Lincoln City 1-1 Cambridge United match report: James Gibbons cancels out Freddie Draper’s opener in drab League One clash at LNER Stadium
Bottom-of-the-table Cambridge United played out an underwhelming 1-1 draw away at Lincoln City this afternoon to leave them seven points from safety in League One.
For the opening 42 minutes, Cambridge posed little to no threat to Zach Jeacock in the Lincoln goal. During that time, Garry Monk’s men mustered just a single attempt on goal and had only one touch in the opposition’s box.
In contrast, after a scrappy start to proceedings, Lincoln settled into the contest and they broke the deadlock in the 17th minute. Having earlier seen a shot well saved by United’s debut-making goalkeeper Nathan Bishop, Freddie Draper fired in from close range at the second time of asking after his initial effort had been blocked by Ryan Loft. It was the second time that Draper has scored against Cambridge this season, having also found the back of the net during the Imps’ 2-0 victory at The Cledara Abbey Stadium in September.
In the 24th minute Tendayi Darikwa jinked beyond Cambridge wing-back Danny Andrew and fizzed in a low cross that just evaded James Collins at the back post, while shortly after Kell Watts spared Bishop’s blushes on the line after he failed to keep hold of a routine cross.
At this point Lincoln looked a safe bet to score the game’s second goal, but out of nowhere the visitors equalised with three minutes of the first half remaining. James Gibbons – preferred to Liam Bennett in the right wing-back position – cut inside Reeco Hackett and from 20 yards out saw his left-footed strike beat a wrong-footed Jeacock via a deflection.
The goal jolted Cambridge into life and they went close to taking the lead in stoppage time. A fluent counter-attack down the left involving Andrew and Elias Kachunga ended with the latter crossing for Josh Stokes, who planted his downward header straight at Jeacock.
Lincoln’s front pairing of James Collins and goalscorer Draper were both off target with efforts early in the second half and up the other end Gibbons – fresh from scoring his first league goal since November 2021 – saw his low shot turned behind for a corner by Hackett’s block.
It was an improved second-half showing from United, yet with 15 minutes remaining Lincoln had a clear opportunity to regain the lead when captain Paudie O’Connor steered his header wide from six yards out.
The match’s flash point arrived in the 86th minute as Lincoln substitute Joe Gardner was red carded just four minutes into his debut following his recent loan switch from Nottingham Forest. The 19-year-old was looking to spearhead a counter-attack down the right wing but he took a heavy touch which allowed James Brophy to come across and make the clearance, with Cambridge’s number seven being caught by the follow through.
The red card was duly brandished but Cambridge were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage in the closing stages – a header from Watts being kept out by Jeacock the closest they came to snatching what would have been a crucial victory in the fight for survival ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to league-leading Birmingham City.
Lincoln City: Jeacock, Jackson, O’Connor, Roughan, Darikwa (Jefferies 78’), Hamilton (House 78’), McGrandles, Hackett-Fairchild, Bayliss, Draper (Makama 67’), Collins (Gardner 82’)
Cambridge United: Bishop, Watts, Morrison, Okedina, Andrew, Gibbons (Digby 85’), Cousins, Brophy, Stokes, Kachunga (Ballard 69’), Loft (Stevenson 79’)
