Jack shines bright like a diamond as Lincoln slay Derby County

Lincoln City recorded their first home league win of the season following a defiant performance in front of a near-capacity crowd at the LNER Stadium.

Despite missing key players and losing the influential Ted Bishop through injury in the first half, Mark Kennedy’s men showed great resilience to hold their own against an experienced League One outfit in Derby County.

Jack Diamond was the hero of the evening, playing a crucial part in keeping the visitor’s backline on their toes throughout proceedings. It was the Sunderland loanee’s brilliance that proved to be decisive in the game.

As Lincoln picked up a stray pass in Derby’s midfield, Diamond was alert to pick the ball and drive towards makeshift right back, Jason Knight, who bundled over the winger for a stone wall penalty in the 11th minute. Diamond showed calmness to step up and plant his spot kick into the bottom left-hand corner, just out of the reach of Joe Wildsmith in the Derby goal.

Having gone behind, Derby soon found their rhythm with the likes of Conor Hourihane and Louie Sibley linking midfield to attack which put Lincoln on the back foot. The experienced Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on Derby’s right flank gave young Irish fullback Shaun Roughan a stern test but it was the youngster who came out on top over the 90 minutes as the visitors lacked a cutting edge in front of goal despite their dominance with possession.

Everton loanee Lewis Dobbin could only head harmlessly wide when well placed inside the area whilst James Collins did have the ball in the net but was ruled offside with no complaints from Derby players or officials.

Looking overawed against the opposition in front of them, Lincoln struggled to put their foot on the ball and were hanging on the coattails of the Rams as they mounted pressure in the hosts half.  Before the break, Lincoln did give relieve some pressure on the home goal as Sean Roughan just cleared the bar with a left footed hit from long range.

Liam Rosenior sent his players out early for the second half as a show of intent but it was the hosts who were revitalised in matching the Rams in the second period. Paudie  O’Connor was a whisker away from extending Lincoln’s lead with a header that just flashes wide of Wildsmith for post with the the keeper stranded.

Derby continued to probe in what became an end to end slug fest in the second half which raised the volume in the stands. Mendez-Laing thought he had equalised as he latched onto a ball across the face of the goal, smashing the ball into the top corner to the delight of the travelling fans only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

Taking heed of that warning, it was Diamond who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. Waltzing into the box, whilst he couldn’t get his shot away, the ball fell to Ben House who managed to pivot and place the ball past the flat-footed Wildsmith.

With almost 10,000 fans inside the ground, the atmosphere went up a notch to carry Lincoln home.
Derby continued to huff and puff but didn’t really trouble Carl Rushworth in goal. In fact, it was Lincoln that should have ended the game with a further goal advantage.

Diamond embarrassed Derby skipper Curtis Davis on halfway with a superb piece of skill but as he dashed into the penalty box, his final pass let him down at the decisive moment as he tried to square for the unmarked House at the far post.

It was a result that Lincoln had certainly earned with a performance to be proud of for a young side. Head Coach Mark Kennedy was delighted at full time with the result and how his team stuck at the task of defending against a strong outfit.

He said: “I think how I want us to play has left us a little bit vulnerable at times and a little bit open.

“What we’re good at; is that we get together, we talk as a staff, as a multidisciplinary team who will listen to each other. We Just thought tonight’s game, we had to be more compact connect and actually have no shame in giving possession up.

“One of the things we talked about tonight was enjoying defending. Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, John Terry, I know they’re outstanding players, but they all had one thing in common. They took huge pride in defending and I think TJ (Eyoma) genuinely does and tonight he really evidenced that.”

Lincoln travel to Bristol Rovers this weekend looking to build on their encouraging result and add greater consistency to performances.

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