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Ipswich Town 2-0 Lincoln City - Match Report
Tuesday, 8th Mar 2022 21:53

First-half goals from Wes Burns and Kayden Jackson saw Town to a comfortable 2-0 home victory over Lincoln City, cutting the gap to the play-offs to just three points. Burns gave the Blues the lead in the 22nd minute then Jackson added the second 10 minutes later and the three points never looked in any danger, although the Blues will be concerned that skipper Sam Morsy and central defender George Edmundson both limped off in the second half.

Sone Aluko and Tyreeq Bakinson returned to the Town XI with the on-loan Bristol City man joining skipper Morsy in central midfield.

Bersant Celina moved further forward as one of two number 10s along with Aluko with Jackson the central striker. Joe Pigott and Conor Chaplin dropped to the bench.

Lincoln made three changes from the team which beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 on Saturday with keeper Jordan Wright making his first start and Adam Jackson and Liam Cullen coming into the line-up for Joe Walsh and Tom Hopper, who were among the subs, and the injured Josh Griffiths.

Former Blues midfielder Teddy Bishop was among the Imps' subs, who included no goalkeeper.

Prior to kick-off there was a minute’s applause as the two clubs, Town wearing all blue and the Imps their all yellow third kit, showed their solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

The Blues almost scored in the second minute when, after a slick move which began on the left, Burns fed Janoi Donacien on the right and the defender cut back to the Welshman, who shot over.

Town, with around 25,000 fans backing them, continued the early intensity with Aluko winning the ball following the goal-kick and Burns sending in a low ball which was too far in front of his team-mates.

On 10 Aluko brilliantly took a ball between two defenders and sent Burns away on the right but the wing-back was let down by the pitch and the ball went out of play.

Six minutes later, with Town having continued to dominate, Jackson claimed a penalty when he chased Celina’s chipped ball behind the visitors’ defence and TJ Eyoma took it away from him. Referee Tom Reeves showed no interest in the Town striker’s appeals.

In the 20th minute Luke Woolfenden exchanged passes with Aluko midway inside the Lincoln half and eventually received the ball again inside the area on the byline from Burns but the centre-half’s cutback was diverted away from goal. Aluko got onto the loose ball but his curling shot from the edge of the area was also blocked.

The Blues had been on top since the start and in the 22nd minute they got the goal their performance deserved.

Morsy brought the ball out from the back and found Celina, who bundled past a man in the centre circle and played the ball into the path of Jackson, who burst down the left and played it across the area. Morsy, who had made his way forward, left it for Burns, who slammed in his 11th goal of the season.

Having established their lead, Town went looking for a second and on the half hour, Donacien found himself on the byline on the right with the ball and about to cut it across following a mix-up between two Lincoln defenders. However, referee Reeves stopped play for an earlier Imps infringement, much to the frustration of Donacien and his team-mates.

But the Blues and their already noisy fans only had to wait another two minutes for the second goal.


Burns left Morgan Whittaker in a heap down the right then cut back to Morsy, who played it to the far post to Jackson, who tapped home.

Lincoln argued that the striker had been offside - and it looked very tight - as he turned home his third goal in five games but neither referee Reeves or his assistant were interested.

Town set about getting a third. Celina brought the ball forward before seeing a shot blocked, then Morsy did much the same before feeding Jackson to his right and the striker’s effort deflected behind.

From Aluko’s corner, the ball dropped loose and Morsy had two goes and Jackson one before Lincoln somehow got it away from danger.

On 39, Regan Poole was booked for a foul on Aluko as Lincoln began to become frustrated with the evening’s proceedings.

In injury time, skipper Conor McGrandles joined him for a late tackle on Celina, which led to a confrontation between the pair, Aluko pulling McGrandles away from the situation before matters escalated. McGrandles and Celina, who had appeared to do little wrong, were both booked.

Just before the whistle, Chris Maguire was also shown a yellow card for a foul on Aluko, whose twinkle-toed skills had taken him out of a tight area into space. Celina hit the wall with his 30-yard free-kick.

The Town players were warmly applauded off having dominated from start to finish and well worthy of their two-goal lead, which might well have been even more.

