Lincoln City leave it late to find fourth gear to see off plucky Wigan Athletic

Lincoln City moved into the automatic promotion places in League One as they overcame a spirited Wigan side at the LNER Stadium.

Despite the League’s bottom side more than matching Appleton’s men, Lincoln eventually found their rhythm to seal a comfortable looking win by the final whistle.

Lincoln didn’t have it all their own way and Leam Richardson will take plenty of positives away as Wigan showed desire and application throughout proceedings.

The opening half saw Lincoln huff and puff in the final third without building up enough sustained pressure to threaten the Wigan goal. Whilst they looked bright in moments during the half, The Imps lacked any real cutting edge. Brennan Johnson came closest to opening the scoring just before the break as he latched onto sone good work from Tom Hopper.

The centre forward pick-pocketed Wigan’s centre back Curtis Tilt, and as the ball broke to Johnson, he burst into the box but as he looked to initially pull the trigger, he seemed to momentarily hesitate before prodding the ball just wide of the left-hand post.

If anything, Lincoln were their own architects of letting Wigan get a foothold in the game. Some causal passing prevented the home side from gathering any real momentum as Wigan looked to hit Kal Naismith to hold the ball up top. As Wigan grew in confidence, Lincoln’s impatience almost got the better of skipper Jorge Grant, as his cross-field pass from a deep position left the home defence in a precarious position but Naismith couldn’t get a shot away following Garner’s interception.

As Lincoln failed to retain possession, Naismith at the other was proving to be the proverbial pain in the backside for Lincoln’s defence. His ability to frustrate and bring others into play was a valuable asset for Leam Richardson’s men. As the half developed, a timely block from Lincoln’s Adam Jackson, prevented them from finishing the half a goal to the good. Tilt’s well-struck volley was blocked after Naismith’s knockdown when his effort looked goal bound.

Naismith began the second period as he finished the first and when he opened the scoring on 62 minutes, it hardly came as a surprise as his influence on the game continued to grow. Some excellent work by Matty Palmer to win back possession for The Latics was instrumental in their equaliser.

Palmer’s incisive pass got Naismith behind the Lincoln defence and the striker create enough space to get a shot away which deflected past Alex Palmer in the Lincoln goal. It was no more than Naismith deserved as up until that point, he was arguably the best player on the pitch.

Wigan hadn’t allowed Lincoln to get into their groove and had shown a good level of maturity to get themselves ahead in the game. Unfortunately for them, a real moment of quality brought Lincoln level on 69 minutes.

After Brennan Johnson had won a harsh looking free-kick just outside of the box, Grant stepped up to plant his curling free-kick past James in the Wigan goal. It was hit with such precision and pace that the goalkeeper didn’t get anywhere near it.

The moment sparked City into life and from that point onwards, the home side moved the ball with more tempo and purpose. Brennan Johnson, occupying a more central position in the second period looked more purposeful and Robbie Gotts enjoyed his best period of the game as the Leeds youngster moved higher up the pitch from full-back. Anthony Scully came alive too for The Imps and was at the heart of everything good about Lincoln in their final 20 minutes of the game.

Only a goal-line clearance prevent Joe Walsh from heading home but Wigan were well on the ropes by that stage and couldn’t get hold of the ball to slow Lincoln’s momentum. Enjoying their best spell of the game, Lincoln got their eventual winner on 83 minutes.

Tayo Edun’s searching ball over the top got Scully away down the Lincoln left, and his incisive movement in field picked out Tom Hopper with a lovely pass inside the box. As the striker manufactured himself half a yard, he lashed home past James to seal the win for The Imps.

Hopper’s goal capped off a hardworking display from the Lincoln striker and Appleton was delighted with his efforts and was his man of the match 

“Even if he hadn’t scored tonight, I think he was definitely our best player by a long shot.

“Hats off to him tonight. He got his reward with his goal and it will do him the world of good going forward.”

On an evening where the home side were fairly frustrated for the first hour, without fans to buoy their side on, three points on an evening where they can play better, is where teams make vital strides at the top end of the table. Appleton was philosophical at the end of the game as, despite Lincoln not being at their best on the evening, he felt they’d done enough to win four games on the back of their performance in defeat at Plymouth Argyle at the weekend.

“You’ve only got to look at last Saturday and the performance, I know we lost the game but I thought we were outstanding and that’s the thing about football you never know.”

They took their time to get going in the second half but once Lincoln started to move the ball more quickly, they showed what they are capable of and could’ve easily grabbed another goal.

Wigan will be disappointed after competing so well for large parts of the game but as soon as Grant’s equaliser hit the net, they struggled to match Lincoln, with momentum on their side. Interim manager Leam Richardson remained upbeat after the game.

“The emotion after the game is disappointment with the result but for large portions of the game it was very pleasing and I thought we matched a very good side.

“Looking at the performance, did we deserve a result? I think we possibly did, yes.

“We are focused on not accepting defeat; I just said to the lads – and one of the main things I ask myself – is could they have given any more for the shirt tonight? I don’t think they could.”

Appleton wasn’t getting carried away with Lincoln’s position in the table and is aware they’ve got some difficult games coming up over the month. Looking for one or two new additions in the January transfer window, a continuation of picking up some good results will only strengthen his hand when he meets with the board in coming weeks. 

The Imps boss will want Lincoln to start games brighter but will be pleased with the patience his side showed after going a goal down. They showed real desire and hunger to go on and claim a big win that could be quite significant come the end of the season.

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