United 2 Lincoln City 3
Match Sponsor: Gareth Bell & Nathan Eyles
Matchball Sponsor: The Stoneman Family
We were served up one of the most exciting matches at Plainmoor for many months this afternoon but the stark fact come the final whistle was that United's unbeaten run was at an end and it was very much their own doing.
United have been very strong defensively as a team unit in recent weeks but today it all went wrong in front of their own goal while at the other end plenty of opportunities were created but only two were put away.
There were two changes from last week's line-up against Crewe with Mustapha Carayol coming in for the injured Wayne Carlisle & Adam Smith taking the left back slot with Lathaniel Rowe-Turner dropping to the bench.
In the fifth minute United had their first chance when a Nicky Wroe corner from the right was met by the head of Mark Ellis but the centre back's header went over from eight yards. Three minutes later and it was Lincoln who had a sight of goal when Somma hit a 25 yards free-kick that forced Scott Bevan to palm the ball away for a corner. From the resultant set-piece there was a scramble in the Gulls area in which United failed to clear a blocked Somma shot and the Lincoln forward collected the loose ball and shot on the angle inside the near post to put the Imps one up.
Goal: United 0 Lincoln 1 (Somma 9)
Lincoln were creating the better openings during the early stages and the one moment to mention as far as United were concerned was a yellow card for Elliot Benyon for dissent. The conditions were slippy underfoot but considering there was a large amount of surface water on the pitch on Friday the groundstaff did an excellent job securing the fixture took place.
In the 24th minute United created a half chance when a Mustapha Carayol free-kick from the left was met at the far post by Mark Ellis but his nod back couldn't be converted by Chris Zebroski and the ball went agonisingly wide of the left hand post.
On a damp surface both teams, to their credit, were having a go and in the 23rd minute United pulled level. Adam Smith won a crunching challenge near halfway and the ball fell to Nicky Wroe who flicked the ball wide to Carayol. The United winger carried the ball forward before squaring it back to the edge of the area where Wroe collected the ball and hit a right foot shot that took a slight deflection on its way past Burch.
Goal: United 1 (Wroe 29) Lincoln 1
Mustapha Carayol was at it again shortly after and produced a fine left wing run just after the half hour mark which ended with a trio of bamboozled Lincoln defenders in his wake but his shot in the arms of Burch. Mustapha has struggled to find himself in the starting line-up so far this season but if he can keep up the form he showed in this match then he may well keep his place for a lot longer.
Chris Zebroski had another sight of goal shortly before the break but he stabbed his shot wide of the far post from 10 yards as United began to create the better openings.
Half-Time: United 1 Lincoln 1
No changes at the break for the Gulls and the second half started a touch flatter than the first with both teams looking to ease their way back into action. That stalemate though didn't last long; a Somma dribble down the right side of United's penalty area went unchecked and his cut back was not dealt with at all well by the United defence and Hughton crashed the ball into the roof of the net from six yards. It was a second poor goal of the afternoon from United's perspective and out of character for a team that had prided itself recently on its defensive proficiency.
Goal: United 1 Lincoln 2 (Hughton 53)
United nearly responded immediately but in a goalmouth scramble Mustapha Carayol & Scott Rendell had shots blocked almost on the goalline and eventually the ball was hacked to safety. Credit should go to Lincoln for their fully committed defending but the Gulls were proving far too profligate with their well created chances and it was to come back and haunt them for a second weekend in a row at home.
Disaster came shortly after when a long ball down the middle was misjudged by Mark Ellis who slipped over and the impressive Somma calmly collected the ball, rounded Bevan and walked the ball into the empty net.
Goal: United 1 Lincoln 3 (Somma 57)
The crowd were stunned by the sudden change in the match situation and their mood wasn't helped when Adam Smith was booked by the referee after a tackle on Green but the referee seemed to be influenced by some over-reaction from the Lincoln players.
Bucks made a double substitution with Lloyd Macklin replacing Elliot Benyon and Kevin Nicholson coming on to replace Mark Ellis. This meant a reshuffle at the back with Adam Smith moving across to right back and Chris Robertson slotting in to partner Guy Branston in the centre of defence.
United were putting Lincoln under more pressure as they tried to claw their way back into the match and in the 77th minute they pulled a goal back. A long ball down the middle by Scott Bevan wasn't cleared by the visitor's defence and the ball fell invitingly for Chris Zebroski to take a touch and slip the ball past Burch from 15 yards.
Goal: United 2 (Zebroski 77) Lincoln 3
It was all United now and the visitors were resorting to shoving the ball into the corners to try and waste as much time as possible. United were peppering the Lincoln goal with free-kicks, crosses, long throw-ins and shots, most of the former were provided by the excellent Kevin Nicholson who produced as good a twenty five minute cameo performance as has been seen at Plainmoor for many a while.
Right at the death Nicholson was denied by a truly wonderful save by Burch from a thirty yard drive that looked for all the world like it was nestling in the top left hand corner. From the resultant open play Scott Rendell shot inches wide. Seconds later, as United pressed again, Mustapha Carayol shot a lick of paint wide of Burch's goal; it wasn't United's day.
Final Score: United 2 Lincoln City 3
In an attacking sense United couldn't have done much more but the harsh reality of this match was that their defending let them down. Lincoln didn't really win the game it was more of a case of the Gulls handing it to them on a plate. Plenty of encouragement for the battles ahead but plenty to consider on the training pitch this week.
