League One’s clash of the titans ends in spirited stalemate

Lincoln City remain top of League One following a goalless draw with automatic promotion rivals Hull City on Tuesday evening. 

With the groundsman doing a sterling job to clear the snow off the pitch before kick-off, both sets of players weren’t in the mood to surrender any psychological advantage as the promotion race heats up in the division.

If Hull were accused of being slow out of the traps in defeat to lowly Burton Albion at the weekend, the same couldn’t be said at the KCOM. Inside the first minute, Keane Lewis-Potter’s speculative effort took a wicked deflection which saw the ball cannon off Alex Palmer’s crossbar as Josh Magennis looked to pounce on the rebound.

Hull looked every bit up for taking the game to Lincoln and with Josh Emmanuel recalled to the side in an unorthodox right-wing position, his attacking prowess to pin Lincoln’s progressive full-back helped the home side apply some early pressure on the visitor’s goal.

Akin to a school dance-off, whilst Hull had opened proceedings with a frantic opening display, Lincoln’s league leaders were equally keen to make an impression once the hosts paused for an early breath. Michael Appleton has developed a pleasing on the eye style of play which encourages both full-backs on from deep and as they started to find their rhythm in the game, it was Lincoln that came the closest to opening the scoring with a couple of great opportunities that really should have brought about a goal. 

Jorge Grant, instrumental throughout the evening, was at the heart of both moves. His intelligence switched play from right to left and as Timothy Eyoma, latched onto Grant’s pass, the full back’s inviting low cross was only a whisker away from finding Tom Hopper. Moments later, Grant played a sublime through ball to Morgan Rodgers on the opposite flank and as the Manchester City loanee steadied his feet, his right foot shot beat Matt Ingram all ends up in the Hull goal but agonisingly flashed wide of the far post.

Lincoln were starting to find their gears and it was credit to the hosts that they fought their way back into proceedings. With George Honeyman wearing the armband in the absence of Richie Smallwood (ruled out for the remainder of the season with medial ligament damage), the game became scrappier as the snow swirled across the pitch.

Honeyman’s no-nonsense style to challenge and fight for every ball in the middle of the park, galvanised his teammates as they pinned Lincoln back. Reece Burke headed narrowly over from Callum Elder’s set-piece delivery in their clearest opening and Lewis-Potter skied horribly wide when presented with a good opportunity on the edge of the box. 

Having found themselves under the cosh, the pendulum of the game swung once more back into Lincoln’s favour. Whilst they enjoyed the lions share of possession at the start of the second period, they couldn’t find the composure in front of goal that served them so well in Friday’s triumphant win at Gillingham. Tom Hopper and Morgan Rodgers should have both done better when well placed and the visitors almost paid the price when Greg Docherty instinctive shot was deflected inches wide as Hull fought back once more.

Both sides continued to slug it out as the conditions worsened and Lewis-Potter had the evenings best opportunity to break the deadlock on 72 minutes but as he turned to swivel on Callum Elder’s cut back, the young striker could only fire the ball over the bar from eight yards out.

As the game began to get stretched, Brennan Johnson stung the palms of Ingram with a fizzing effort following another swift Lincoln counter-attack but as the stakes grew higher in the dying moments both Jorge Grant and Greg Docherty went into the book for cynical challenges to keep the scores level.

On reflection, a point was a fair result on what was a well-contested encounter but with neither side showing enough quality to win the game, both managers were happy not to have conceded the game.

Though the glossier players in Lincoln’s line up may grab the majority of their headlines, Joe Walsh continued with his dominant form at centre back. It was Lincoln’s second successive clean sheet away from home and his second successive man of the match award. Up against the experienced Magennis, Walsh fought tooth and nail to keep Hull at bay. Although there may have been a tinge of disappointment in the Lincoln ranks that they couldn’t come away with a win, Appleton was more than satisfied with his players.

“We’ve got to be pleased. It was a really, really solid performance, but it was just that little bit of quality that was lacking in the final third.

“I felt we could hurt them in the second half in the wide areas, but it’s still pleasing [to claim a point].”

Grant McCann will have been delighted with the marker laid down by his players from kick-off that they could respond to the weekend’s disappointment and wouldn’t be intimidated by the visit of the league leaders. It was a more than a spirited display but there are concerns that the goals have dried up for Hull momentarily. Whilst their home form has been a real plus this season, they’ve usually capitalised on periods where they have dominated possession but they lacked the cutting edge to penetrate Lincoln’s mean defence.

“Obviously we’re frustrated we didn’t get the goal with the opportunities we created.

“The performance level is very good – that’s all we can go off. As long as we keep creating those chances, the goals will come.

“We’ve got faith. We’re right up there in terms of the highest goalscorers in the league and we’re very good defensively.”

The title certainly won’t have been decided on Tuesday evening but both teams showed a grittier side to their character which could well be a decisive factor as the season becomes a slog towards the back end of the season.

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