Lincoln swapped Cullen for former Colchester man Cohen Bramall ahead of the second half in an attempt to deal with Burns down the Town right, the former Fleetwood man having run riot in the first half. Having started with three at the back, the Imps moved to a four-man backline.

Seven minutes after the restart, Celina sent Jackson away down the left but his cross looped beyond his team-mates.

Three minutes later, Aluko exchanged passes with Jackson, then cut his way past defenders on the edge of the box before shooting over.

Within a minute, Burns dispossessed a defender inside the area and played the ball to Morsy but the captain’s shot was blocked. From the corner, Edmundson turned goalwards but his effort was diverted behind.

The centre-half underwent treatment following the incident and briefly returned to the field before quickly sitting down and coming off with an ankle problem. The former Rangers man was replaced by Cameron Burgess, making his first appearance under Kieran McKenna.

Town continued to prod and probe looking for the opening which would lead to their third goal, although with less intensity than before the break and with one or two passes going astray. On 66 Celina wasn’t too far away from finding Aluko with a chip behind the Imps’ defence.

A minute later, Lincoln hit their first serious shot of the game, Brooke Norton-Cuffy having escaped on the right before hitting a shot across the face and out for a throw. Moments later, Scully replaced Maguire for the visitors.

In the 73rd minute, clever play on the left saw Celina play in Aluko but the forward was dispossessed as he looked to shoot.

Morsy underwent treatment in the 75th minute and returned to the field before quickly taking to the turf once again and was replaced by Tom Carroll with Aluko receiving the captain’s armband. Meanwhile, Dominic Thompson appeared to be nursing the knock he suffered at Fleetwood on Saturday.

Lincoln replaced Lewis Fiorini with Lasse Sorensen, perhaps surprisingly with striker John Marquis undergoing treatment on the pitch when the change was made.

Aluko was given a standing ovation as he left the field and was replaced by Chaplin in the 83rd minute, the Nigerian international having been the pick of the Town players.

The half had lost its flow due to the substitutions and stoppages for injury and appeared to be petering out with Lincoln looking little threat.

In the 87th minute Bakinson struck a powerful effort from distance which Imps keeper Wright palmed behind to his left.

As the game moved into eight additional minutes for the numerous stoppages, Chaplin curled a 30-yard free-kick wide having been fouled by Marquis.

Blues keeper Christian Walton was called to make his first save of the evening in the 97th minute when Poole found Scully on the left of the box from where he hit a shot across Walton, which the former Brighton man pushed away.

Seconds later, the referee ended the evening’s proceedings, although the game had effectively been over since the Blues scored their second goal.

After the whistle former Town midfielder Teddy Bishop came onto the pitch to applaud his old supporters having not had a chance to do so when he left in the summer.

Current manager McKenna and his team subsequently also made their way towards the Sir Bobby Robson Stand to salute their fans.

A comfortable three points for the Blues, who did the hard work in the first half in which they played as well as they have all season with Burns and Jackson, whose resurgence under McKenna continues, taking two of several chances.

The Blues saw out the second half with few problems other than the knocks suffered by Edmundson and Morsy, players who have become key players in McKenna’s side.

The win sees Town move to only three points from the top six with Portsmouth, two points and a place behind the Blues but with two games in hand having beaten Crewe 3-1 away this evening, at Portman Road on Saturday.

Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson (Burgess 61), Burns, Morsy (c) (Carroll 77), Bakinson, Thompson, Aluko (Chaplin 83), Celina, Jackson. Unused: Hladky, Bonne, Pigott, Norwood.

Lincoln: Wright, Poole, Eyoma, Jackson, Whittaker, Norton-Cuffy, McGrandles (c), Fiorini, Marquis, Maguire (Scully 69), Cullen (Bramall 46). Unused: Sanders, Sorensen, Bramall, Hopper, Walsh, Bishop. Referee: Tom Reeves (Birmingham). Att: 24,989 (Lincoln: 364).


Photo: Matchday Images



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BromleyBloo added 21:54 - Mar 8
At long last we are heading in the right direction - 9 wins from 14, another clean sheet and playing decent football as well. If only we'd had McKenna from the start of the season and weren't playing so much catch up!

First half very good and well worth our 2-0, second half less so and a bit scrappy, but still solid at the back and gave Lincoln nothing. So game fizzled out, but worrying injury concerns.

