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Ipswich Town 1-1 Lincoln City - Match Report
Saturday, 9th Nov 2019 17:16

Town face a replay at Sincil Bank after their FA Cup first round tie with Lincoln City ended 1-1. Tyler Walker put the visitors ahead on 37 and, after the Imps goalscorer had seen a second-half penalty saved by Will Norris, Andre Dozzell curled home an equaliser 79th minute.

Town boss Paul Lambert changed all 10 outfield players for with keeper Will Norris the only survivor from Tuesday’s 1-0 League One win at Rochdale.

Ex-Imp James Wilson and Toto Nsiala started at the centre of a four-man backline with Janoi Donacien at right-back and Myles Kenlock on the left.

Flynn Downes and stand-in skipper Emyr Huws were in the pair in central midfield with Dozzell on the right and Blues full debutant Anthony Georgiou on the left. Will Keane was up front with Armando Dobra playing off him.

In contrast, Lincoln made one change from the team which drew 1-1 at AFC Wimbledon last week with Jake Hesketh taking over from Jorge Grant, who dropped to the bench.

Ex-Blues loanee Callum Connolly started, while former Norwich central defender Jason Shackell skippered.

Following the traditional Remembrance Day tributes, the game got under way in front of a now familiar low FA Cup crowd with the upper sections of some stands closed and Lincoln’s following given the whole of the Cobbold Stand.

The visitors hit the game’s first strike in the fifth minute but Jack Payne’s low effort failed to trouble Norris who pushed it away low to his left before claiming.

Lincoln appealed for a penalty after Hesketh went to ground inside the area but referee Kevin Johnson waved away his appeals with few of his team-mates joining in the protests.

Town threatened for the first time in the 11th minute when Downes won the ball inside the Imps’ half and brought it forward before feeding Keane to his right. The ex-Hull City man hit a shot from a tight angle which Lincoln keeper Josh Vickers batted away.

After a scruffy for 20 minutes, the Blues briefly took charge and put the visitors under some pressure.

On 24 Georgiou and Dobra exchanged passes on the left and the on-loan Tottenham man sent over a powerfully struck low ball which flew across the Lincoln six-yard box but without anyone being able to get the vital touch.

Five minutes later, Hesketh was booked for a late challenge on Kenlock as the Blues broke following a Lincoln corner. Play was waved on but Huws was eventually held up and then tripped, however, referee Johnson gave the decision the other way, not for the first time, much to the annoyance of the Welshman and the Town crowd.

Dobra joined Hesketh in the book on 33 for a foul on Bruno Andrade as he looked to win the ball back having lost it as he sought take it past Joe Morrell.


A minute later, the Albanian U19 international turned the ball against Connolly from the edge of the six-yard box after Georgiou had volleyed Donacien’s cross from the right back across goal.

Almost immediately at the other end, Andrade broke down the right and crossed low towards the unmarked Hesketh, the ball just going behind Wilson who was unable to check his stride. Fortunately for the Blues Hesketh rushed his effort and blazed into the stand.

But the visiting supporters didn’t have to wait too long for a goal. Andrade again broke away down the right, crossed low for Tyler Walker and the son of former England international Des turned into the net at the near post.

Town continued to be frustrated by referee Johnson’s decisions and, as half-time approached with the Blues still to be awarded a freekick for a foul, he official spoke to skipper Huws regarding some of those reactions. On 44 Downes was booked for a foul on Morrell.

The half-time whistle was greeted by boos, more towards referee Johnson than Town, although both had had poor halves.

Aside from a brief spell around the 20-minute mark and Dobra’s later effort against Connolly, the Blues had been poor.

The display was very similar to plenty of those over the course of the last near-decade in the FA Cup with a much-changed side looking disjointed against more settled opposition.

Town, who needed to be much better in the second half if their winless FA Cup run wasn’t to stretch to 15 games, were quickly awarded that first freekick of the afternoon after Downes was fouled by O’Connor.

The Blues began the second half positively, with Dobra moving out to wide right in a 4-3-3 system, and on 49 Kenlock saw a strike blocked. Soon after, Lincoln swapped O’Connor for Ellis Chapman.

