City are poor in trophy exit
By Nathan Jackson
August 31 2010
Lincoln City exited the JP Trophy at the first attempt for the seventh straight time after a 1-0 defeat at Rotherham. It took a heavy deflection to give Rotherham a lead, but the Millers did deserve to go through against a Lincoln side who were poor throughout.
Despite saying he was going to treat the competition with respect, Sutton started with Josh O'Keefe, Andy Hutchinson and Moses Swaibu, three players who are not even close to being considered good enough for the starting XI in the League. Scott Kerr also returned from injury.
It was Kerr who had the game's first chance as he tried his luck from 25 yards out, seeingl his ambitious effort saild side of the target. Ellison had a free kick saved by Anyon, but it was a first half that was relatively devoid of realistic scoring chances, with Cian Hughton fialing to get a shot away when played through one-on-one being the only other realistic scoring chance of the first half.
Green had to be replaced by Delroy Facey after he picked up an injury just before half time, but City did go into the half on level terms, the first time the Imps have managed that at the Don Valley Stadium.
Parity didn't last long into the second half though as Le Fondre got his customary goal against the Imps, trying his luck from 25 yards before it took a heavy deflection off of Swaibu and trickling into the net. Anyon had to be alert to punch two Ellison balls out of the box soon afterwards as Rotherham were the only team seemingly with any attacking intent.
Anyon saved from a Le Fondre effort before the Imps had a goal scoring opportunity wasted by Ben Hutchinson. The striker was played through one-on-one, but shot with the outside of his right foot rather than his left, it went wide. Adams replaced Keltie soon afterwards.
The ball was spending a fair bit of time in the Imps' half but Rotherham weren't making the most of their chances, producing just a small handful of weak shots that wer easily dealt with by the Rotherham defence. It finished 1-0 to the hosts after 3 minutes of added on time.
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