Erik Ring said Lincoln City played with joy and a sense of togetherness as they picked up a 4-2 win against play-off chasing Bolton Wanderers.
The winger opened the scoring just ten minutes in as his looping ball into the box beat the Bolton ‘keeper and ended up in the back of the net.
James Collins converted a penalty just eight minutes later to double the Imps advantage.
Bolton fought back however, making it 2-2 before half time through goals from Jay Matete and Alex Murphy.
Michael Skubala’s side would come out in the second-half the better team and score another two goals through Collins once again and Recco Hackett to secure the three points.
Ring said: “It was a good performance, we played with joy and we played together. I think this made it an entertaining watch.”
Formation change pays off for Lincoln City:
Skubala has recently changed Lincoln’s formation from a back five to a 4-2-3-1 and has been reaping the rewards of doing so, with the Imps now being unbeaten in their last five games.
This new formation favours wingers like Ring and Hackett and when asked about this, the Swedish wide-man said: “I think every game we develop and get better at it, it’s a step forward and something we can take into next season.
“I love this style of play and I think we are playing really well when we use it.”
Prolific James Collins:
Collins picked up a brace against Bolton, netting a penalty won by Hackett in the first-half and leaping high to head home a Sean Roughan’s cross in the second.
The striker has now scored ten goals in 18 games since his January move, becoming the only Lincoln player to reach double digits in the league this season.
When asked about the importance of the 34-year-old, Ring said: “He is a very good striker, he has a lot of experience and can be a target man as he’s very good in the box. I’m very happy to play with him.”
Recco Hackett’s clever free-kick:
Hackett sealed the win for the Imps in the 61st minute when he faked a cross from a free-kick 35 yards out, catching out Nathan Baxter with a low shot into the bottom corner.
When asked about if this was premeditated, Ring said: “We had a similar situation in the first half from the other side where the keeper was quite far off his line.
“At half-time we saw the video of this and Reeco thought he would try it.”
Beating a tough League One opponent:
Bolton approached the game slight favourites despite being away from home as they sat four places above the Imps and still with a chance of sneaking back into the play-offs.
However, a dominant and professional display saw Lincoln overcome their opposition to put a dint into another of the promotion hopefuls after victory over Reading on Good Friday.
Ring said: “It was a great result, I think we’ve now shown we can beat these bigger teams.
“I think we are in a strong position and just need to keep this going in order to get even better from this position.”
The win pushed Lincoln up to 11th place as they next face a trip to fifth place Stockport County before returning home for the final game of the campaign.