Wright stuff is key for Johnson

GARY Johnson said he was immensely proud of his Cheltenham Town team after their victory over Lincoln City at Whaddon Road.

Danny Wright’s firsthalf strike was enough to end the Imps’ five match unbeaten run in wet and windy conditions.

“It was a fantastic performance, from my goalkeeper and all my outfield players,” Johnson said.

“We’ve worked very hard to get a pattern we can adhere to against a team who are very strong and uncompromising, but we went toe-to-toe and came out on top.

“The supporters played their part, knowing how important the game was and they were brilliant. We broke away a few times and both keepers had to make saves, but I am just really proud to come out winners from a really good match.

“We knew we had to win our battles and we played two big strikers, who did a job.”

The all-important goal came in the 30th minute when Taylor Moore’s throw-in was helped on my Brian Graham and Wright held off three defenders to roll in his fifth goal of the season.

Imps boss Danny Cowley admitted his side failed to perform in the first half and left themselves with too much to do.

“We conceded a poor goal and if you do that you are always susceptible to losing games,” Cowley said.

“We tried very hard in the second half, but couldn’t find a way back into the game. We allowed the ball to come into the box too easily.

“The ball came to their centre forward’s feet with three players around him, but he turned, carried them on his back and hit it into the bottom corner, that needed to be stopped at source.

“The conditions were difficult and in the first half we didn’t play anywhere near what we are capable of and lacked conviction.

“We were too lightweight at times, and against a physical team in those conditions, we struggled to get a foothold in the game.” Playing with a strong wind behind them in the first half, both Jordan Cranston and Mo Eisa tested Josh Vickers in the opening 15 minutes.

Carl Winchester fired over and Eisa curled another effort wide as Lincoln handled the elements well until Wright netted the only goal.

The away side looked more threatening in the second half, with Scott Flinders saving from Josh Ginnelly and Jordan Maguire-Drew.

Eisa and Kevin Dawson both came close to a second for Cheltenham late on.