Dan the de Stroyer puts boot into Imps
IT WAS deja vu for unfortunate Imps defender Adam Jackson who once again failed to finish the first half against Shrewsbury.
And just to rub it in the player who clattered into him Daniel Udoh popped up six minutes from time to make it a hat-trick of victories for Steve Cotterill’s fast improving side.
Back at the LNER Stadium in October, Jackson had been stretchered off with a nasty injury on the half hour in a 1-1 draw between the sides.
At least this time the 27-year-old was able to walk off, albeit gingerly, after a 23rd-minute sickening collision with Udoh in the centre circle which sparked a melee amongst both sets of players.
Thankfully after five minutes of treatment a dazed Jackson didn’t need the stretcher which had been hurriedly summoned and slowly walked off although once again against Cotterill’s side his day was done.
Udoh had himself needed treatment but was able to continue and was able to end the growing frustration as Shrews squandered some second-half chances with a fine finish.
Lincoln boss Michael Appleton wondered whether he should still have been on the pitch.
Appleton said: “Their goalscorer never attempted to win the ball. It looked a bit naughty
on the replay. At the time it just looked one of those things.”
His biggest concern was for his defender Jackson, who has suffered two other instances of concussion on the pitch.
Appleton added: “We had to get him off the pitch as soon as possible because of what has happened recently.
“But the good thing is he ticked
all the boxes at halt time from a medical point of view.”
Last weekend’s coupon busters – the Shrews winning 3-0 at top of the table Rotherham – and who had put five past Morecambe in their last game at home, appeared to be ready to draw a blank. But Udoh had other ideas.
He calmly sunk a low rightfoot strike from the edge of the box from a short Ryan Bowman ball for his 15th goal of the season.
Cotterill admitted: “He is just a wonderful boy.
“He will get all the plaudits and rightly so because he’s the one who has scored the goal in the game. It could have been easy to have taken him off at half time.
“I could have taken five or six of them off because we needed to be a bit sharper.”
Shrews did look sharper and went close on a number of times – but Lincoln’s Chris Maguire almost snatched a point for the visitors at the death.