Lincoln City Women have set us a mouth-watering tie against Lincoln United in the Lincolnshire FA County Cup semi-finals after a 5-2 away victory at Skegness Town.
City’s women produced an excellent performance at the Vertigo Stadium on Sunday, setting up a re-match of last year’s final. Imps manager Lee Mitchell was pleased to get through.
He said: “It was about getting the win today, giving players an opportunity, mixing the squad up, but it was a squad nonetheless that we knew would get the job done. That’s what it was about today on this sort of pitch. We were always in control of the game. The players did well today, its a job done and on we go.”
The Imps made the perfect start to the quarter-final as a high ball, put into a dangerous area, was fumbled by the host’s goalkeeper and dropped into the Skegness net to give the visitors the lead after just eight minutes.
Holly Wilson doubled the advantage for City only 10 minutes later, bundling the ball home and grabbing her first senior goal for the Imps in the process.
Ella Thompson-Moulding grabbed a third for the Imps with a header at the back-post, to give Lee Mitchell’s side full control in the Sunday afternoon sunshine.
A fourth was added before half-time as Faith Horner put her body on the line to get to the ball first, and from close range tapped home. She injured herself in the process and was replaced by Alice Wood before the interval.
The second half proved a more physical affair, with Skegness getting stuck in and they were more competitive as a result. They pulled one back straight from a corner kick ten minutes after the interval and looked to press the Imps, to try and forge a comeback.
Mitchell recognised the potential threat of a comeback but was happy with his team’s response.
He said: “In the league we play in, 4-1 and the other team is lifted it could become awkward. But we have enough quality around us on the pitch, and everyone that came on the pitch today did a job and did themselves proud and performed well for themselves and the club. Even when they got their goal, it lifted them. We were just wanting to get a result, get a performance and move forward and more importantly not come away with too many injuries.”
However, any remaining hope that the hosts had was squashed, when Neve Hincks found the bottom corner and added a fifth for the away side. City boss Mitchell was pleased with Hincks and Wilson taking their opportunities in the squad, both finding the back of the net.
“They have both done well in training, and they have been doing well in the 23s, and they deserve the opportunity today and they took it. They did really well, it was nice to see that today, especially in a competitive game and see what they bring to the table,” he said.
Izzy Hayward was introduced for the Imps with 20 minutes remaining to make her senior debut, before Skegness pulled another goal back to round out the scoring minutes later.
Mitchell is looking forward to the semi-final stage already, against a Lincoln United side that beat the Imps in last year’s final.
He said: “They’re obviously a very good side and one that we respect. We didn’t give a good account of ourselves. It was a good final, and they deserved the win, we didn’t really turn up.
“We talked about that, and the girls want to put that right. We are ready to go there, and they will be ready for us there’s no doubt. It should be a good game. It was a good spectacle last year and it will be no different this year,” he added.
The Imps now must turn their attention back to league action, as they face an important run of fixtures throughout the month of February.
The City manager describes the month ahead as crucial to the rest of the season.
He said: “We have had some good games recently. We have been very competitive and holding our own with everybody. We have got a big February ahead. We have looked at that and se talked about that in training, and that kickstarts here. We want to try things that we wouldn’t always get to try in the games, but I think the main things were being injury free, a big squad selection and a real big push in February, because that will make or break our season potentially for us.”
Feature Image Credit: Graham Burrell/Lincoln City FC