SILVERWARE FAR FROM BUT LINCOLN IMP- RESSIVE
LINCOLN CITY 1 BOSTON UTD 0
LINCOLN CITY boss Gary Simpson praised his players for grinding out an undeserved win over Boston United – then warned that some may have played themselves out of a start at Woking next week.
The Imps wound up their pre- season preparations ahead of Saturday’s Skrill Premier opener with silverware; Sean Newton’s wonderful 87th- minute freekick sealing the John Reames Memorial Trophy dedicated to the late Sincil Bank chairman, who died in 2008.
The gate may have been nearly 6,000 shy of that which attended the sides’ last Lincolnshire derby in League Two seven years ago.
But the 1,008 crowd attracted by City’s Community Day ( with new shirts on sale, faces being painted and snakes being draped around visitors’ necks in the car park!) witnessed an attimes venomously contested friendly in which North side Boston were for long parts the better team.
Indeed, they looked to have earned a share of the cup when Carl Piergianni thumped a last- minute header into the roof of the net, only for referee Andy Park to rule it out, apparently for pushing.
The decision added to United manager Dennis Greene’s ire for the official, and even Simpson felt it was a fair equaliser.
Greene could take comfort from the fact that new signing Ricky Miller was the best player on the pitch. The striker has scored six times since stepping up from Stamford, and he gave Imps central defensive pairing Andrew Boyce and Nat Brown a torrid afternoon.
Only a couple of stunning saves from Paul Farman in the home goal prevented him adding to his impressive pre- season haul.
And Brown – who was fortunate not to have a penalty given against him for bringing the 24- year- old down when he swung and missed a clearance, then not to be sent off for pulling him back outside the box – cleared another Marc Newsham effort of the line.
“Boston were terrific,” said Simpson, who introduced latest signing Luke Foster as a second- half sub. “They were very unlucky to get the goal disallowed.
“It was the kind of com-
petitive game that keeps us honest. They came here to turn us over, which is different to facing pro clubs’ Under- 21 sides.
“The lad up front did really well. Made good runs all day and kept our centre- halves in check, especially in the first half when they had the wind.
“But I’m happy with the clean sheet and still winning the game while not playing particularly well.
“Some individuals didn’t play well today. I don’t need to tell them, they’re an honest bunch and they know themselves. Some might have played themselves out of the team, but they still ground it out, which is positive.”
Boston still have a fortnight to go before kicking off their league campaign against Stockport, and boss Greene is looking forward to his first full season at the helm, with ex- Walsall left- back Netan Sansara – fresh from a campaign in Denmark with FC Vestsjaelland – also impressing.
“The referee gave us nothing all afternoon, and then disallowed a perfectly good header when we deserved to get something out of the game,” said the ex- St Neots and Histon manager.
On Miller, he added: “Ricky is like a bad rash. He just keeps going and going, irritating defenders. If the ball had fallen for him today, he might have scored a couple, but it was a thoroughly good team performance.”