Aluko star man and defence sound again of course. Still need to be convinced about our striking options, but with that exception think this is currently our strongest line up, with Chaplin coming on from the bench.

Hopefully Edmundson, Morsy, Burns and Woolfy fit and well.

Other results not helpful, but still believe…………………….

COYB!!!
20

johnwarksshorts added 21:56 - Mar 8
I just hope Morsy and Edmondson are going to be ok for Saturday🤞Another good win and another clean sheet.
10

TimmyH added 21:57 - Mar 8
Great final 20 minutes of the 1st half where we were in full control mode with Morsy, Aluko and Burns running the show. Half time came (I wish it hadn't) and Lincoln changed formation and the game came very fragmented and stop start due to injuries but never looked like conceding against a poor Lincoln side though we didn't create much.

Fingers crossed that Morsy (which looked like an abdominal or groin problem), Edmundson and Burns are okay...injuries are not what we need with the fixtures coming up but it would be sods law! Well done though for the 3 points tonight.
6

BeethorpeAndy added 22:04 - Mar 8
Three points! COYB'S
3

dangerous30 added 22:05 - Mar 8
Well done town
3

chopra777 added 22:06 - Mar 8
Good win, considering what Lincoln did to SW at the weekend. The injuries today are worrying. But hopefully all three should recover by the weekend. Get well lads .Wolfie was impressive this evening in fact no one had a bad game. Also good to see the old man of the side showing some nice touches. One win down another 8 wins please.
4

dirtydingusmagee added 22:11 - Mar 8
well done KM and the team, another sound performance, shame marred by injuries hopefully nothing too serious. COYB .
8

runningout added 22:11 - Mar 8
Good for squad to step up on the injury front. What will be will be
3

TimmyH added 22:11 - Mar 8
This is how we can stop our rivals in their play-off bids...pop down the bookies and place an accumulator on Sunderland, Wycombe, Oxford, Plymouth and Sheff Wed (or 4 of them, 5 is a bit of a stretch this Saturday (at least 1 will slip up guaranteed).
I mentioned a few weeks ago how we were entering a period where you start seeing some surprise results as it happens practically every season...well I'm still waiting! :)

0

blueboy1981 added 22:18 - Mar 8
A Good but hard won three points, with some worrying injuries now at a crucial time.
At 2-0 all Lincoln were interested in was stopping us playing by whatever means necessary.
We play some really nice football, but must be more clinical in that final third … !!!
Well Done All.
2

arc added 22:23 - Mar 8
Phil, you're being kind to Morsy on both goals–on the first, he was going for it, but thankfully couldn't reach, so it ran to the better placed Burns, and, on the second, he was shooting and fluffed it, but thankfully it ran straight to Jackson who tapped in :-)

Decent performance all round, even if the second half was a scrappy mess. Three good points, and now Saturday is huge.
1

KiwiTractor added 22:26 - Mar 8
Good result, well done all.
0

Help added 22:35 - Mar 8
That dominant first half performance finally paid off with two goals and then we saw the game out in the second, against a changed but not much better Lincoln. The players looked spent and no surprise injuries appeared. Special K does it again. The serious concern is the number of injuries in one match to very key players. Almost lost the spine of the team tonight. Fingers crossed they are all back and able to play on Saturday.
0

Fat_Boy_Tim added 22:35 - Mar 8
Arc- There was a shout for the first goal, you could tell by the way he turned to look. Agree on the second, rather fortunate assist!

I'd like to say that Bakinson and Thompson both raised the bar on their performances again tonight. Bakinson isn't like having a second Morsey but he won a lot of balls today and Thompson was up against a good winger and gave him very little change. They were neither MOTM but they've had some stick on here and deserve some extra mention when they play that well. For me MOTM was either Aluko or Woolfenden, both superb. Woolfy is a Rolls Royce defender and Aluko lit the place up with some outrageous skill.

