Lincoln United extended an impressive home record with a 2-1 win against Lincoln City Academy. The pre-season game left both managers pleased with their respective sides.
“We were excellent tonight” said Lincoln United manager Dave Frecklington after the game, “In the first half especially, we were outstanding, the way we kept the ball and shifted them about, we created chance after chance”.
Lincoln United’s victory extends a remarkable record, as the club remains unbeaten at home in 2026.
“To win another game at Ashby Avenue is brilliant, I want to keep that up through pre-season”, reflected Frecklington. “But the most important thing is getting our system right”.
With temperatures in Lincolnshire hitting record breaking highs at this time of year, it has been up to the teams to manage the heat early on in their seasons.
“We’re a small club, but we do things professionally”, said Frecklington when asked about the warm weather. “A lot of hard work and energy has been put into it [working through the heat], they have everything they need here”.
After the game, United announced the signings of Lewis Marnew and former Lincoln City player Josh Blant. Both players featured in the match.
“They fit the way we want to play”, expanded Frecklington when asked about the signings. “They’ll be big players for the squad this year”.
It was the opening pre-season match for the away side, and although the youthful side did not walk away with the win, City’s Under-18s coach Sam Tillen was “really pleased” with his team’s performance.
“I thought we worked really hard”, said Tillen. “We had a bit of aggression about us, even if there was a physical disparity, and that was very pleasing”.
“In our first couple of weeks [of pre-season] we have focused on being disciplined, being intense out of possession, and I think we showed elements of that tonight.”
City’s squad was made up entirely of youth players, whilst United’s featured multiple senior squad members. This created a difficult physical battle for Lincoln City Academy, being outsized in many key areas on the pitch.
“I thought we applied ourselves”, exclaimed Tillen. “We had to find a way of balancing it out [the physical battle] and I thought we managed to do that pretty well”.
“Considering some of our lads are just coming out of year ten, they’ve really stood up to the challenge, and I’ll think they’ll benefit from this match”.
Lincoln City Academy will play their next pre-season match away against Skegness Town next Tuesday, as they prepare for their 2026/27 season in the EFL Youth Alliance.
On the other hand, Lincoln United feature again this week, hosting Gainsborough Trinity at home in a preliminary round of the Lincolnshire FA senior county Cup.