Danny Cowley happy to grind out results after Lincoln beat Bury

Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2018 by PA

Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley was in jovial mood after seeing his side produce a second-half fightback to beat Bury 2-1 to cement second spot in League Two.

Eoghan O’Connell fired the visitors ahead in the first-half, but fellow Shakers defender Will Aimson saw red for handball in his own box after 75 minutes.

John Akinde fired home the equaliser from the spot, before Imps skipper Lee Frecklington popped up with the winner eight minutes from time.

“I was really pleased that we were able to win a tough game against a very good Bury team,” said Cowley.

“We didn’t get the play into our width into the first half that we would have liked, so I changed things at half-time and credit to the players, who showed a really bravery and resilience which you need if you want to be successful.

“I always believe we can win games. The fans generate incredible noise and energy here, and we know if we can get sustained pressure that we can create mistakes in the opposition.

“People said we weren’t very good at Northampton, but we won, and supposedly we weren’t very good at Grimsby and picked up a point, and some will probably say we weren’t very good tonight, but we are sitting on 10 points.

“I think there is some truth in all that, but I definitely think we are a work in progress. We are a new group and we have to learn quick.”

Cowley handed first Football League starts to goalkeeper Grant Smith and teenage midfielder Ellis Chapman and was pleased with their performances.

“Grant didn’t have much to do, but I thought his handling was good, while I thought Ellis was excellent and I only took him off at half-time for tactical reasons,” added Cowley.

Bury boss Ryan Lowe was downhearted after seeing his side dominate for much of the match, but ultimately end up on the losing side.

“I am gutted,” said Lowe. “It was a sucker punch. We dominated large parts of the game and to concede that penalty.

“If you get it you are delighted, but if it goes against you you are disappointed.

“It’s a tough one to take. We defended all their threats, we scored a great goal from a set-piece and we should have scored another one or two in the second half and see the game out.

“But fair play to Lincoln, they keep going and trying to find a way to win and they have done that. The penalty was harsh, but the second goal was a calamity of errors.

“I said I wanted a disciplined performance and I told them they’d done the easy part at half-time, but they needed to do the tough part win the second half and two sloppy goals have cost us.”