Imps show a fighting spirit Arsenal can only dream of
Cowleys’ men make fans of Lincoln proud — it is a long time since we have seen such resolve here
W ell done Arsenal. In this most dispiriting of seasons, there is one title that is undoubtedly theirs. Winning with a comfortable flourish against a team just the 87 league places below them, after this no one can argue the Gunners deserve the Flat Track Bully of the Year crown. Just a shame they couldn’t do the business like this against Bayern Munich. Or Liverpool.
Not that watching their team put in their place dispirited the 9,000 Lincoln City fans crammed into the Clock End. They were too busy relishing the finest FA Cup run in their club’s history as it came to its inevitable conclusion.
And with the FA Trophy and success in the National League still to come, theirs is a club on the march. From start to finish here the self-styled Lincoln Imps in the Emirates stands were in buoyant mood. Apparently the stores in the city had run out of tin foil during the week. You could see where it had gone: everywhere in the shouting, bouncing ranks of the visitors were cut out replica FA Cups, covered in foil.
“We are top of the league, say we are top of the league,” rang out the constant chant, an observation not heard often in the Emirates these past few years. Except when Leicester came last season, obviously.
This was the biggest day out of the visitors’ supporting lives, a moment whose surreal reach was emphasised when, as the teams emerged from the tunnel, the public address announcer broadcast the introduction.
“Welcome to Lincoln City and The Arsenal.”
To be matched like that, to be in such company was the stuff of dreams for most of those who made their way down from the Wolds. “Thanks for the journey” read one of the banners hanging from the fence behind the goal.
The banners flourished by the Arsenal supporters were less encouraging. An anti-Arsène Wenger march had made its way from Arsenal tube station before kick off. “Fourth Place is Not A Trophy” read one placard carried by the protesters. Another bore the simple message: “Wexit”.
It was clear from the line-up he sent out that Wenger was aware of the jeopardy involved in this tie. There were no junior gunners in his selection, none of the double-barrelled squad fillers that would normally be sprinkled on such an occasion. This was full strength Arsenal; Wenger’s delicate position after the Munich debacle meant there could be no slip-up. For sure, this was the last game Wenger needed: win and nothing would be resolved. Lose and disaster beckoned.
By telling contrast, for his immediate counterparts this was the game they had previously encountered only in their wildest sleep-time imagining. And how Danny and Nicky Cowley, the brothers in charge of Lincoln, were relishing their moment.
When the game began they were like a pair of nine-year-olds on Christmas morning. So excited were they, at times they were not quite sure what to do with themselves in the technical area, constantly pointing, shouting, beckoning. They were living every kick of the ball.
The game plan they had concocted was brutal in its simplicity. Arms in faces, long throws, putting it in the mixer: this was anti-Wenger football turned up to eleven.
At its heart were the three midfielders Alan Power, Terry Hawkridge and the magnificently indefatigable Alex Woodyard, a trio who gave a demonstration of endless ferreting, closing and scrapping that has long seemed anathema to the home side.
Busy as the Cowleys were, what was immediately apparent about Lincoln was how the pair have forged a team. This was not the standard non-league side up against the big boys in the FA Cup, filled with individuals looking to use a televised game as a shop window for their talents. This was a group prepared to battle for everything, to scrap and harass and close. How Wenger could use a bit of that remorseless effort.
The Cowley plan was to break the game into nine 10-minute periods. Get through one, then move on to the next. And four had gone by before the predictable happened. Thereafter, there was only one possible outcome.
But the Cowleys can be immeasurably proud of what they have achieved. It was there in the applause that rang out from the home sections as the Arsenal faithful serenaded the end of their brilliant Cup run.
As for the response of their own followers, it is clear with a playing budget less than the weekly car valeting bill at Arsenal’s training ground, the pair have made the city of Lincoln glow.
The cheers that thundered out when Danny made a solo lap of honour long after the final whistle was evidence of an astonishing unity of spirit. It has been a long time since there was a display of such a sense of togetherness at the Emirates.