A phenomenal achievement – Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy hails Ben House impact

Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy hailed Ben House as one of the “top strikers” in League One after his double did for Cheltenham.

House struck in each half to end the Imps’ five-game winless run with a comfortable victory at Sincil Bank.

“I am really pleased for Ben, who I think is one of the top strikers in the league,” Kennedy said.

“His goals-to-games ratio is really high and for what I would class as his first real season in the league this year, it’s a phenomenal achievement.

“I am hoping he can push on now and get a few more. But it wasn’t just Ben and I was pleased with everyone, to a man.”

Kennedy was also keen to praise his back three of Regan Poole, Adam Jackson and Paudie O’Connor in front of goalkeeper Carl Rushworth after their clean sheet.

“They were very good and they are all really good footballers, defending the box and understanding their craft – they’ve been exceptional,” he said.

House forced the ball over the line in the 42nd minute for his opener after two efforts from Ted Bishop had been blocked in the box.

And he added his second in the 79th minute to seal the points against an in-form Cheltenham side.

The Robins arrived on a six-game unbeaten run but rarely threatened Rushworth’s goal.

Glen Rea did force the Imps goalkeeper into one early save, but Lincoln looked the more likely scorers in the first half, with Luke Southwood diving to his right to keep out Poole’s effort.

Bishop failed to hit the target from a good position in the 39th minute, but he was heavily involved in House’s 10th goal of the season as Lincoln took the lead.

Alfie May saw two efforts blocked in the six-yard box in the 50th minute as Cheltenham looked for a leveller.

Lincoln substitute Mide Shodipo drew two saves from Southwood before supplying House to make it 2-0 11 minutes from the end.

Robins boss Wade Elliott had no complaints about the result.

“I thought it was a really, really poor game,” he said. “We didn’t get anywhere near our level and you can see why they are effective at home because they strangled the game completely.

“We didn’t play with anywhere near enough zip or energy that we have done for the majority of the season.

“We are not one of the big boys and we need a good collective performance to get results and we didn’t get that today.”