AKINDE MISS CHEERS PIES

County pick up welcome point as Imps striker fluffs his lines

NEIL Ardley said he was proud of his Notts County side as they ground out a draw with local rivals Lincoln after a torrid few days for the club.

Last week County chairman Alan Hardy put the club up for sale – the same day he made an embarrassing social media gaffe where he accidentally tweeted a picture of his genitals – but claimed the two were not connected.

To Hardy’s credit, he backed his manager in the closing days of the transfer window as they bid to pull off the Great Escape.

With County rooted to the bottom of the table and starring at relegation out of the Football League, the club were badly in need of some good news.

And on the pitch it came as early as the second minute when Jon Stead fired them ahead from the penalty spot.

But they were unable to hang on as Bruno Andrade brought Lincoln level on the stroke of half-time and then John Akinde missed a late penalty for Lincoln – whose fans filled the away end with inflatable penises in reference to Hardy’s social media howler.

But County boss Ardley was pleased with what he saw on the pitch.

He said: “I was very proud of my team’s performance.

“When Lincoln got the penalty late on, I really felt for the players because I thought they didn’t

deserve that. But thankfully the luck went our way and they missed it.

“We went toe to toe with Lincoln and I had told the players that I wanted to see before the game.

“They are the best team in the league and I said just go for it because we have got to win games of football.”

The result leaves County seven points adrift of safety and Ardley knows his side have to start turning draws into wins sooner rather than later.

He added: “It’s a point and if we are going to achieve what we want to achieve then we are going to have to win a certain amount of games and draw a certain amount, too. That’s one of the draws chalked off in a tough run of fixtures.” The Magpies made a dream start when they won a penalty with their first meaningful attack when Mitch Rose’s cross teased Harry Toffolo into a challenge on Stead. Referee Antony Coggins pointed to the spot and Stead, who had missed a penalty in front of the Kop against Bury at Christmas, made no mistake from 12 yards this time. Enzio Boldewijn then forced Grant Smith into a save from 20 yards, but gradually Lincoln began to make their presence felt. Jason Shackell ghosted in to head straight at Ryan Schofield, but it was Bruno Andrade who hauled the visitors level with a 20yard strike that the Notts stopper could not keep out.

Despite being threatened with relegation to the National League, Notts pushed forward for a vital winner with Stead seeing a header clip the bar.

But there was late drama when Akinde was fouled in the box by debutant defender Sam Stubbs, only for the forward to roll his spot-kick past a post.

Top-of-the-table Lincoln are two points clear of Mansfield with a game in hand and manager Danny Cowley thought it was a good point.

He said: “It was everything we expected it to be. We got off to a really poor start which gave them a leg up. The penalty looked very innocuous and the referee has had a crazy afternoon. I thought he was dangerous for both teams, if I am honest. He didn’t affect the outcome, but he created a crazy game.

“You have to give some credit to the opposition. People who just look at league tables will see this as points dropped for us.

“They fought really hard. They were full of energy and full of intensity. If you take the league positions out of it, this was a really tough game and is actually a good point, but when you get a penalty in the dying moments, you hope you’re going to score from it.”