Danny Cowley was delighted to get his 2019/20 SkyBet League One campaign underway with a 2-0 win over Accrington Stanley.
Michael O’Connor opened the scoring for City 10 minutes before half time, making him the Imps’ first goal scorer of the campaign.
New arrival Tyler Walker had a number of chances for Lincoln but his former Nottingham Forest team mate Dimitar Evtimov put in an impressive shift in the Accrington goal. However, the Bulgarian international was beaten from the spot by Imps striker John Akinde in the 81st minute giving City three points on the opening day.
Cowley told press that he was pleased with the win today following a tough pre-season campaign: “It was important for us to get off to a good start at home and I am really pleased with the win. It was the first time I’ve managed the club at home on the opening day and we are really pleased to have got three points and a clean sheet.
Despite picking up three points the Imps boss felt there was still room for improvement ahead of City’s trip to Rotherham next weekend: “We could have kept the ball a bit better than we did, but we will go and learn from today before next weekend,” said the Imps boss.
“We struggled from the goal kick, especially with having two right-footed centre backs playing. We played better in the second half and we had a spell where we were a real threat but their goalkeeper made some brilliant saves.”
Cowley continued by praising experienced players O’Connor and Michael Bostwick for their efforts today following the pair rarely featuring throughout pre-season.
“Michael (O’Connor) has had 17 seasons and 17 opening days in his career, he has lived them all and has some Irish fighter in him so I felt that he did really well for us,” said Danny.
“He and Bozzy (Michael Bostwick) have done really well today. The corner was slightly over hit but Mickey has done really well to find space and put it into the back of the net to give us the lead just before half time.”
The Imps boss finished by explaining the sides objective for the season following last season’s promotion from SkyBet League Two: “I am hoping to get to 50 points, and then I will re-evaluate our objectives for the season from that point.
“We know what challenges we have to face this season and we will work really hard to overcome some of those, we won’t be able to overcome all of those but if we can get the group together then we will be a good football team.”
Next up for the Imps is a trip to face Rotherham United at the Aesseal New York Stadium in SkyBet League One - Tickets are still available from the ticket office at Sincil Bank or via Eventbrite HERE
