Lincoln City entertained promotion-hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday at the LNER Stadium on Saturday afternoon and showed defensive resilience once again to earn a valuable point, holding the Owls to a 1-1 draw. The Imps went into the game after back-to-back wins in all competitions against Ipswich and Newcastle U21s respectively. Wednesday too were on a good run of form, only losing 1 in their last 7 league games.
The early kick-off in League One started off brightly for the hosts with Danny Mandroiu teasing the Sheffield Wednesday defence before striking his shot against a defender, earning his side a corner early on. In only the fifth minute, it was the visitors turn to attack, with the ever-experienced Owls’ captain Barry Bannan clipping a long through ball over the top of the city defence to find Ihiekwe. His cross from the left wing was parried out by Carl Rushworth, and eventually cleared.
Rushworth was at the centre of attention again, but this time for all the wrong reasons. His pass was intercepted by the Wednesday midfield, and with the Lincoln City goalkeeper out of position, it was an easy finish for Lee Gregory from the edge of the box to send the 2,080 travelling fans wild.
The Imps struggled to find their feet throughout the first half, with Bannan dictating play in midfield. His shot was blocked by Matty Virtue, who would later become the first player in referee Alan Young’s book, for stopping a counter-attack. Mark Kennedy’s men did have the occasional flourish in Wednesday’s half, with Ben House stinging the palms of David Stockdale from the edge of the box, as well as an Adam Jackson header, ending with the same result.
Wednesday went close through a set piece of their own towards the end of the opening 45 minutes. Ben Heneghan’s close range header bounced off the city post and was cleared, much to the relief of the Lincoln City faithful.
Kennedy’s side were electric once they re-emerged from the dressing room, with Danny Mandroiu collecting himself the equalizer for the Imps, less than a minute into the second half. He was played through by Ben House, showed great strength to hold of multiple defenders, before poking his effort beyond the helpless David Stockdale.
The hosts were very nearly straight back behind as the Owls nearly had the ball in the back of the net for a second time only 5 minutes after the restart. Lee Gregory pinched possession deep into Lincoln territory and crossed for Bannan, who couldn’t get the ball out from underneath his feet, giving defender O’Connor enough time to produce a last ditch tackle to keep his side level.
Clearly O’Connor’s antics inspired his fellow teammates, as Sean Roughan was next to throw his body in the way of a goal-bound effort, deflecting Windass’ effort away from Rushworth’s net. The Wednesday attacker’s follow up strike swerved just over the bar.
Mid-way through the second half, the game became stretched with both sides feeling the pressure defensively. Windass had a third effort drift high and wide, and Imps midfielder Max Sanders found himself on a determined run, holding off three defenders before giving away a foul on centre-back Ben Heneghan, who was later taken off due to injury.
Overall, Mark Kennedy’s side will feel they were the better team in the second half but didn’t create enough chances to test goalkeeper David Stockdale. The closest they came was 15 minutes from time when Ben House flicked a TJ Eyoma cross over Stockdale’s head, but wide of the mark.
Neither side tested either keeper in the second half, and the game petered out into a 1-1 draw. A valuable point for Kennedy’s side, who were difficult to break down again. Wednesday can feel frustrated as they aren’t able to close the gap to the teams ahead with just a point from Sincil Bank.
Next up for city is back-to-back away trips; firstly, the relatively short trip away to Barnsley on Tuesday night, before visiting Port Vale next Saturday.