke Imp said:
I stopped reading back through threads years ago. I used to come back from games and wonder what game they'd be listening to.
Click to expand...
To be fair the nature of the thread is that it will provoke emotional reactions and is an inviting forum to vent one’s spleen. Of course the comments can be pretty foot in mouth when it gets turned around but surely such comments can be taken with a pinch of salt, not many Imps supporters would have been happy at half time today
 
Back in the boozer
Phew first half was dross we looked short
of pretty much everything
Cracking free kick to get us back
Bruno looks like he needs a couple of games to get his fitness back rather than risking another start
John's played his part perfectly and i thought was dragged down when chasing the through ball
6 points clear get in
UTI
 
Cambridge will definitely feel hard done by. Thought we were on top without threatening first half until they scored, then their tales were up. Felt like we needed a Woodyard in there last 20 of the half.

All game they were very dangerous down the right. Toffolo struggled at times, but was much better protected when Harry moved to the left after Gordon came on for Andrade. Not convinced Andrade is fully fit.

Second half we still weren’t great, but can’t say we didn’t battle. O’Connor made a difference in middle of the park.

Great free kick by Eards.

Got to end by commenting on Anderson. One of the performances of the season. Took the game to them on his own on several occasions and really lifted things. Superb.
 
A Second half Camback

My first trip to The Abbey Stadium, so I brought mini Jeff to show him another piece of Lincoln history. For it was here that our one time great, Lord Beck of Jamesons and friend of HM Customs and Excise, learnt his trade in football management.

The first half can be referred to in a simple way.

"A load of sh*te"

Cambridge showed brutally, with the help of some interesting officiating, how to take apart at team who aren't a physical team anymore. A team who want to play. They did it with ease, and if it had not been for the crossbar and a couple of other pieces of poor finishing, it would have been over before the end of the first half. I must mention, no, single out Harry Anderson as being the only player to come out of the first half with any credit whatsoever. Every other player looked like they'd been enjoying too much egg nog and Granny's favourite sherry trifle.

Fortunately half time came and mini Jeff wolfed down his chips.

The second half started with a bit more oomph and frustration grew with the time passing. Anderson looked unplayable. If we want to keep our chance of promotion going forward, we really need to keep hold of him, at least until the summer.

Then a free kick, from Neal Eardley, to beat Shackell's tub thumper. Think back to 2001 at Old Trafford, when a Mr Beckham hit the sweetest drive to beat the despairing dive of the Greek keeper. This was up there...in fact this was better. It had more bend, spin and curve on it than Peter Mandleson, Alistair Campbell and Shane Warne could muster between them.

With pomp and circumstance duly regained, Lincoln pressed for the second. And it came. A beautiful, pin point header from Matt Ree-yad (as pronounced by the Announcer at the stadium) Akinde managed to turn and scuff the ball home from 4 yards. The crowd went wild and the Cambridge United fans were quieter than when someone farts in a crowded lift.

The backs to the wall job then started as Cambridge put all their punters in one basket and desperate tackles and blocks came to the fore. Grant Smith showed why he is an exemplary keeper and I thought his saves and dominance in the box showed that he has been very unlucky to be Vickers' number two. He has improved exponentially since the start of the season, and I imagine the Cowleys rue their decision to effectively cup tie him.

Lincoln held firm and with ten mins of added time completed, that was that. Another smash and grab completed, however given how poor we played in large parts of the first 55 mins, I would say that this was by far one of our more audacious ones.

We go on. Fifty points now, but we must not rest on our laurels. We need to keep our key players and sign some more. As a final addendum I thought Ree-yad and Akinde played well together, but Anderson was a class apart.

Happy New Year one and all!!
 
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