Market Drayton Town F.C.

The Boxing Day encounter with Lincoln United played out in the proverbial ‘game of two halves’ fashion that both excites and frustrates football fans in equal measure. The first half belonged to Drayton who thoroughly deserved their 2-0 lead going in for the half-time break.

They were sent on their way in the 21st minutes by JASON FRANCIS who, from his right-back position, chased down the ball and blocked an attempted clearance by the Lincoln centre-half. Jason was first to his feet and ran the ball to the edge of the area before unleashing a low left-footer into the corner of the net beyond the diving keeper. The lead was doubled after 38 minutes with a sweetly taken free-kick by STUART ELLIS from just outside the area that left the keeper totally bemused.

Half-time came and the homes fans felt confident that the second period would bring much of the same, for the visitors had struggled to string two passes together for much of the game thus far. However, Drayton were dealt an early blow when winger Stuart Ellis limped off after having received lengthy treatment.

With the left wing threat removed, and with the wind now at their backs, Lincoln stepped up a gear and sensed they were still very much in this game.

Their first came after 57 minutes and it was now Drayton who were struggling to pass the ball to each other, and who, for some reason, continued to try and play long balls into a strong wind!? Lincoln were also now winning many of the 50:50 battles and got their equaliser in the 65th minute.

The home fans began to fear the worst as it looked like there was only going to be one winner from here. Although, Drayton still continued to battle and managed to get in behind the defence on a couple of occasions with Nicky Porter down the right but the final cross or shot was wayward.

The final blow came in injury time when the unmarked Lincoln striker had time to line up his shot from the right side of the area and gave Prycie no chance. You have to say that, on their second half performance, Lincoln deserved to take something from this game, and having scored dramatic injury time goals themselves in recent weeks, Drayton now know what it feels like to be on the receiving end!

Drayton:- Andy Pryce, Jason Francis, Matt Johnson, Grant Goodhead, Paul McMullen, Kyle Blake, Nicky Porter, Shaun Humphreys, Luke Reynolds, Tom Rogers, Stuart Ellis.
Subs:- Martyn Davies, Chris Peel, Callum Wright, Dorryl Proffitt, Matt Cohen.