But the visitors were next to threaten, Norris rather unconvincingly saving from Hesketh, but Town were starting to look much more threatening,

On 56 Downes saw a shot from the edge of the box saved, then three minutes later the ball broke to Dobra in the area and the youngster found himself space before hitting a shot which was blocked. The ball came out to Downes and his subsequent effort was also blocked.

Lincoln broke straight up the other end and will feel they should have added to their lead but Norris was quickly off his line to save Walker’s strike with his chest.

In the 64th minute Georgiou broke quickly following an Imps corner and fed Huws, whose shot flew well into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. As Lincoln prepared to take the goalkick Dobra was replaced by Gwion Edwards.

The Blues were beginning to dominate possession with Dozzell increasingly pulling the strings. On 70, a long spell of passing ended with Edwards sending a low ball across from the right but just ahead of Keane with just the merest of touches required to level the scores.

A minute later, Huws burst down the left and sent over a similar ball which again the sliding Keane was unable to reach with the goal gaping.

At the other end, Hesketh saw an effort deflected to Bruno who chested and volleyed, a Town defender diverting wide.

Lincoln should have had the tie settled in the 75th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Nsiala was adjudged to have felled Hesketh. The central defender protested vehemently and frustratedly towards the official - it was his foul that led to Accrington’s penalty last month - but to no avail.

Walker took the kick but sent it too close to Norris, who saved to his right. The ball bounced back to the on-loan Nottingham Forest man but somehow he diverted it well wide of Norris’s goal with it appearing easier to score.

The lucky escape woke the Town crowd and the Blues quickly regained their earlier impetus. And in the 79th minute they equalised.

Kenlock cut in from the left and laid the ball back to Dozzell on the edge of the area from where the England U20 international delicately curled his first goal of the season just beyond Vickers’s outstretched arm.

Town went pushing for a winner, Huws making a strong run down the middle but failing to find Georgiou with his pass, then Downes hit a shot which just flew past the keeper’s right post and hit the stanchion. With six minutes remaining, Town swapped Downes for Danny Rowe, while the Imps replaced Andrade with Harry Anderson.

Kenlock went close with a shot which flew just wide before James Norwood took over from Georgiou.

Lincoln went close to winning it in the 88th minute when Shackell hit a low shot from the edge of the box which Huws and Nsiala managed to divert past the post.

Town were unable to find a winner in five additional minutes with Lincoln going closer when the ball was sent high into the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand after crosse flew across the box from both sides.

At the whistle referee Johnson was booed off by the Town crowd, his decisions having continued to frustrate, not least a late flying challenge on Edwards which went unpunished.

The Blues were much better after the break and had enough chances to have won the match. However, Lincoln will point the missed penalty and one or two other opportunities.

The draw stretches Town’s winless run in the FA Cup to 15 games but with another chance to finally taste victory in the competition in the replay.

The game at Sincil Bank - scene of one of the club's greatest embarassments when they were beaten by the Imps in a replay in January 2017 - which will be on Wednesday 20th November.

Town: Norris, Donacien, Wilson, Nsiala, Kenlock, Huws (c), Downes (Rowe 84), Dozzell, Dobra (Edwards 65), Georgiou (Norwood 86), Keane. Unused: Holy, Judge, El Mizouni, Woolfenden.

Lincoln City: Vickers, Toffolo, O’Connor (Chapman 50), Shackell (c), Payne, Andrade (Anderson 84), Walker, Morrell, Connolly, Eardley, Hesketh (Grant 77). Unused: Smith, Lewis, Melbourne, Akinde. Referee: Kevin Johnson (Weston-super-Mare). Att: 11,598 (Lincoln: 1,190).


