A creditable comeback by Town after a quite dreadful first half performance nevertheless failed to banish the doubts which are never too far away from this squad.
An unbeaten run of 10 games, including 7 wins, should be generating far more excitement and praise but supporters remain suspicious of both the overall quality of football being produced and the standard of the competition in League One.
Town lined up with Turton and Ruffles charged with providing width and forward momentum. The good recent form of Turton justified his inclusion, and while Ruffles has rarely excelled in a Town shirt, Headley has gone backwards alarmingly this season and would have been a strange starter.
As a result, however, so easily were they stifled in any attempt to get forward, Town’s shape looked rigid and old fashioned while Lincoln’s comfort in possession saw them dominate the opening half and their passing and movement created enough opportunity to render their 2 goal half time lead a little modest but fully deserved.
Lethargic and wasteful, too many Town players were anonymous at best and negligent at worst. None carried any threat.
Lincoln took the lead 15 minutes in after establishing a control over the game with controlled aggression and a refreshingly positive approach. The goal, a smart header by House from an excellent cross, was at the end of an impressive passage of possession which dragged the hosts around the pitch before creating space down the right to exploit.
10 minutes later, smart interchanges in the box saw Cadamarteri’s shot turned into his own net by Lonwijk for a fully deserved 2 goal lead.
Things didn’t get better against the weirdly garbed visitors, who sported a shiny black effort with the sponsor disguised for some reason, and a single, weak Ward effort was the Terriers’ only notable effort on goal.
A combination of Lincoln’s enterprise, a revert by Duff to his tactical comfort zone and an evident lack of energy produced a stale first half performance which should, perhaps, have been punished more heavily by the Imps.
To his credit, the manager metaphorically held his hands up and replaced the glaringly obvious weaknesses in the team – Turton and Ruffles, who simply didn’t convince as wing backs, to say the least.
With Pearson succumbing to illness, which explained a baffling and bizarre performance from him, and Lees absent through presumably the same bug, there were some mitigations for Duff’s selections given Headley’s erratic nature and Sorensen’s recent comeback from injury, but the impact of playing unsuitable wing backs was felt throughout the team.
Ward and Koroma were barely involved and ineffective when roused, while Wiles and Kane looked confused when not totally anonymous.
Halftime thankfully arrived and brought to a close one of the worst 45 minutes of the season which, perhaps inevitably, came close on the heels of a wretched display at Bolton – the competition in which they were competing may have lacked importance to many, but that couldn’t hide the paper thin quality of this squad.
Sorensen and Marshall came on to replace Turton and Ruffles, to absolutely nobody’s surprise, and the new shape changed the complexion of the game. In particular, Koroma was free to express himself in his best role on the left and Kane and Wiles finally joined in playing with the impressive Kasumu who had been the sole shining light in that dismal first half.
For their part, Lincoln’s adventurous formation and play inexplicably disappeared, perhaps as a result of Town reducing the arrears very quickly after the break.
The unshackled Karoma took on the visitors’ right side and as they fell away as if taken by complete surprise he dinked a ball into the box which Spencer did very well to steer into the net.
While Town’s performance improved, and ultimately their pressure deserved the equaliser when it came late on, it was hardly a sparkling revival and far too few chances were created given the dominance.
The unfortunate Sorensen had to come off after barely 25 minutes with a recurrence of hamstring trouble, which brought Headley on to the pitch. His first contribution was a stirring run at the Lincoln defence which brought no reward but, sadly, the rest of his performance was not as encouraging, including slipping twice and nearly letting Lincoln in.
Things may have worked out differently if an entirely obvious foul on Wiles in the box had been appropriately punished but a hesitant referee sought confirmation from his assistant, and none came, outrageously. It’s a mere 7 days since another jaw dropping non-decision could have cost us points at Mansfield, with their keeper being reprieved of an automatic red card.
The penalty, assuming we converted it- and it’s a larger assumption than it should be – would have given Town more time in the ascendancy to go and win the game as Lincoln’s players began to visibly fade.
As it was, the leveller came late and as a result of a kind bounce or two before Marshall finished nicely. It is to be hoped this will give the youngster some confidence to add to his undoubted hard work.
Having already played a part in altering the destiny of the game with their astonishing interpretation of what constitutes a penalty worthy challenge, the officials then proceeded to confirm and rubber stamp their incompetence in the 8 minutes of injury time.
At a corner for Lincoln, who had belatedly decided to take the game to the hosts again, Helik was clearly elbowed in the face by one Lincoln player then abused either verbally or with added moisture by another.
Normally calm and level headed, the Pole reacted furiously to the double assault, and the clueless referee who had missed both incidents very possibly ignored the fact that around half of the injury time had been eaten up without play to blow up and reduce the temperature. He failed in that objective as the furious Town captain railed long and hard after the final whistle and even had to be persuaded to leave the tunnel and return to the dressing room.
Lee Nicholls also got embroiled with a Lincoln player near the dug outs and the return fixture at Sincil Bank on April Fool’s Day will be interesting.
A rescued point and the expanding of the unbeaten league run couldn’t mask some worrying, though far from new, problems. Duff currently doesn’t have the personnel to play his favourite system and it is a concern that he reverted to an overly defensive approach which suited a surprisingly enterprising Lincoln playing 3 forwards.
In his defence, injuries, illness and the inability of some to complete 90 minutes meant the appearance of a player with, apparently, no future at the club and, in Freddie Ladapo, an alleged striker who managed two touches and a throw in during a 25 minute cameo of no discernible value.
It would be churlish not to acknowledge that the first recovery from 2 goals down since 2015, coupled with a gritty display at Field Mill, suggests an improving mentality and we can but hope that ridiculous officiating will even out and that Town will strengthen the obvious weaknesses in January, though it is difficult to attach much conviction to either of those hopes.
Merry Christmas everyone.
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