WOOLFENDEN KEEPS TRACTOR BOYS IN RIGHT GEAR FOR LIFT-OFF
One-nil will do just fine for Paul
PAUL Lambert was delighted following his Ipswich side’s narrow victory over Lincoln as they head into a crucial period of games against promotion rivals.
Luke Woolfenden’s strike just before half-time was enough to overcome Lincoln and send the Tractor Boys to the top of League One.
Lambert said: “I thought that we were very, very good against a fine side. Michael has got a good team but “Woolfie” does well at the back post and heads it in, it was a good goal.
“We did a brilliant move, we kept the ball for about two minutes and (Will) Keane just puts it beyond the post. We made some great combination play in their half, it was relentless.
“I was happy to win the game as winning games is so important, but I am really pleased with the way we played overall.”
Lambert picked out striker Keane and midfielder Emry Huws as two key players during the match and, in general, said that they do the simple things well.
He added that although his team only scored the one goal, despite their dominance, he was happy with the overall performance.
“One-nil means it’s on the edge and we had so many good moments, but 1-0 is a great score and we won the game against a good side,” he added.
With Rotherham losing away at Peterborough the victory meant they were able to leap
frog the former leaders, who host Town on Tuesday.
It was a dominant Ipswich in the opening stages but a rare attack by Lincoln nearly led to them getting the opening goal when a shot by Tyler Walker just went past Town keeper Will Norris’ far post.
Wonderful build-up play by Ipswich led to the ball being fed into Keane, who burst into the penalty area and rifled a low shot just beyond the far post. Moments later Norris tipped over a stinging effort by Walker.
Ipswich took the lead a minute before the break when Woolfenden’s header at the far post squeezed home following a free-kick by Luke Garbutt.
A long-range effort by Garbutt was turned round a post by Vickers and a last-ditch tackle by James Wilson prevented Walker from getting a clear run on goal four minutes from the end.
Lincoln boss Michael Appleton was disappointed not to come away with a point as he said his team were guilty of poor decision making. Appleton admitted after the match: “We did not do enough. I expected it to be better in the final third, the opportunities that came about in the first half when we had a real opportunity to hurt them, but it petered out just because of poor decision making.
“There were lots of moments in the game and we worked hard on the opposition, but I thought that we were a bit second-best at times.
“It was just crosses into the box and there was a lot of huffing and puffing in the area and, when we did turn the ball over, we have got to make better decisions on the ball.
“They looked to switch the ball and did not do anything except for free-kicks and corners as they were slow moving the ball across the pitch.
“We have to use the ball better when you come to a place like Ipswich. We are not a million miles away, it was a poor goal for us to concede, but these things happen.
“We still have time to do something about it. While the games are at 1-0 you still have an opportunity to snatch at least a point.”