Chris Maguire key to Lincoln City’s season revival

Lincoln City held on for a nervy 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Morecambe in an important battle at the foot of League One.

Goals from Cohen Bramall and Morgan Whittaker were enough to claim all three points for The Imps, which sees them move five points clear ahead of The Shrimpers sitting in the bottom three.

It was the currently typical type of Jekyll and Hyde performance which Imps fans have become accustomed to this season particularly at home and Tuesday night proved to be a perfect storm of the indifferent campaign.

Lincoln were excellent for the opening 25 minutes but stuttered their way through the game thereafter and could thank keeper Josh Griffiths for some important saves to secure the three points.

With Chris Maguire being brought back into the starting lineup to be deployed as an attacking midfielder behind Anthony Scully, John Marquis and Morgan Whittaker. It was the strongest Lincoln have looked (on paper) offensively all season.

The experienced 33-year-old showed his appetite for the game after a sloppy start giving the ball away three times in the opening moments. Pulling his socks up from that point, the former Sunderland forward was at the heart of everything good about Lincoln as they sailed into a two-nil lead.

Having been deployed in a fluid ’10’ role to support the Imps front three, Maguire appeared in areas all over the pitch to link defence to attack and didn’t shirk in his desire to pick the ball up where spaces appeared.

Using his ability to hold the ball given he’s not the biggest of men was a key feature of Lincoln’s play.  Maguire showed off his excellent close control a number of times in the opening 45 minutes.

Lincoln were full of confidence and took the lead through Morgan Whittaker following an excellent move. Forging a path down the right-hand side, some smart work from TJ Eyoma and Anthony Scully got Max Sanders in on goal.

The young midfielder’s shot beat Carson only to see the ball hacked off the line but Whittaker was on hand to finish well to put The Imps ahead.

Maguire continued to dictate the play and whether that was controlling overhit short passes into feet or taking aerial balls down on his chest to retain possession for his teammates, the Scot showcased the potential he still has in his game.

There was one sublime moment of skill in the first half after Shrimpers goalkeeper Trevor Carson launched a missile of a kick into the sky. As the ball dropped from a great height, Maguire positioned himself well and with a deft touch, took all the pace off the ball with a lovely cushion pass to Antony Scully, which just evaded the City winger. The moment didn’t go lost on the home support as they applauded with approval.

When Maguire is in this type of form and is fit and hungry, there are not much better in the division. For Lincoln’s second goal, he combined well with Scully on the left-hand side, disguising his pass into the Lincoln winger when he looked to cut inside and shoot.

Scully had the presence of mind to hold onto the ball and as Bramall bombed forward from full-back, he latched onto a lovely weighted pass to finish. He found the net superbly from eight yards for his first goal of the season and only the fourth of his career.

Considering the pace that Bramall has at his disposal and the ability to get beyond defences, it’s a bit of a mystery as to why he doesn’t have more. The potential is there for Bramall to push on and make the left-back birth his own.

With the crowd in full voice, it was then a case of Lincoln having a breather that inevitably led to Morecambe finding their way back into things.

As the visitors saw more of the ball, nerves appeared to creep in as on two to three occasions, Lincoln were incredibly generous with the ball in dangerous areas.

Regan Poole recovered well from a dreadful backpass to prevent League One hotshot Cole Stockton from getting in on goal, using his pace and determination to get back on goalside to clear the ball away.

Skipper Anthoiny O’Connor came close for Morecambe just before the break to pull a goal back with a towering header that had beaten everybody all ends up including the crossbar.

In the second period, Morecambe sensing that they could get back into the game picked up from where they left on in the first, putting balls into the box and pressing higher up the pitch.

The Shrimpers got back into proceedings through a marvellous strike from Toumani Diagouraga ten minutes after the break. A ball into the box was knocked down by Jonah Ayunga into the path of Morecambe’s no.8 who smashed the ball home on the volley from fully 20 yards.

With Maguire tiring, The Imps looked a different side as they struggled to get control of the game. With nervousness around Sincil Bank growing, the visitors almost snatched a late equaliser.

Griffiths did superbly well to recover from an error to deny Ayunga and the defence managed to scramble the ball away from the resulting corner.

Whilst four minutes of injury time initially generated groans from the stands, the home support seized the opportunity to galvanise their team with a roar that was greeted as equally as loud as the goals scored.

At full time, Imps boss Michael Appleton was delighted to pick up the three points to ease immediate pressures and was quick to acknowledge the role of the home faithful.

“In the second half there was a nervousness, I could sense it and the players could as well.

“Then a minute or two before the 90 was up, the place just erupted and they knew they had to get behind the players .That was really pleasing and so hopefully we will get the same going forward.”

With Joe Walsh returning at centre back to offer more balance in defence and Max Sanders showing his hunger to nail down a starting birth, Lincoln looked less fragile but getting a settled side is what Appleton will have dreamed of all season.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt