Warm Welcome, Cold Comfort vs Lincoln (L2)

A Tuesday night trip to Lincoln. Up the A1 and across a bit (I hope my satNav has a better grasp of geography than me). A post on the Yellows Forum had told us about a small outpost of yellows fandom in a Lincolnshire pub and invited those who wanted to meet up there. It sounded like a nice idea so I set off earlier than I would have normally done, and headed for The Wheatsheaf in Waddington.

One of the plusses of following the yellows away for me is that you end up driving to and through places you wouldn't normally see. Today's point of interest was Grantham, birthplace of Maggie Thatcher. It wasn't that interesting, really. But it wasn't that far from there to the Wheatsheaf. The pub was easy to find, and made easier to spot by the yellow and blue ballons tied to the outside! Soon there was a small crowd of fellow yellows inside, including LeicesterYellow, LincolnYellow (whose partner runs the pub),the comms team from OUFC (Martin, Darryl and the other two lads whose names I shamefully don't know) and several others. It was all very welcoming, and the fish and chips from the shop over the road were fine although the haddock had a suspiciously cod-like look, taste and texture. I've just thought. Maybe it was cod. We all set off in convoy (if three cars is a convoy) towards the ground with plenty of time to spare. Parking was easy - on a bit of field not far from the ground, £3 for the privilege. A quick stroll up past what I presume is the Sincil (a large stream, small river or whatever) to Sincil Bank.

Sincil Bank is a nice ground. There are two low stands behind each goal, one with hospitality boxes. One side has a stand that runs the length of the ground, the other side is split into three: one open area, a large stand with colourful seating and 'Poachers Corner' which is proabably the smallest stand in the league, having about 40 seats. We were housed in the right hand side of the long side stand - quite similar to the position of away fans at our place. Not my favourite position really. I'd rather be either behind the goal, or much nearer to the centre line. After the recent warmish weather, it was a bit of a shock that it was absolutely brass monkeys. The wind was freezing, whipping into the stadium via the fens, the north sea, Scandinavia and the Artic tundra. Brr.

The team news was that there was no news. Same team again. That was either showing confidence in the team despite the loss to Hereford or desperately unimaginative. Which of these was correct would only be judged with the considerable luxury of hindsight. It was interesting to see that Aaron Woodley was involved in the warm-ups (but not in the the squad) - I wonder if he is getting a bit closer to the team? The pitch looked a bit rough, but not too bad considering all the rain that there has been - and especially compared to some of the pitches that can be seen week in week out on the FL Show!

We were wearing the hideous blue kit. Now I'm going to have a bit of a rant. It used to be that a club had their club colours and a second strip that they ONLY wore when there was a kit clash. For some reason, we now have a home kit and an away kit. I say 'some reason' but I think I know the reason. Money. A chance to get some people to buy two shirts rather than one. Not good enough, and not in the right spirit. We should wear our first strip whenever we can. And yesterday, we could have and should have done so. So next season, let's have:

a) A predominantly yellow 'first' kit. (reverse the colours of the present kit and that would be OK - yellow where the blue is on the shirt, yellow shorts, yellow socks). What really took the biscuit was when Torquay wore their all yellow kit at our place - that shows just how blue this kit is!!
b) An alternative strip that doesn't have blue in it. The white is quite smart.
c) Only wear the second strip when we can't wear the first.

Anyway, whatever colour we were wearing, we started by playing right to left and by hacking the ball into touch. Sigh. For the first five or six minutes we looked fairly good, pressing the Imps back - without creating to much apart from a Heslop shot that went past the post. As against Hereford however, the Us then conceded a goal to the first attack by their opponents. The ball was crossed from the Imps right and a snap shot hit the base of the completely stranded Clarke's right hand post. The Lincoln striker was the first to react to his own rebound and popped the ball into the net. The three hundred or so Oxford fans were silenced momentarily before we tried to spark the team on again.

Any confidence that the team had seemed to evaporate into the freezing air though. The pitch, which had looked OK, now seemed to be a bit rough. But in truth, we were almost completely toothless. A couple of half chances (and that's being generous) came to nothing. The passing was aimless when it wasn't useless, the movement off the ball non-existent and the defence looked fragile down the sides. Lincoln almost added another with about half an hour gone - Clarke a total spectator as the ball whistled past his right hand post after a shot from Ashley Grimes. Then we were handed a lifeline just before half time. Craddock whipped a shot in, the Imps keeper couldn't hold the ball and Maclean nipped in and smashed the ball into the roof of the net. Somehow we were level. Spirits were lifted on and off the pitch. Beano had another half chance but the half time whistle blew with us on the forward foot.

