Lincoln City struggled to get into their stride as they were beaten 2-0 by Bolton Wanderers, who strengthen their chances in the playoff hunt. Bolton, who ran out comfortable victors in the end, struck in the 40th minute with Dion Charles converting from the spot. Before then capitalising in the 84th minute after a poor Sean Roughan throw-in.
Head Coach Mark Kennedy set up his side in a similar style to Gareth Southgate’s England, adopting a 5-2-3 style formation leading to Lincoln having a more conservative style than seen before this season.
Kick Off
Lincoln started the game much brighter out of the two sides as Jordan Garrick’s incisive pass saw the inform man Jack Diamond fly through on goal before he was flagged offside in a very tight decision. The game plan was clear from Lincoln to look to sit behind the ball and hit on the break with Diamond and Garrick’s blistering pace.
Garrick was once again at the helm of the Lincoln attack as he broke through the Bolton backline. His cross towards Ben House was turned behind for a corner, which looked goalbound to put the Imps ahead. Bolton then took a hold of the game from then on in and began to play on the front foot.
There were long, sustained periods of quietness in the first half as Lincoln looked extremely hard to break down with their new adopted five back. Kennedy’s game plan looked to be working as Bolton became frustrated. Until on the 39th-minute mark referee, Neil Hair, pointed to the spot after initially waving away the penalty claims. Adam Jackson was seen to have brought down Elias Kachunga who made the most of the contact made.
Dion Charles stepped up to the spot and slotted it into the bottom right corner just out of Carl Rushworth’s reach. 1-0 Bolton Wanderers.
The first half ended 1-0 as the Lincoln players swarmed and berated the officials as they walked off with rings of boos towards the officials from the 782 Imps fans in the away end.
Second Half
George Johnston will be counting himself lucky after man-handling Ben House down in the box was not seen by the referee. House and Johnston were both consequently booked following their immediate reactions.
There were not too many things for the following fans to cheer about but Danny Mandroiu finally made his long-awaited debut on the 65th-minute mark replacing Jordon Garrick. Mandroiu looked sharp when he came on, giving a positive showing of signs to come.
Lincoln were forced to make a change on the 78th-minute mark after Ben House made a challenge, injuring himself in the process. In a season plagued with injuries so far, Kennedy will be hoping it will not be as bad as it first looked.
Pushing on for the equalizer the Imps left themselves a lot more open for a counterattack and Bolton punished them for it. Sean Roughan’s sloppy throw-in saw Jón Daði Böðvarsson run between the defenders and calmly slot it past Rushworth into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0.
Seeking a consolation goal, Max Sanders delivered a teasing ball into the box for Matty Virtue who latched onto the chance only to force an exceptional save from England under-21 goalkeeper James Trafford who parried the ball out for a corner.
Full Time: Bolton Wanderers 2-0 Lincoln City
Kennedy’s side now find themselves sat 13th in the Sky Bet League One table on 13 points from ten games. Seven points off the playoffs and four points off the drop, Kennedy will be hoping his team can find an immediate response in their next game.
Next up for Lincoln City is the visit from Charlton Athletic at the LNER Stadium on the 8th of October.