A REALITY CECH FOR BRAVE IMPS
Luckless Lincoln run out of steam after Arsenal keeper denies minnows shock lead
IT WAS their moment. Nathan Arnold knew it. Danny Cowley and Nicky Cowley knew it. The 53 coach loads of 8,000 Lincoln fans knew it. Arsene Wenger, with his 33 years of management experience and his current troubles, knew it.
Arnold, the former Hyde United man, had just put Laurent Koscielny, the France international 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, brothers Danny and Nicky — manager and assistant of Lincoln respectively — gasped and held their heads.
It was a good save rather than an awful miss. But, still, it was their moment.
‘Obviously it was their biggest chance at 0-0,’ admitted Cech afterwards. ‘This was exactly what they were looking for, to go 1-0 up then defend — but luckily I was able to save the shot and then we scored the goal.
‘Second half we kept going and they put in a huge effort in the first half, so they got tired legs and we managed to push on.’
The Imps may have run out of steam but they will be talking about this cup run for years in Lincolnshire, although, given the momentum at the club, the clear ability of the Cowleys and the financial backing of South African Clive Nates, you suspect that even this joyful journey may be superseded in coming years by a rise through the leagues.
League Two beckons and it seems unlikely that will be the end of their story.
For now, though, they can reflect on the history made this season. The first non-league team to make an FA Cup quarter-final since QPR did so in the same year that the First World War broke out.
For 45 minutes, they retained a glimmer of hope. Winning might seem beyond them, though that Arnold chance even suggested the possibility. But they were holding their own. The Cowley brothers said they would break the match down in ten-minute chunks to make it more manageable. Well, for the first of those ten minutes, Arsenal were stuck in their own 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 feature prominently. As did lining the entire 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 the fourth goal. 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 plaster 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 of the competition 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 these days — hardly surprising in an era of globalisation — but remains significant, especially when it throws a light on the likes of Lincoln.
‘We had a tough second half against world-class players,’ reflected Lincoln boss Danny Cowley. ‘When they scored on the edge of half-time, it was always going to be difficult.
‘Arsenal got confident from then on in and we got dragged around and hurt in wide areas. But we’re the first non-league team in over 100 years to get to the last eight of the FA Cup. We need to be proud of what we’ve done.
‘This is not a time for criticism, it’s a time to reflect on what we’ve done. The key thing is to learn from this and come away better footballers and better people.’
Arsenal’s 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich and Lincoln’s own prowess meant they could not risk the kids. This was Arsenal at their strongest, other than Ozil, who was on the bench due to illness and would come on after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up a first-half injury.
Lincoln’s dream began to unravel as half-time approached. Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs and Olivier Giroud combined to tee up Theo Walcott inside the box. He struck but even then he needed the help of a deflection to find the net.
On 53 minutes, 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, on 73 minutes, Sanchez simply ran at a tired Lincoln defence, with Wood berating himself for missing his tackle, as the Chilean slotted home.
The fifth came two minutes later, Sanchez setting up Ramsey this time with a chip which the Welshman chested down, touched past Paul Farman and then smashed into the net from close range.
The FA Cup remains Arsenal’s only real chance of silverware this season and, following their brutal elimination from the Champions League in midweek at the hands of Bayern, under-fire boss Wenger is aiming to end the season on a high at Wembley.
Whether the final also marks his last game in charge remains to be seen, but he seems determined to stay on after last night’s victory.
‘Recently we have disappointed our fans. We want to go again to Wembley to win,’ said Wenger. ‘We had a big disappointment in the Champions League. After that, we have to respond.
‘I try to serve this club with complete commitment and I will do that as long as I am here.
‘How long? I don’t know. I have shown a lot of loyalty and my preference is here.’
He added: ‘It was all us in the second half but you have to congratulate Lincoln for what they have achieved in the FA Cup.’