Lincoln City need just one more point to secure their place in the League Two playoffs after a thrilling 4-2 win at Coventry City.
A brilliant strike by Matt Rhead with the game less than a minute old, an Ollie Palmer brace and a Lee Frecklington goal helped the Imps to victory despite Coventry pegging the visitors back twice with goals from Tom Bayliss and Jordan Shipley.
This was a much anticipated encounter between two sides who still harbour hopes of winning promotion via the playoffs.
The Lincoln manager Danny Cowley made three changes to his team from Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 win against Colchester United.
James Wilson, Ollie Palmer and captain Luke Waterfall came into the side, while Michael Bostwick kept his place in the starting XI – the 29 year-old had his one-match ban overturned by the Football Association after he was sent off in the latter stages of Saturday’s victory.
On a damp night in the Midlands, the Imps made an electric start taking the lead with just 52 seconds on the clock. Neal Eardley, a constant threat from right-back as usual, picked out Lee Frecklington in the home side’s penalty area. He only needed one-touch to knock the ball down to Rhead who fired a thunderbolt of a strike into the top corner.
It was a stunning start. Moments earlier ELO’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’ had been blaring around the Ricoh Arena – the mood amongst the silenced home fans felt somewhat blue.
Roared on by more than three thousand travelling fans, Lincoln pressed for a second with the front three of Green, Rhead and Palmer causing havoc in the Coventry defence. All three had half-chances to double’s their side’s lead.
But it was from a Lincoln corner that Coventry mustered a response just after the 15 minute mark. Goalkeeper Lee Burge claimed the ball under pressure and set his side off on a counter-attack. Within seconds, Jonson Clarke-Harris had pulled the ball back for Bayliss who swept the ball past Ryan Allsop to level proceedings.
The game’s momentum had shifted all of a sudden. Now it was the home fans creating all of the noise and the Sky Blues’ number 10 Marc McNulty almost gave them the lead but dragged his shot inches wide with Allsop beaten.
While they may have been on the back foot, Lincoln battled hard showing the ‘refuse to lose’ qualities that manager Cowley so often speaks about.
So it was of no surprise when the visitors re-took the lead seven minutes from half-time. Ollie Palmer, now very much a fan’s favourite at Sincil Bank, surged through the middle of the Coventry defence and guided the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Every point is vital at this point of the season and Coventry’s response spoke volumes for just how keen they are to make sure of their position in the League Two play-offs.
With Lincoln’s fans still in full ‘Dambuster’ mode after Palmer’s goal, the hosts equalised again. Jordan Shipley worked space for himself in the penalty area and fired a shot low past Allsop and into the net.
This was shaping into a remarkable battle and with one minute of the half left, Lincoln struck again. And it was Palmer on hand again with the finishing touch, slamming the ball in from close range after Wilson’s effort had been blocked on the line. That was Palmer’s 11th goal of the season – not bad for a man who looked surplus to requirements earlier this season.
A second half comeback at Sincil Bank in November saw Coventry claim all three points when these sides met earlier this season. And with the second half continuing in the same ferocious tempo as the first had been played in, more goals seemed likely.
Rhead could only head straight at the keeper for Lincoln when well placed at the back post, while Bayliss curled over the bar for Coventry.
The match seemed destined for a nervy final 20 minutes until Lee Frecklington popped up in the penalty area, as he so often does, to extend Lincoln’s lead. Palmer picked out Rhead on the edge of the penalty area and the number 9 cushioned the ball into Frecklington’s path; he applied the finishing touch from close range.
Coventry were not prepared to give up on a match of such magnitude. Allsop in the Lincoln goal was called into action, leaping superbly to his right to keep out substitute Max Biamou’s header, while Jordan Ponticelli blazed over from six yards out.
That proved to be enough for Lincoln who preserved their two-goal lead to earn themselves a vital three points and move up to fifth in League Two. One point from either Saturday’s trip to already-promoted Accrington Stanley or the following week’s match at home to Yeovil Town will be enough to seal the Imps’ place in the playoffs.
A chorus of, “We are going up,” echoed out from the away end in the Ricoh Arena in the final moments of this match. If tonight’s performance is anything to go by, those Imps fans could well be right.