Photo: TWTD



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ITFCsince73 added 20:28 - Nov 9
Dirty after the mid September international break, we went on an 6 league game unbeaten run...
Obviously not much harm done then.
After the last break PL continued with the under performers. Resulting in 2 defeats.
Nothing to do with momentum.
0

alanmason added 20:31 - Nov 9
Hindsight is a wonderful thing....
0

Dissboyitfc added 20:31 - Nov 9
Itfcsince73.... but do you see, have you ever seen improved performances after players are rested? I am racking my brain but can't think of a single occasion, so please tell me one! Because all I can remember are poor disjointed and indifferent displays, have we ever won after an international break? Over to you please prove me wrong!
4

ITFCsince73 added 20:40 - Nov 9
Not disagreeing with you Diss, just stating the break mid September done no harm.
And besides the way some of our so called 1st 11 have been performing of late, today gave a chance to stake a claim. Taken or not.
1

RobsonWark added 20:55 - Nov 9
Apparently we have the biggest squad in League 1. FFS play the best team week in week out and if somebody gets injured replace them with another player without disrupting the whole team. It's so SIMPLE. Why do these over paid players keep being rested? I commute to London for work 5 days a week. I leave at 7am and don't get home till 7:15pm. Give me the wages they get paid and let me train for 2-3 hours a day and play for 90 minutes one or two days a week for a game I loved to play when I was younger!!
8

ITFCsince73 added 20:59 - Nov 9
It's clear this player rotation and resting has the support divided.
We have so far picked up more than 2 points per game through out the season so far.
The proof therefore is in the pudding....it's worked well so far.
And well on course to be league winners.
All the above unimaginable in the Summer.
0

RobsonWark added 21:02 - Nov 9
Rio Ferdinand springs to mind. He said just before he got banned for 9 months he would play the game for nothing because he loves playing. He then got banned for 9 months for not turning up for his drugs tests. Got a 9 month ban for which Man Utd stuck by him and then held Man Utd to ransom for a new contract. I hate seeing him on tv. Play the game because you love it - not for the money!! Steve McManaman got paid loads to sit on the bench at Real Madrid. Play because you love the game and play week in week out!
2

warkyisgod added 21:07 - Nov 9
I don't understand the thinking with this game Lambert knows the fans frustrations with the cup and yet does exactly what the previous managers have done. If the club is not interested in the cup then don't charge us to go and see it. As a lot have said we could have easily played a strong team in this game and played the team today on Tuesday it's a win win then, all get a game and we could have won then there would be one less game to fit in ,and who knows if we did get to round 3 we may get a lucrative tie which could help to pay for some new signings in January to help us over the line to get back to the championship. One final point where do they get these referee's, today's one was an absolute joke I know we have rose tinted glasses sometimes but when a player went down Lincoln got the free kick although the penalty can't argue unfortunately.
4

Lord_Mac added 21:18 - Nov 9
I have now gone TEN YEARS since seeing us win an FA Cup tie. Playing a settled side through cup tie builds momentum rather than disruption. Most of our games are being postponed anyway, so we are going weeks between first team games.

FA Cup runs also give something else for teams and supporters to thrive on. Millwall is an example. Even we still get publicity and benefit from winning in 1978. Changing the team like this, which several recent managers have done, is a false economy and crowds will dwindle.

Finally, if you must close half the ground, why not the bottom half, not the top half, so people get the better view for their money?
4

ITFCsince73 added 21:20 - Nov 9
Agree Robson.
Although it would appear these days football is run by science.
Through scientific tests it shows Skuse and Chambo can play each and every game. 1 or 2 games a week, every week. But Nolan, Downes and Woolf couldn't....??
2

ArnieM added 21:33 - Nov 9
Trouble is ITFCsince 73, Towns performances have been far from easy on the eye, and are often laboured against supposedly weaker opposition. This is due , I believe, to Lamberts constant chopping and changing of players in the team. It does not allow for player understandings to develop, and disrupts the flow of season hardened patterns of play. A “team” might be able to tolerate a couple of changes, but not 4-6 and certainly not 10!! It's ludicrous to expect 11 players to go out and perform as an established “ team”, when they probably haven't even played together in a competitive game on more than one occasion. Today we had 11 players , wearing the Blue shirt, but were they a “ team “ in the true sense of the word? No.

