Match report

Video clips

• Price's goal (443kb)
• John Hollins comments (939kb)

Price Strikes Again - Then Bound’s Men Defy The Blitz

Price struck from close range at a well-worked corner - his fourth goal of the season earning the Swans their fourth league win on the trot.

On Thursday he departs with the Wales Under-21 squad for Belarus. His absence, along with clubmate Stuart Roberts, means the Swans have no game next weekend.

Price will fly off in good heart after a performance of real character from John Hollins’s men.

Said Price, “My goal was a tap-in, but you have to be there in the right spot. Every away game is tough. You have to battle in this league.

“In the last quarter of an hour they threw everything at us but we held out and kept another clean sheet. It’s another three points. It’s a confidence-booster. Now the boys just have to keep going.”

Price made the most of his opportunity at Sincil Bank. He secured the last touch from Richard Appleby’s corner, which had been headed goalward by Julian Alsop and flicked on by Steve Watkin.

The Swans tried to build on their ninth-minute lead, but were guilty of wasting opportunities.

That charge could not be levelled at Appleby, who capped a piercing run with a deft chip over home goalkeeper John Vaughan only to see his effort hit the bar. Appleby also volleyed wide, and Damien Lacey and Alsop should have done better with their chances as the Swans dominated.

Lincoln threatened a recovery towards half-time, with David Poppleton firing a searing 30-yard drive against the woodwork before Swansea’s captain for the day, Matthew Bound, cleared a goal-bound Lee Philpott shot.

Centre-back Bound and his fellow defenders really earned their money during the second half when Lincoln launched their characteristic aerial bombardment.

Bound was immense and goalkeeper Roger Freestone positive in all he did. The nearest Lincoln came was a Tony Battersby header which grazed the bar.

The high-fives between manager Hollins and assistant Alan Curtis at the end spoke volumes. Hollins said, “It was a gritty performance all round. It was the sort of battle you can lose by caving in - and we certainly didn’t do that.”

Lincoln City - Booked: Finnigan.

Swansea - Booked: Lacey.

Goals: Price 9

A deserved victory with our best performance to date this season (not great - just best to date).

There were 250+ Jacks at Sincil Bank and they outsung the 2500 homers. The only competition came from a war-time type siren which they played whenever they had a corner or a free kick - I only wished I had an "all clear" siren to play - as we dealt with all that they could throw at us.

Our first foray into their half after 8 mins saw Watkin force a corner off the legs of his marker. Richie Appleby hit his right wing corner to the far post but out as far as the penalty spot. Both Alsop and Steve Jones were unmarked and challenged each other for the ball! Alsop won this duel (one of the few he did win all afternoon) and headed goalwards. Watkin 2 yards off the line (centre goal) twisted in the air and redirected his header towards the near post where Price was first to react with a 3rd Swansea header in rapid succession to force the ball home.

The well worked Swansea goal

Swansea had the lion's share of possession for the remainder of the half and further chances fell to Appleby and Alsop. Appleby was very unlucky when he burst through the centre and chipped the advancing keeper only to see his effort bounce down off the underside of the crossbar to safety.

Alsop was a little more wasteful when he lunged (with his feet) at a dangerous low cross which he should have dispatched but managed to guide around the post instead.

At the other end, Bound was lucky not to conceed a penalty when he upended their striker from behind right on the edge of the box.

A free kick in the left back position caused us huge problems when Freestone came to punch the resulting cross and missed and one of their forwards diverted it goalwards - where Matthew Bound was on hand to hack it away off the goal-line.

Frestone was indebted to his left hand post when a poor clearance set up one of their midfield players for a 25 yard volley.

A piece of intricate passing by us on the edge of our box (which happened far too often in midfield this afternoon) saw one of their players claim the ball and shoot past Roger into an empty net - for Bound to repeat his party trick and appear from nowhere (like the shopkeeper in Mr Benn) to clear off the line!

Seond half saw us make little impression on the game in attacking sense as Lincoln peppered the Swansea area from forays down both wings. They also forced a number of corners and for good measure they had a long throw specialist that was used at every opportunity when within 20 yards of goal.

Twice the crossbar came to Swansea's rescue - but to be fair it was the top of the bar - unlike Appleby's effort.

Freestone dealt capably with all else that was put his way and made two crucial "flaps" at the ball to keep the Imps out.

Bound made a third crucial intervention with another hack away though this time about 5 yards from goal.

Normally I am quite anxious when we are under the pressure we were second half, but today I was quite relaxed as I felt we were coping well with what they threw at us.

So another excellent result and encouraging performance from MOST of the players.

Ratings:
Freestone 7 - looked a little shaky at times in the first half
Jones 7 - tenacious and hard working - despite this their left wing was a source of good crosses.
Howard 7 - much better game than of late - not too much threat from their right flank
Smith & Bound 7 - not as assured as usual, but Bound for his crucial clearances and Smith for his combative performance can't really be crimed.
Appleby 9 - man of the match. Back to his best in attacking sense and ran and harried for the 90 mins.
Coates 4 - is being played out of position in the middle of midfield. A source of constant breakdowns with slack passes. Play wide left or not at all JH.
Lacey 5 - tried hard but did not come out of any tackle with the ball. 0% on the 50-50 scale. Needs to wear padding or put on weight.
Price 8 - tireless performance - constant threat going forward in the 1st half - played a more defensive role in the 2nd.
Alsop 5 - ran and tried but no great success.
Watkin 7 - held the ball up as usual and played the ball through intelligently. Put us under pressure on a few occasions by losing the ball cheaply coming out of defence.
Sub: Martin Thomas 4 - came on for Coates. Might as well have played with 10 men. Had the fans cringing every time he went near the ball as he looked like giving a free kick away on the edge of the box every time. Was guilty of his usual flopping around throwing his body in the way of play & players. I suspect he is unfit and a yard off the pace of the game - hence his throwing himself about to get into postion.

To be fair Hollins said in a radio interview afterwards that he didn't want to put Thomas on but he had to. He didn't elaborate but what he meant was - in boxing parlance, he had to stop Coates from taking further punishment.