By Nathan Jackson
August 21 2010

It may not have been expected but it was certainly welcome as the Imps ran out as 1-0 winners at Gillingham. City were fortunate that Gillingham couldn't do anything with their possession, but City had the better chances to find the second goal of the game after Cian Hughton's opener.

I was honestly expecting a defeat before the game. Gillingham were one of the better sides in the division the last time they were here, but that side from our last visit in January 2009 seemed a long way off. Whether it was good City defending from City, or just a poor performance from Gillingham, Joe Anyon didn't really have a lot to do as the Gills were shooting from distance, often missing the target completely. I had ran into a Gillingham fan before the game who bragged about his team seemingly being guaranteed automatic promotion this season, something which appears a long way off based on today's evidence.

Anyway, enough about Gillingham, I'm going to focus on something which I thought would take us a long time to achieve and that is a clean sheet. It's amazing that the defence that has been so shocking for the last few games, suddenly looked solid. Actually, thinking about it, it's not that amazing, the reason for it was dropping Swaibu and replacing him with Clapham. Swaibu has cost City a lot of goals so far this season and Clapham was not only an adequate replacement, he showed exactly what Swaibu doesn't have as a defender, common sense.

The absence of Swaibu was important in the sense that there were too many improvements for it to be a coincidence. Anderson has a much better game because he had proper support from the rest of the defence, rather than being a lone ranger out there and being made to look foolish. We didn't have defenders feigning injury and then get up straight away and run towards the ball, leaving a single defender to deal with 5 attackers on his own. Most importantly, all the defenders took their time and it was such a difference. Whilst Anderson has been taking the flack for a lot of goals, most seem to have missed that Swaibu is the weak link.

Playing five defenders was actually quite smart tactics from Sutton. Whenever Anderson was left with a two-on-one situation, the tactics saw Clapham come over and help out and give a bit of cover, with Watts, Pearce and Green left free to patrol the area. This allowed Akinfenwa to be marked out of the game and if it wasn't for his rather large belly, you wouldn't have really noticed he was there for most of the game. I think what we saw today was our best defensive line-up, but the only question is how many games will Pearce be able to play? Will Clapham be able to stay fit? Or what will happen when we face a better attack than what Gillingham have.

Up front we still didn't look brilliant, but Ben Hutchinson had a reasonable debut, and he appeared a very different player to what I had been told midweek by a friend who supports Swindon Town (one of Hutchinson's former loanee clubs). Whether  he will score the goals remains to be seen, but at least he certainly wasn't messing around and trying to get some shots in on goal. He's no Davide Somma (speaking of which, congrats to him for scoring twice on his Leeds league debut), but he could well contribute with around ten during his loan spell.

To be honest there's not really a lot more to discuss. It could be interesting to see if Sutton sticks with his starting XI that won at Gillingham against Crewe. Would you change a winning side?

It's amazing what a win can do for your nerves.

THEIMPS.KA OFFICIAL RATINGS
	Anyon didn't really have a lot to do for most of the game, but did what he had to do well and he now has his first clean sheet as a City goalkeeper. 7/10
	Looked far more confident knowing that he had some competent defenders supporting him for a change. Still not brilliant but better than a lot of his recent performances. 6/10
	Watts appears to be growing his hair and it's doing his performances no harm whatsoever. Had Akinfenwa in his pocket for most of the game and didn't really put a foot wrong. 7/10
	Another who was considerably better with Swaibu nearby. Not spectacular from Green but better than anything else he has done recently. 6/10
	Hughton was back in his normal midfield position and was right where he left off last season, impressing. Took his goal really well. 7/10
	Jarrett had another good game in the City shirt, even gaining praise for his performance on some Gillingham message boards. He can now claim an assist for the season as well. 7/10
	Our Man of the Match. Clapham showed his quality from the start and despite being assigned to midfield, he supported the rest of the defence excellently and now should become a regular in the starting XI. 8/10
	Keltie had a reasonable game, nothing spectacular but again, not  bad at all. 6/10
	Looked a handful without really looking like scoring at any point. Whether he's the answer to our goalscoring problem is another matter altogether, but not a bad debut at all. 6.5/10
	Missed a one-on-one but otherwise did well, that despite being played out of position. 6/10
	The only player on the pitch in a Lincoln shirt who offered nothing today. Hutchinson's ability to come on as a sub and proceed to do precisely nothing is unrivalled at this club. 4/10
	Unlucky not to score, although he probably knew nothing about the effort on goal. Came on and put himself about. 6/10

Reaction to the win over Gillingham

Discussion started by theimps.ka (IP Logged), 21/08/2010 23:47

theimps.ka
21/08/2010 23:47

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Reply Quote Report

I Blame Paul Mayo
22/08/2010 10:28

You forgot Ian Pearce.

Reply Quote Report

Dave Imp
22/08/2010 10:57

i do pearce....

Ian Pearce 10/10 commanded defense won everything.

Reply Quote Report

sammyimp
22/08/2010 11:16

think thats a bit harsh on A.Hutchinson.... on the radio it sounded like he got about a bit among the defence & chased alot....

Reply Quote Report

Kate Jackson
22/08/2010 13:29

Damn it, knew I was forgetting someone.

I'd give Pearce an 8 as well, but I think Clapham would edge him for my MOTM as he was the main difference. I've always been impressed with Pearce though.

Good Luck, Mr Gorsky

http://twitter.com/#!/katejackson84
http://www.katejackson84.blogspot.com

Reply Quote Report

Jim bobs big plan
22/08/2010 13:38

seems as though a very positive performance. and despite crewe scoring 7 there should be no reason why we cant beat them next week

Reply Quote Report

RedandWhiteStripes
22/08/2010 14:29

Think you'll find Pearce replaced Moses and Clapham replaced o'keef, as for Hutchison you talk @#$%& he came on and did what was ask of him by the manager, CS even praised him for it.

Reply Quote Report

davidimp
22/08/2010 14:46

Agree with your marks bar young Hutchinson as others have said came and did a good job in a more midfield role by the sounds of it and praised for it by the radio and the manager.
O well each to their own.
We won and thats the main thing isnt it?

Here we go again!
Will we ever get the right man?

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net