Lincoln City were looking to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat to Bolton as they hosted Charlton Athletic at the LNER Stadium.
Charlton were looking for their first win in seven games whilst Lincoln City were hoping to emulate the form that saw them thump Bristol Rovers 6-3 only two league games ago.
Jack Diamond, who had started the season brightly, including a hat-trick against Bristol Rovers, provided the home support with their first piece of entertainment early on. As he did brilliantly well to win the ball in the middle of the pitch before making a piercing run down the left flank, but his cross could only meet the first man who lashed it clear.
Twenty minutes into the game Lincoln City started to grow into the game and earnt a string of corners to put pressure on the Charlton backline but as the half hour mark neared Lincoln’s backline were slow to react as a lobbed through ball caught them out. Miles Leaburn latched onto it and a one-on-one opportunity presented Charlton with a chance to go ahead. Laeburn scuffed his shot before moment of horror for Carl Rushworth as he nearly let it trickle through his legs into the goal. Luckily, he was able to recover just in time to stop it going over the line. A big let off for Lincoln City.
A moment you don’t see everyday then followed as Referee Robert Lewis stopped play as he has injured himself in the build up to that chance. Fourth official Abbas Khan came on to replace him.
The best chance of the half for Lincoln City fell to debutant Danny Mandroiu in the closing stages of the second half. The Irishman hit a powerful strike from the centre of the box, but it was well saved by the Charlton keeper.
The Imps faithful did what they could to spur their team on in the second half, but it was to no avail as neither side could break the deadlock. Lincoln’s lack of urgency and willingness to progress up the pitch and make decisive passes cost them a chance at all three points.
The match ended with a moment that pretty much summed everything up. Regan Poole with a back pass to his keeper that was misplaced horribly, and the home crowd were left furious as they saw it go out for a corner. Luckily for Poole, nothing came from the resulting corner. It ended all square at the LNER Stadium. Lincoln City slip to 16th in the table.
Speaking to us at full time, Lincoln City Boss, Mark Kennedy, summed his team’s performance up. We asked whether he felt there was a disconnect between the midfielders and the frontline, to which he said: “Not out of possession, I thought we were really good. I was really comfortable as a coach on the side. I just thought in the final third today we lacked a bit of quality.”
Next in the league, the Imps head to high flying Ipswich. In what will be undoubtedly one of the toughest tests of the season.