This Club was relegated last season on the back of Hurst bringing in 11 new players, who didn't know each other, let alone each other's game. Lambert is running the risk ( IMHO), of derailing Towns very real chance of automatic promotion because of his insistence on rotating players needlessly, and postponing games needlessly.

Of course many will disagree with this view, but if Bobby Robson managed to conquer Europe and almost do the double in the English at the highest level using under 20 players over something like 69 games, then why the hell cant Lambert do similar in just the Third tier ?
10

cat added 21:41 - Nov 9
Whilst I get and understand squad rotation and the benefits of it, there's been a couple of occasions this season when it simply ain't worked. Shame, cause the normally ‘fan respecting‘ Lambo has dropped a ‘nad' in a game when we had the opportunity to stick one back up Lincoln, kinda redemption for the inept Dino!
Not happy today and I personally don't give a flying one about being negative. In fact we could do with some more on here in a week when the highlight of debating was the foul and abusive (lol) use of the word SH!t.
6

ITFCsince73 added 22:01 - Nov 9
I agree arnie, but results and league standing says its working.
I said some weeks back that the 1st 11 that started the season will be totally different to the one that finishes it, that I stand by.
And if that proves to not be the case, I don't expect auto promotion.
Because our so called 1st 11 isn't currently good enough. Not because of game runs. Just not good enough as players.
To many underperformers who are consistent with underperforming.
Our 2 recent L1 defeats blamed on international breaks...
My blame lies with players picked who shouldn't be.
1

Saxonblue74 added 23:44 - Nov 9
Arnie, spot on. The results and our league position are, in my opinion, a result of weakened opposition due to our relegation. In real terms our performances have not improved from last season.
4

bluesman added 08:02 - Nov 10
Let's all go back to 1981. These days football is just too demanding on players and all the successful clubs have to have these big squads. We prefer to be a small club. We always have been. What's all this squad stuff? Load of baloney. Lets get rid of eleven players or so then we can all live in the past.
-2

Dissboyitfc added 09:48 - Nov 10
Blues man....is football more demanding I think not! Back in the day we would play Norwich Xmas day then Boxing Day and the players would be back to their day job the day after that. Take into that poor pitches heavy boots poor or no health care and leather footballs that would rip your eyebrows off with the laces, more demanding now, not a chance! The modern footballer has got it easy in comparison!

I don't agree with all the chopping and changing, full stop! Here's a thought, maybe Lambert does know his best starting 11 yet. Food for thought!
2

Linkboy13 added 10:25 - Nov 10
I've been one of Andre Dozzells worst critics in the past but i thought he looked very good in the middle of the park today. Don't know why but managers constantly play players out of position and Paul Lambert's no obsection .
0

Bluearmy_81 added 11:03 - Nov 10
If in 2009 you'd told me that in 10 years time I would be hoping to win a cup game, one single cup game, for the first time in 9 years I'd have laughed. That's the reality. What depths we have sunk to under Evans. A laughing stock is what we are...
4

ITFCsince73 added 13:49 - Nov 10
Saxon. As a team our performances have improved massively.
It's many individual performances that haven't, but look better because of relegation and weaker opposition.
1

AlanG296 added 16:08 - Nov 10
Unfortunately Lambert's selection shows an arrogance and disrespect for clubs at our level. Yes we are top of the division but we have had a relatively easy fixture list and we have been winning mainly by keeping a clean sheet and nicking scrappy goals. We have seen very little in the way of effective attacking team work. By all means put the reserves out in the FLT, but this game was a missed opportunity for his best eleven to work on their collective game, which would benefit us against the more difficult opponents to come.
1

Razor added 11:05 - Nov 11
Lost a lot of respect and goodwill for Lambo on Saturday.

In essence he is cheating the fans and it is a mess entirely of his own making.

If he had played a stronger team we would have won and replays would be out of the equation.

ALWAYS PLAY YOUR STRONGEST TEAM
3

dirtydingusmagee added 09:16 - Nov 12
dont hear the clubs in the final moaning about polishing the trophy ! or the money that was brought in to get to a final , yet we seemingly have no interest, some will argue that we are better off to go for promotion ...ahemm 10 years believing that, and where are we ?
1


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