Get back to real life
still had the legs and the lungs to go and burgle an 89th-minute winner.
Nor is this a squad who have had years to blend and bond. NonLeague football, with its six- and 12month contracts, is not really like that. Hardly any of the team have been there for more than a couple of years. Which makes the Cowleys’ feat even more impressive.
“I saw something special going on at Lincoln,” said Raggett, who signed from Dover last summer. “I’d played against Danny and Nicky when they were in charge of Concord and Braintree. I know they’re top quality. We’re together, there are no cliques, and we get on well. You can see that on the pitch.”
Given they have worked tirelessly on their set-pieces all season, there was a certain satisfaction in the fact that the winning goal, a couple of minutes from time, came from a corner.
“We spend a lot of time rehearsing them, normally in the freezing cold,” Danny said. “So to score with a set-piece was pretty apt. We didn’t want a replay, because of our fixture schedule. So I was pleased we got a corner.”
Sam Habergham took that corner, Luke Waterfall headed it back across goal, Raggett got the final touch and the rest is history. Yet it is what happened afterwards that probably gives you the truest insight into this Lincoln team. When they finally finished saluting their 3,000 travelling fans and returned to the dressing room, they found a crate of sponsors’ beer sitting there waiting for them. Danny took one look at Nick, and decided to throw it out at once.
“We’re a professional football team, and we’re mid-journey,” he said. “We’re mid-season. Alan Power had one in his hand, didn’t he? I think he likes a beer in his social time. But this isn’t social time.
“We can’t get carried away with ourselves. We have to use the momentum we’ve gained from this competition to inspire us, to keep working hard. The players have seen that. If they’re willing to work relentlessly hard, then great things can be achieved.”