Lincoln 0-0 Crawley Player Ratings: super Vickers

Imps hit Rhead too often – uptheclarets.com

A man-of-the-match performance from Lincoln goalkeeper Josh Vickers and an organized away performance from Crawley meant a 0-0 draw between the two teams at Sincil Bank. Here’s our player ratings from the game.

Lincoln City

Josh Vickers – made some big saves at crucial moments, one from Camara from close-range, others from Yorwerth and Smith. Lincoln’s man of the match. 9

Neal Eardley – struggled against the pace of Roberts on occasions and made one or two bad decisions in his own half. Aside from one cross just after the break, he didn’t offer quite enough going forward to justify the shaky moments. Fair to presume he’s had better games in an Imps shirt. 4
Sean Raggett – looked strong in the air in the first half and flicked the ball across for Bostwick’s early chance, but allowed Camara in with one or two shaky moments after the break. 6
Rob Dickie – attempted a lot of Crisfield passes with mixed success, but was faultless from a defensive perspective. 8
Sam Habergham – a jack of all trades. Didn’t look like an expert at attacking or defending, yet was competent in different phases of play, never found wanting in terms of effort and creating numerical advantages. 6

Jordan Maguire-Drew – faded in and out of the game in the first half, with some decent set piece deliveries. When he went off Lincoln didn’t have anyone trying something different outside the final third. 5
Michael Bostwick – an underwhelming performance through little fault of his own. His common traits – battling for the ball and recovering his defensive position – he did well, but more considered use of the ball was needed in this type of encounter. 4
Alex Woodyard – played within himself a little. We saw flashes of what he can do with the ball but with Lincoln loading the box with two strikers, later three, Woodyard had to be disciplined, perhaps at the expense of creative freedom. 5
Nathan Arnold – a lively if unproductive 60 minutes, but similarly to Maguire-Drew, he always tried to make things happen. Lincoln’s play became even more predictable after he was replaced by Palmer. 5

Matt Rhead – early on his eyes lit up when Lincoln gained possession, peeling off towards the back-post anticipating a diagonal ball. He was hard for McNerney and Connolly to handle in the early stages, but found life tougher once Yorwerth man marked him. Hit the bar with a header early in the second half. 4
Matt Green – perhaps too selfless for his own good. Spent a lot off time drawn into wide areas, rather than getting close to Rhead. Wasn’t able to find the space to run in behind he normally likes. 3

Ollie Palmer (on 65) – further encouraged direct play, which didn’t necessarily help Lincoln’s cause. 4
Billy Knott (on 71) – didn’t get on the ball as much as he might have hoped. 4
Elliott Whitehouse (on 88)

Crawley Town

Glenn Morris – brave when he needed to be, but his shot shopping ability was not tested as much as Lincoln would have liked. 5

Josh Lelan – stayed close to the centre-backs and mopped up the odd through ball in behind them, though he didn’t show much of what he can do going forward. 6
Mark Connolly – his experience came to the fore. Didn’t always take kindly to the over-zealous approach of Rhead, but accepted his limitations and defended shrewdly against the target man. 8
Joe McNerney – took a step off Read, respecting that he didn’t have the physical qualities to win the initial balls, instead staying grounded to deny space in areas beyond him. 8
Cedric Evina – got forward more than Lelan and was roundly solid, perhaps more comfortable at this level than in League One. 7

Josh Yorwerth – after the first 10 minutes, he dropped closer to Read to limit the supply to the target man, which made life far easier for the centre-backs behind him. 9

Jimmy Smith – a restrained first half performance, but he showed plenty of energy in the second half, seeing his dipping 81st minute volley saved. 7
Dannie Bulman – stuck to the task and showed surprising tenacity at 38, one year younger than the opposing manager. Not the most exciting midfielder but fit for the task in hand. 6

Enzio Boldewijn – the occasional burst aside, he didn’t have the impact he might have hoped for, not helped by the limited amount of possession Crawley had in the final third. 3
Panutche Camara – showed remarkable energy. Still chased down the opposing goalkeeper well into stoppage time, such was his determination to create openings, which he had to do almost outnof nothing. With more support he could be an even bigger threat. 7
Jordan Roberts – one early run down the left led to an opening for Yorwerth. He pounced on a couple of errors by Raggett in the second half, but couldn’t quite capitalize. 5

Mark Randall (on 75) – the fact he was Crawley’s only substitute shows how confident Kewell was in the way his side was organized. 5