Lincoln City saw out a 2-0 victory against a youthful Iron side in the semi-finals of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup.
The Imps progress into the final of the County Senior Cup at the Iron’s expense.Lincoln were the first side to venture forward, inside five minutes. Bohan Dixon shimmied casually around Ribeiro and Bateson on the corner of the box only to find Waterfall in his path. The centre-half poked the ball clear, out of Dixon’s feet inside the area and calmly nodded the ball behind to safety from the rebounded cross. From the resulting corner, an opportunity fell to Dixon to curl right-footed, bringing Severn into the game with a comfortable save and cursory dive down to his left. Waide Fairhurst’s freekick, a yard over the bar finished the move for City.
With neither side grasping the initiative in possession inside the first minutes of the half, the next chance came Scunthorpe’s way. Long passes were enough to cause issue for the Imps’ backline in the early stages and one such pass allowed Kyle Wootton to deftly pluck a ball out of the air in the box, half-turn and bend on his left towards the far corner. Farman was equal to it, with a solid palm diverting the ball to safety.
Scunthorpe seemed content to let City do their worst in possession while biding their time to nip in and counter. On the quarter hour mark, Kyle Wootton was lively again to steal from John Nolan, dallying on the ball in the centre circle. Wootton sprung clear and strode purposefully towards the edge of the box. Adelakun made up ground in support but Wootton shot, forcing a good save down low to his right by Farman, whose strong arm ensured Adelakun couldn’t make anything of the rebound.
The footballing highlight, and first goal in an otherwise quiet first period came through Imps man Waide Fairhurst on 27 minutes, unfortunately for the Iron. The midfielder received the ball on the right corner of the “D” with space to turn at goal. He did turn, showing quick feet to strike at goal with little hesitation. Right footed, he whipped a shot with pace, low across goal and into the far corner – with the ball always curling out of Severn’s reach.
Fairhurst’s strike completed a positive half for the hosts, going in at the break 1-0 to the good, though neither side really imposed or created much of note in a relatively even and event-free 45 minutes.
Both teams remained unchanged after the break and it took ten minutes for the first effort on goal in the second half, after a scrappy opening few minutes. Luke Waterfall’s clearing header from a dangerous cross swung in from deep on the right fell to John Nolan on the edge of the box who drove low first time with a skimming effort that bounced awkwardly, just in front of Severn who could only block. The Iron stopper reacted quickly to recover though, pouncing on the ball before Tomlinson could react.
Chances were few and far between but Lincoln were having the better of the game. Pot shots from the likes of Rowe and Fairhurst didn’t cause Severn any trouble.
Fairhurst, though, did pull Lincoln further into the lead, with another goal on 64 minutes. Waterfall was stretched out wide against the touchline and beaten for pace down the Iron right. A simple ball dissected Scunthorpe’s penalty box, ending up with Fairhurst, unmarked. His first effort was excellently kept out by a combination of a Howe sliding block and a Severn hand thrown back in the opposite direction to that which he was diving in. Unfortunately, the ball bobbled free, again to Fairhurst who poked home into an empty net while just recovering his stride after his first effort.
Neither side really threatened in the last quarter of the game, with Lincoln happy to defend their two-goal advantage, knocking Scunthorpe out of the Lincolnshire Senior County Cup.
TEAM LINE-UPS
Lincoln City: Farman, Gray (Jordan, 73), Newton, Foster (Boyce, 58), Brown, Fofana, Nolan, Fairhurst, Dixon (Wright, 58), Tomlinson, Sheridan
Substitutes not used: Robinson, Rowe
Scunthorpe United: Severn, Ribeiro, Waterfall, Howe, Grayson, Adelakun (Burdett, 70), Hornsey, McAllister, Bateson (Smythe,88), Jamie Wootton, Kyle Wootton
Substitutes not used: Weaver, Cowling, Hare
Attendance: 918 (176 away).