In a week when exam results were released (congratulations to my niece for her outstanding GCSE grades, by the way), Lincoln City showed a huge amount of effort and endeavour to secure maximum points from their two latest examinations.

Our victories over Plymouth Argyle and Northampton Town during the last few days make it four wins from our opening five fixtures this season, giving us both momentum and some solid foundations on which to build upon this season. Both wins saw the Imps withstand varying degrees of pressure to claim all three points. However, there is no respite, as we face arguably our toughest fixture so far this season, away at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, followed by another away day this coming Tuesday evening, when we travel to Burton Albion in the Second Round of the Carabao Cup.

Last Saturday’s match against Plymouth Argyle saw City hang on to secure a 3-2 victory after a late fightback from the visitors put a seemingly comfortable win into a severe amount of jeopardy towards the end. Having looked assured and in complete control for 75 minutes, the Imps very nearly squandered their 3-0 lead after a mad couple of minutes when they conceded two goals and then survived the remainder of the game under sustained pressure from Plymouth, including a late penalty claim that somewhat fortunately went our way.

Prior to that extremely nerve-jangling last 15 minutes, City had played really well and thoroughly deserved to be comfortably in front. Tom Bayliss scored an excellent early goal, drilling home a loose ball from the edge of the box into the bottom corner with his left foot. He is a player who probably found things a little frustrating last season, not entirely cementing his place as a regular in the starting eleven through a mixture of injuries and form. However, Bayliss has looked very assured in central midfield so far this season and certainly has the talent and attacking prowess to contribute more than the three goals he managed last season.

I mentioned in my last post that we might be catching Plymouth at a good time as they try to adapt to the style of play that new manager, Tom Cleverley, is attempting to introduce. This certainly seemed to be the case. At times, particularly in the first half, the Plymouth fans could audibly be heard getting frustrated and restless with their own team as they struggled trying to play out from the back against the City press and were forced into making several mistakes, losing possession far too easily.

Similarly to the previous game against Harrogate Town, the Imps scored two goals in quick succession mid-way through the second half which put the game to bed (or should have done!). It was James Collins at the double, firstly with a predatory strike as he reacted first to a parried save from the keeper to slot home from close range, and then stepping up to calmly put away a penalty after Plymouth defender, Brendan Wiredu, had handled Hackett’s goal bound header.

The two goals were just reward for our main striker, Collins, who has led the line well in the opening few games of the season without particularly getting any clearcut goal chances that his efforts have merited. He is such an excellent focal point for us in the attacking third and, should he stay fit, I think we could realistically see him reaching 20 goals this season.

Freddie Draper was rewarded for his fine display against Harrogate Town with another start, operating just behind Collins in place of the injured Jack Moylan. Once again, he put in a great performance, currently thriving in his newly adapted position in the team – and more was to come from him in our next fixture. On the flanks, Street put in another solid performance and Reeco Hackett had recovered from the back injury that kept him out of the previous game to return on the left and offer some good balance to our attack.

From a position of having the game completely sewn up, the match was turned on his head in the latter stages and left many City fans, including myself, with very little in the way of fingernails remaining by the end. The catalyst for this seemed to stem from the substitutions that were made shortly after our third goal. With the game seemingly wrapped up, Michael Skubala quite rightly took the opportunity to give some of our attacking players a rest with our midweek trip to Northampton obviously in mind. Ben House replaced James Collins immediately after he scored his penalty, quickly followed by the introduction of Eric Ring and Ethan Hamilton for Reeco Hackett and Freddie Draper.

I’m not normally one to single out an individual player for criticism, but for whatever reason, whether it was related to a fitness issue or purely down to a poor attitude regarding the game situation, Eric Ring appeared to be completely off the pace. His mistake in giving the ball away just inside the Plymouth half led to their opening goal and suddenly they burst into life. Ring clearly wasn’t at the races and Skubala was quickly forced into adjusting his tactics, moving him into a central striker position and putting House and Street on the flanks, where they could be more trusted to track back and provide some defensive cover.

Unfortunately, despite the manager’s quick alteration, it didn’t come soon enough, as by then Plymouth had already scored another – a quickfire double from the visitors completely changing the context of the game. From then on until the final whistle it was nothing but a case of backs-to-the-walls defending from the Imps as they desperately tried to cling on to the lead. In fairness to the lads, they managed their defensive operation well, barring that crazy couple of minutes when they conceded the two goals. However, there was still time for a heart in the mouth moment when Hamilton appeared to bring down Plymouth’s Brendan Wiredu in the box. All eyes in the ground immediately diverted to the referee, who, to the relief of the vast majority inside Sincil Bank, indicated simulation of a foul and produced a second yellow card to Wiredu – after his handling of the ball in the area for our earlier penalty – and the three points were ours.

