Barrow 1-2 Lincoln City

Lincoln City made the long trip to Barrow this weekend and came away with a well deserved 2-1 win in wet conditions to ensure the clubs unbeaten run now stretches to 8 games. Power grabbed the first goal just five minutes before half time before substitute Vadaine Oliver doubled the lead in the 65th minute. The Imps were made to sweat it out for the final five minutes when Barrow grabbed a late goal via a penalty by Baker but they held on to again claim the three points.

Lincoln City lined up for this match in what is becoming their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation and the starting eleven was exactly the same as in the previous encounter against Braintree on Tuesday. Holdsworth obviously feeling, like many do, that you shouldn`t change a winning side.

The sides kicked off with a less then ideal setting with rain and heavy grey skies. Not pleasant for the Imps fans that made the long trip North to cheer no their side that they hope will keep their unbeaten run going. The sides lined up and observed a minutes silence before the Imps took the kick off and got the match going.

The match suffered a very slow start with both sides struggling to get to grips with both the conditions and the poor state of the pitch that was cutting up just as soon as the match had started. This made passing the ball along the ground very tough and defenders were unwilling to take chances at the back in case the pitch caused them an error.

The only real incident of note in the first half was the opening goal and it came from the Imps. With only five minutes of the half remaining Sheridan ran with the ball down the right flank before giving the ball to Taylor, he then played a smart ball through to Power who made a good run into the box and he took the ball and slotted it past a helpless Danny Hurst in the Barrow goal.

Just before the ref blew for half time Barrow got their first effort on target, Danny Rowe had a n effort from outside the box tipped wide by Farman, the resulting corner saw the Imps keeper again in action as he made sure the Imps went into half time with a one goal lead and a clean sheet.

The sides came out for the second half with no changes. The Imps had the first effort on goal in the second half when the ref awarded a free kick for a foul on Power. The kick was taken by Mills but it was easily saved by Hurst. After this Barrow made the first change of the match when Adam Boyes replaced Danny Rowe in attack.

Half an hour of the match remained when Imps boos David Holdsworth made his first change to the starting eleven. Vadaine Oliver came on for the rather ineffective Adam Smith, this saw the Imps adjust their line up slightly with Oliver playing ahead of Taylor in attack. It took Oliver just four minutes to get on the score sheet.

The goal came in the 64th minute when Power turned provider, he had the ball down the right and swung a superb cross into the box where it was met by Oliver who headed the ball home. At this point it looked like the Imps would coast home with three points in the bag. The Imps then saw Colin Larkin come on in place of Taylor, no doubt saving his legs for the big FA cup tie on Tuesday.

The match was entering its final stages when Barrow somehow managed to find them selves back in the match after offering little for the previous 80 odd minutes. Peter Gilbert was adjudges to have fouled former Imp Louis Almond following an effort from Jackson, the ref waved play on but the assistant flagged for the foul and a penalty was awarded to Barrow. Baker stepped up and sent Farman the wrong way to insure the Imps had a nervy few minutes at the end of the match.

Barrow looked to get an unlikely equaliser as the fourth official showed there would be four minutes of added time for the Imps to hold out. To close time and the match out Holdsworth made his final change, recent loan recruit Scott Gardner came on in place of the impressive Power. This allowed the match to really drift away as the ref blew the final whistle to signify the Imps had now extended their unbeaten run to 8 games in all competitions.

This was another fantastic result and performance for the Imps. David Holdsworth really does seem to have got this team playing together superbly and the results are speaking for themselves. The next matches sees the FA cup replay against League One Walsall, a huge match for the club, the financial rewards of getting into the second round would be brilliant and the confidence that the side would gain from getting there would immense.

A superb run of results and one that we hope will continue on Tuesday night.

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