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A dominant display saw Lincoln United annihilate Glossop North End by five goals to nil as they continue to climb the Northern Premier League table.
The game had a mixture of everything, standout performances, academy debuts, goals galore and even a cameo from the brother of Timothy Fosu-Mensah, the Manchester United defender.
From the first whistle, as if a white and red striped switch was detonated, the game erupted into life.
Throughout the whole game, The Whites never gave their opponents a second to relax, with Jack McMenemy shooting wide after a smart move from Matthew Cotton just minutes into the game.
Relentless pressure from Rob Smith in the 11th minute caused a mistake from left back Arash Ahmadi, which led to United’s first corner of the game, and their first goal.
Set piece specialist Matt Cotton floated a delicate ball into the box, which was half cleared by Glossop, then headed back into the mix by Callum Foster, and McMenemy was the quickest to the second ball and managed to finish smartly past Dale Latham in goal.
Lincoln United terrorise Glossop’s defence. | Photo: Lincs Photography
Sam Wilkinson’s men were not finished there. Just two minutes later, after a smart ball into the channel from Harry Millard, both Cotton and George Asplin showed incredible tenacity to force defender Devon Matthews into another mistake in which Cotton pounced, and finished with a smart chipped shot over the onrushing keeper.
The two goals then set a precedent for the rest of the match, with United in total control.
It seemed as if they were able to pick and choose their moments to strike at the heart of the nervy Glossop defence, and with absolute precision. Surprisingly to some, the third goal didn’t arrive until just before half time.
With again, The Whites controlling proceedings, and playing some fantastic one-touch football at times. Ice-cool Cotton played orchestrator once again, as he sent a ball into the box which found the feet of McMenemy, who blasted past Latham to bag his second of the game and put United three to the good.
After half time, it was a question of, how many could they get? The answer? Two more, but it could’ve been twelve more.
United’s fourth came from wonderful individual play from Matthew Cotton, once again. Combining with Rob Smith down the right wing, he somehow managed to dance his way into the box, leaving defenders in his wake.
However, his original attempt was well saved by the goalkeeper, yet unsurprisingly, he was the quickest to the rebound, and managed to bag his second of the game too.
Matthew Cotton slots two past Glossop. | Photo: Lincs Photography
As for Glossop, the highlight of their outing was arguably Alfonso Fosu-Mensah’s cameo. Short, and relatively sour.
Yet, he posed the biggest threat to Lincoln United’s clean sheet throughout the game, with a few touches in the box, the closest any Glossop player got to keeper Michael Antkowiak the whole game.
17 year old Andy Janssen scores to make it 5-0. | Photo: Lincs Photography
Lincoln United’s fifth was no doubt the sweetest of the lot. After coming on for Rob Smith with 15 minutes to go, this was a real chance for academy prospect Andy Janssen to make a name for himself, against a very penetrable back four.
To no one’s shock, Matthew Cotton was directly involved again, collecting the ball at the top of Glossop’s 18-yard box and playing a searching ball, in the direction of Janssen.
The 17-year-old striker then confidently slotted the ball into the bottom corner, thus ensuing manic celebrations between himself and some fans in the crowd.
The win ensures Lincoln United and Matthew Cotton especially keep their five-star form up, as they look to chase the pack at the top of the league.
The win sees them climb into 8th with a visit from league leaders Loughborough Dynamo at home, on Saturday, November 7.
