Lincoln Ladies 1-3 Bristol Academy Women

Hmm the phrase bad day at the office springs to mind here folks.

Its strange how football can come along and boot you up the arse when you least expect it. Only seven short days ago Lincoln ground out a great 2-0 win against Chelsea and looked solid and the back and clinical up front. Today there first half defensive performance was quite comfortably their worst of the season. However it would be wrong to say that the result was totally down to Lincoln playing poorly. Bristol had obviously done their homework on Lincoln, had a game plan, and executed it very well.

As we are coming up to the halfway stage of the season the league is starting to take shape. Arsenal, after there fine 4-2 away win at Birminhgam last weekend, are starting to pull away at the top. Birmingham, who currently sit in the second (and final) Champions League spot have a three point gap to the teams in the chasing pack which includes Lincoln, Everton, Bristol, and Chelsea all bunched together on 8 points and separated only on goal difference. After this pack you have Liverpool a few points adrift and then you get Doncaster on 3 points rooted to the foot of the table (and we wont mention which team they got those three points against shall we).

So as it stands if any team from the chasing pack is going to challenge Birmingham for the second Champions League spot (I think we can pretty much concede the title and the first Champions League spot to Arsenal) they really need to start putting a run of wins together soon and take points off the other sides in that chasing pack.

The two sides have meet before this season with Lincoln grinding out a solid 1-0 at their place when Carla Cantrell grabbed her first goal of the season. So today gave Lincoln a great chance to record their first double of the season.

As you would expect after the good performance last week Lincoln went into the match with an unchanged line up from the one that saw off Chelsea last time out. And the day started so well for Lincoln as they took the lead inside the first couple of minutes. A low cross was fired in by Collette McCallum and Precious Hamilton slid in at the near post to notch her second goal of the season. Precious has worked really hard over the past few matches for little reward and with a bit more luck could have bagged herself a hat full so i was pleased for her to get on the score sheet. Hopefully this will give her confidence a boost and more goals will follow. Unfortunately from a Lincoln standpoint this was as good as it got, as the Imps hit the self destruct button.

Bristol were soon into their stride though and were back on level terms three minutes later. Bristol won a freekick down their left hand flank and loaded the box ready for the delivery. Jess Fishlock then whipped a curling ball in that went over everybody and flew into the top corner at the back post. I have seen some decent set piece moves in the WSL and this was right up there (much as it pains me to say it). As the ball was sent in, the Bristol players were all making runs which distracted the Lincoln defenders and keeper, by the time the Imp players realised what was happening the ball was in the net. To use an old football cliche this was  "One straight from the training ground"

Lincoln looked slightly punch drunk at that goal and were horridly caught out in possession in the middle of the park moments later when Bristol  launched a devastating counter move which ended with Spanish playmaker Laura Del Rio sending over a cross of real quality for Natasha Harding to head home at the back post to give the visitors the lead. So from being 1-0 up after two minutes the Imps were now 2-1 down after 14.

Lincoln did try to get back into the game and forced a couple of free kicks and corners but never really created a clear cut chance. Bristol though were looked dangerous on the break and were starting to get on top in midfield. Lincoln helped them do this though by constantly giving the ball away.

Bristol went further ahead in the 34th minute and again it was poor from a Lincoln point of view. The Imps again gave the ball away which allowed Harding to unleash a fierce drive which Nic in the Lincoln goal parried into the air. Unfortunately it didn't quite have enough on it to clear the cross bar and despite the best efforts of Sophie Bradley to clear it off the line Nikki Watt forced it home to make it 1-3. It would appear that the ball had already crossed the line as the goal has been given to Harding. I felt sorry for Nic on this one because she did the correct thing (In my view anyway) in trying to push the ball over the bar. Had she just parried it out infront of her it would have gone straight into the path of the onrushing Bristol players. Had it gone over the bar to safety we would have been saying what a great save.That's the problem with being a keeper. The margins for error are so fine. As i found out to my cost as a failed goal keeper who's career between the sticks never went any higher than two seasons in the Retford and district 5 a side second division (during one of which we finished bottom).

Thankfully Lincoln managed to knuckle down and got in to halftime without conceding any more goals. This was by far the worst performance that the Imps have put in so far this season, and it was the first time they have been two goals behind in a match. As the players trudged off to the dressing rooms the Lincoln coaching team stayed out on the pitch for a few minutes heads bowed no doubt planning a difficult team talk. I would imagine its tough to give a team talk in a situation like this. Obviously  the management wouldn't have been happy with what they had just seen, not one bit, but if you go over the top with criticism  you run the risk of destroying what confidence the girls had left. 

With the Imps being a couple of goals down it wouldn't have been a huge surprise if changes were made but Glen Harris decided to give the starting eleven the chance to make amends. The main feature for much of the second half wasn't so much either side but the referee, who i felt was a tad whistle happy and never let the game flow. This suited Bristol as it allowed them to slow the game down and kill of any momentum that Lincoln tried to build. The Imps did try to get forward and back into the game but in truth never really looked like scoring. On the plus side we did look alot more solid at the back and Bristol were happy to sit back and try to hit Lincoln on the counter attack. Lincoln did have three strikers on the pitch for the last 15 minutes or so when Katie Rood was introduced into the attack but again the breakthrough appeared elusive. Katie, as with her previous performances, looked lively and chased everything down. In truth i was a little surprised that she wasn't brought on at half time but her performances have certainly warranted more game time (In my view anyway) 

As the game petered out the main question was whether both sides would finish with eleven ladies on the pitch. The game hadn't been a dirty one at all but the ref seemed hell bent on booking almost everything that moved. Late on in the game Remi Allen conceded a free kick and  in frustration picked up the ball and slammed it into the ground. Naturally this brought a yellow card for dissent and it just about summed Lincoln's day up. I felt sorry for Remi as she had bust a gut in midfield trying to get the imps back into it in the second half. 

Now i always try to be an optimist and i am going to try to look on the bright side. Before this round of games Lincoln were three points behind 2nd place. Despite this defeat and other results they are still three points behind second place. Ok  there are a few sides bunched up three points ahead of them but they will all have to play each other so there are plenty of points to be won (or lost) 

Yes this was a poor performance (as some of the girls on Twitter have acknowledged) but this side has had setbacks before this season and always bounced back in the next match. Lincoln really do need to win their next league game this coming weekend (at home to Liverpool) And after this match i am sure Glen with have them fired up. 

After the Liverpool game its the mid season break and Lincoln only have one more home league match to play this season (Everton at home on the last day).
While on the road we face Doncaster, Liverpool, Chelsea, Birmingham and a trip to Champions elect Arsenal.  The odds may be against the Imps at the moment and if we are going to get in the top two we will have to do it that hard way. But there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way. Its never a dull moment watching Lincoln Ladies that’s for sure.