ARSENAL END THE LINCOLN FAIRYTALE
Relief for Wenger as Giroud and Co find their shooting boots at last to win 5-0
IT WAS their moment. Nathan Arnold knew it. Danny Cowley and Nicky Cowley knew it. The 53 coach loads carry the bulk of Lincoln’s 9,000 fans knew it. Arsene Wenger, with his 33 years of management experience and his current troubles, knew it.
Arnold, the former Hyde United and Alfreton Town man, had just landed Laurent Koscielny, the France defender who played in the Euro 2016 final, on his backside with a quick turn and change of pace.
Thirty minutes had passed and the game was scoreless. Arnold looked up, chose his spot and shot. The ball’ s trajectory was goalwards and it was Arnold’s misfortune that Petr Cech is a giant even among goalkeepers. Even then he needed to be at full stretch to tip it wide. In the technical area, those Cowley brothers gasped and held their heads.
It was a good save rather than an awful miss. But still, it was their moment. To be fair, Lincoln City have had a few along the way on this adventure since it began as they laboured for a 0-0 draw against here. For 45 minutes they could just retain a glimmer of that fantasy. Winning might seem beyond them even though that Arnold chance suggested the possibility. But they were holding their own.
The Cowley brothers said they would break the match down in 10-minute chunks to make it more manageable. Well, for the first of those 10-minute periods, Arsenal struggled to get out of their half.
Lincoln had enlisted Sir Clive Woodward and the Red Arrows, based at nearby RAF Scampton, to prepare for this game. It showed. The professionalism of their approach was beyond the expectation of many a club far above in football’s hierarchy. Of course, set-pieces and 6ft 4in Matt Rhead featured prominently. As did lining the team up on the right hand side for their initial kick-off. But they did what they had to do. And they did it rather well.
There was Bradley Wood with crucial tackles, though he would later chastise himself for allowing one of the world’s best players to skip past him on the way to goal number four. There was the man mountain Sean Raggett, undeterred at the back and, but for his late challenge on Mesut Ozil at the end, staying within the bounds of acceptable physicality.
Then there was his captain Luke Waterfall alongside him, organising and cajoling. Up front, working the channels with indefatigable energy was Jack Muldoon, a former plasterer, ably supported by Rhead, who used to work for JCB diggers.
The non-League moment in the FA Cup is not meant to last until the early spring. It should be a mid-winter warmer, briefly enjoyed but quickly gone. Lasting until the serious stages is a new addition to the FA Cup script. As such, debates polarising the magic of the Cup with its seemingly diminished status seem stale. It matters less in the 21st century but remains significant, especially when it throws a light on the likes of Lincoln.
Arsenal have their own problems. That 10-2 aggregate defeat by Bayern and Lincoln’s own prowess meant they could not risk the kids and reserves. This was Arsenal at their strongest, other than Ozil, who started on the bench due to illness and would come on after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up a first-half injury.
Arsenal had afforded Lincoln maximum respect. And their bewitching spell was finally broken as half-time approached. Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs and Olivier Giroud combined to tee up Theo Walcott inside the box. He struck but needed the help of a massive deflection to score.
In the 53rd minute, Hector Bellerin and Alexis Sanchez combined to line up Giroud for the second. It was 58 minutes when Gibbs, dashing down the line, pulled the ball back and saw Waterfall deflect it into his own net. For the fourth, Sanchez simply ran at a tired Lincoln defence, with Wood berating himself for missing his tackle, as the Chilean curled the ball into the net.
The fifth came 15 minutes from time, Sanchez setting up Ramsey this time with a chip which the Welshman chested down, touched past goalkeeper Paul Farman and then smashed into the net from close range.
At the end, there were embraces all round. Precious Arsenal shirts were promised and the Gunners fans, many of whom stayed to the end, stood and applauded while Lincoln’s hailed their men.
‘We are top of the league!’ they chanted, referring to their position atop the National League. Reality, temporarily suspended, had prevailed once more. But as the FA Cup teaches us every year, who wants reality?