Those last fifteen minutes ended up acting as match practice for what was to come with our visit to Northampton Town on Tuesday night. City started with the same eleven as they had done for the game against Plymouth – recognition of the good performance on Saturday (other than the mad couple of minutes when we conceded goals), as well as the current limitations with squad rotation. There was, however, a new addition on the bench, with attacking player Francis Okoronkwo coming in following his season-long loan signing being confirmed from Everton.

The Imps started the game really brightly and dominated proceedings for the first half an hour, save for one chance to the home team, when a mix up between Hamer and Darikwa let Northampton Town’s Tyrese Fornah through on goal, but George Wickens stood up well and saved brilliantly to prevent them taking the lead. Wickens has started the season excellently and put in another top performance in this game. His shot-stopping capabilities were never in question, but he has improved his distribution this season and appears to be more of a commanding presence in his box as well – possibly aided by the recent introduction of David Preece, returning to the club as the new goalkeeping coach.

City took a deserved lead twenty minutes into the game with a superb goal from Freddie Draper, striking a beautiful half-volley from the edge of the box following a great cross from Tendayi Darikwa, which hit the inside of the keepers’ right-hand post before nestling into the netting on the opposite side of the goal. It demonstrated the form and talent that Draper has been showcasing over the last few games, and he seems to have taken a massive step in his development this season.

Northampton had generally shown very little threat or purpose for most of the first half, but they had a spell of pressure shortly before the half ended and this was ramped up as the game moved into the second half. In fairness, they completely dominated the remainder of the game in terms of possession and City never really got close to their penalty box. However, despite having a large percentage of the ball, the Cobblers struggled to create many clearcut chances and the Imps rearguard stood firm, much in the manner that it had done in the latter stages of Saturday’s match with Plymouth.

As mentioned, Wickens was tremendous in goal, and the centre-back partnership of Sonny Bradley and Tom Hamer were outstanding once again. I said in a recent post that Bradley has the potential to be a fans favourite in the mould of Michael ‘Bozzy’ Bostwick and his performance on Tuesday night was an example of that coming to fruition. I also think Tom Hamer has been excellent since getting his chance following Adam Jackson’s red card at Wimbledon, and the current pairing are certainly cementing themselves as the first-choice options in that position.

Ryley Towler started at left-back again and has been performing admirably there, but we reverted to a back five during the second half, as he moved into a central position alongside Hamer and Bradley, with Darikwa and Hackett playing in the full-back roles, which Towler appears much better suited to. As things stand, left-back is still the key position where the Imps need to do some business in the remainder of the transfer window, but you cannot fault Towler for the effort he has put in covering that position so far this season.

Overall, it certainly wasn’t a pretty performance from City, but it was outstanding in its own right – hard-fought, disciplined, resolute – the sort of victory that often means more in terms of highlighting team spirit and attitude than cruising to a comfortable win over an opponent. We struggled in games last season against teams rooted near the bottom of the table. I’m not sure we would have managed to come away with all three points last year, but we did on Tuesday, and it bodes well for the rest of the season.

Along with Francis Okoronkwo, who made his debut for the Imps, coming on as a substitute for the last few minutes against Northampton, City have made a second new signing this week. Ukrainian Under 21 international, Ivan Varfolomeev has joined the Imps for an undisclosed fee from Czech side Slovan Liberec. I have absolutely no idea about the player (much like the vast majority of fans), but hopefully he proves to be a quality recruit and can fill the gap in the squad vacated by Ethan Erhahon. I’m sure he is someone that the club are hoping can quickly adapt to English football and help to push us further up League One, as well as develop into a great prospect with future saleable value.

Of course, we are likely to renew acquaintances with Ethan Erhahon on the pitch this weekend when City take on Bolton Wanderers. Despite their slow start to the season, picking up just five points from the opening four league games, it certainly feels like City’s toughest fixture to date, as Bolton will have expectations of vying for the promotion places come the end of the campaign.

It is likely that the Imps will be underdogs for the game and that Bolton are going to provide them with a stern test. However, these past two games have shown that City have the determination to withstand pressure and hopefully that is good preparation to get another positive result this weekend.