A cold half time, with most of the talk about our luck turning and how fortunate we were to be level at the break. We hadn't really threatened the Lincoln goal, and at times our play was ridiculous. One first half incident springs to mind. There were two strikers waiting in the box, and Batt had the ball on the right wing. He could have crossed it. Instead he passed it backwards to a team mate, who passed it sideways. It was then passed back to Batt - who was in exactly the same position he was to start with but with the defender now a yard away from him, so he couldn't cross. Meanwhile, one of the strikers had come over to 'help'. The four Oxford players then attempted some complicated interpassing which (as so many times in the match) lead to us losing the ball. We had four players in about five yards on on wing, and one striker still waiting forlornly in the middle. Lincoln then swept down the pitch with a dangerous attack, outnumbering the remaining Oxford players. Once more we had changed attack into scrambling defence without threatening the Lincoln goal. There were so many times this happened - a short free kick from Batt which was then tapped back to him and he was immediately tackled for example. But perhaps that was all in the past. Perhaps the second half would see some renewed urgency. Perhaps pigs will fly.

However, we did look marginally better as the second half started. After a couple of off target efforts, we had our best chance to take the lead as Tonkin and Maclean combined to create an opening that Maclean put wide of the keepers left hand post. That was as good as it got. Oxford had the ball, but couldn't do anything with it. The passing game that had looked so good against Bradford, now looked like passing for passing's sake. It was slow and ponderous, more sideways and backwards than forwards. The strikers only ever got the ball with their backs to the goal, with nobody running through from midfield to take a pass. The intricate passing moves often ended with a silly flick that went straight to an opponent, or a hopeful hoof up the pitch to nobody as there was no forward outlet for the next pass. Lincoln just let us get on with it for the most part, while looking threatening themselves on the break. Time after time we didn't take an opportuinity to cross the ball or shoot, preferring to retain possession for no real reason.

Then after about an hour we went mad and scored two goals, our defenders showing the strikers how it's done. Unfortunately both in our own goal. First Worley and then Tonkin. What a let down. Both from crosses from our right, with Batt either lurking up near the half way line or easily skinned (not the first or last time those things had happened in the match either). We had thrown the match away.

CW should have made changes much earlier in the half when our lack of penetration was painfully obvious. Surely he'd do something now? Straight away? Please.

No.

For some bizarre reason he waited another 10 minutes before bringing (within the space of a couple of minutes) Hackney and Potter on for Hall and Craddock. Similar to Saturday. It didn't work then and it didn't work now. Potter refused to stay wide and wandered all over the place, looking OK on the the ball, but not going past his man, and not doing anything with it - giving it away tamely every time. Midson was brought on to score a hattrick with ten minutes to go, but failed. Poor bloke. He always seems to be brought on with a few minutes to go when the match is already lost! And lost it was. A couple of half hearted attempts from Potter and the ref put us out of our misery. Arse. The loyal Us fans clapped the team off the pitch despite a pretty feeble display. No booing.

A bit of friendly banter with some Lincoln fans on the way back to the car - they thanked me for the two goals we'd given them (we'd really given them all three with terrible defending), I thanked them for the one their goalie had given us. We all shook our heads at the incompetence of our players and went home.

A 2 hour drive home went swiftly all things considered. As I drove I thought:

It's a good job we have probably already got enough points to avoid relegation!
Passing the ball about is all very well, but there has to be something on the end of it - a cross, a shot - something.
Is Batt really a full back? He spent most of last night too far up the pitch, leaving three at the back and a bloody great hole that Linoln just used at will. We need more solidity, and his crossing was sometime poor, sometimes non existent. Purkiss please.
We need more movement up front off the ball, and a midfield that will make runs to pick the ball up.
Everything needs to be done much much quicker. Even if we break with the ball, we are so slow that all the defenders have ample time to get back to snuff out the attack.
I don't like a Heslop - Mclaren - Hall midfield. Clist for Hall or Heslop please.
I know we are wedded to a 4-3-3, but can we at least have an attempt at playing a 4-4-2 when Potter and Hackney come on? It's a waste of wingers (if that's what Potter is - I'm not sure that he thinks he's one)
CW needs to be more dynamic with his substitutions and or formation changes. It is all very predictabe at the moment, and it's not working.
Youll notice I haven't mentioned the ref. That's because he did his job properly, treating the game as more important than himself - well done, Mr. Geoff Eltringham. I hope we see you again.
Thanks to Gary and his better half for the hospitality at the Wheatsheaf.

Ah well - Stockport next. Am I going? Despite this performance, yes I am! See you there.