On to Sat. I'd take a draw if we are a bit short handed. Some of these teams around us will slip up in the run in, they always do.
4

Linkboy13 added 22:50 - Mar 8
Job done in first half . Always like to listen Mick Mills excellent analysis of the game. But i think Mick got it wrong tonight by saying Lincoln changed their system which made us ineffective. We still looked like we could score in the second half. The main reasons we didn't add to our score were injuries too key players due to the physical approach of the Lincoln team and just seeing the game out without any more injuries with one eye on the Portsmouth game on Saturday. We will need our key players back on Saturday especially Morsy. Carroll is a neat and tidy passer but offers very little physically. Wolfenden has matured no end since McKenna's arrival and i think he will be ok as long as Edmundson is not out for a long time.
0

ringwoodblue added 22:50 - Mar 8
Another tricky match successfully negotiated and another clean sheet.

I guess we will all be nervously waiting over the coming days for updates on the injuries of Edmundson, Morsy, Burns and Woolfie. Losing any of these key players for multiple matches could really hamper our continued playoff charge so fingers crossed they will be back this Sat or very soon afterwards.

McKenna and Pert continue to impress and amaze me so well done to them.
1

algarvefan added 22:53 - Mar 8
Another good result and we were outstanding and exciting in the first half. Even if we have injuries Saturday, we rarely play a settled side, so I have faith in squad players coming in and our strength in depth. I don't think we can rely on just one player but Morsy is a key player for me, he makes the team tick.

A real 6 pointer on Saturday, looking forward to it already, great to have something to play for at this time of the season, I believe we will make the play offs, but think it will go down to the wire, we need to keep winning!! COYB.
1

MickMillsTash added 22:57 - Mar 8
IN full control for 90 minutes against a poor Lincoln side
10 points from the next 4 feels greedy but there don't seem too many sides who can get close to us at the moment
1

Bert added 23:01 - Mar 8
Super classy from Aluko and contributions from all over the pitch. A pity that injuries stopped the flow of the game. Lincoln are not a patch on what they were last year.
1

blues1 added 23:03 - Mar 8
Don't get why everyone's going on about "all" The injuries. While burns took another knock as he did saturday, he finished the game so unlikely he has a bad injury. And bromleyblue, why u mention woolfy in ur injury list? He didn't get injured. Hopefully Morsy and Edmundsen will be ok tho. Especially Morsy who I think we'd miss more, of the 2.
0

TimmyH added 23:16 - Mar 8
Woolfie for a while was carrying a knock or some sort of thigh strain...I'd be very surprised if both Morsy and Edmundson make it for Saturday.
0

PhilR added 00:25 - Mar 9
Some fantastic football from the team tonight, lovely to see an Ipswich team so comfortable on the ball all over the pitch. Lots of comments about what a poor team Lincoln are - but that is a team which beat Wednesday at the weekend 3-1. We gave them no time on the ball, hurried them, tackled well, ran rings round them at times, and made them look poor tonight, especially in the first half.
1

VanDusen added 00:28 - Mar 9
Good good good! Disappointing to see the injuries, but on the plus side led to Janoi Donacien captaining Ipswich Town for the first time!! Well deserved too after this season, tho if you'd have said that would happen a couple of years ago you could probably have made a fortune at the bookies...
0

stormypetrel added 00:49 - Mar 9
Aluko was classy…just classy…as Fat_Boy said, outrageous moments of skill and vision…he was a huge bundle of energy, an absolute engine…Bakinson his best game and continued from his positive cameo at Fleetwood…he had moments of poor first touch and wanton passes but he was combative, strong and positive..much better from Thompson too…and like Janoi Woolfenden has stepped up and is so assured and composed…excellent forward running, and just way past cool…
…Burgess cameo was positive too…Alas Carroll not so…too lightweight as others have said.
Great entertainment great evening…it's just so energised
1

martin587 added 06:45 - Mar 9
What fantastic support once again and I applaud everyone of you.This support is pushing us to the finish line so we must fill the stadium every home match.Traveling fans are exceptional.
Excellent first half and we were on the front foot from the whistle.Relentless attacks and strong in every position once again every player outstanding.Second half we sat back and allowed Lincoln to have more of the ball but once again we soaked the pressure up and continued with some lovely football.Just pray the knocks to the lads won't keep them out for Saturdays six pointer.So proud of the team and great staff it's a long time I've felt like this and it makes my recovery even sweeter.Smiling all the way back to the CITY.
1


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