Stockport County 1, Lincoln City 2
Matchwinner Rob Street feels the Boxing Day victory at Stockport County sends out a message to the rest of Sky Bet League One that the Imps mean business.
Street calmly slotted home a late goal from the penalty spot to seal the 2-1 success - a win which the striker says shows City are ready to fight all the way to make the most of their strong opening half of the season which has now seem them bag 41 points from the opening 22 games.
He said: "It's a massive statement of our intent to the rest of the league of what we're about - we've had a great home record but we haven't had that statement victory away from home until this.
"We've been doing really well this season and it's not too much of a surprise to us."
Street (pictured celebrating below) hailed the determination of his side to get something out of the game, having dug in and regrouped after the home side had equalised.
He said: "We dug in deep and kept it at 1-1, then got the winner at the end. This is one of the toughest places to come in the league against a very good team.
"Hard work is a non-negotiable in our team - we get in peoples' faces and are a horrible team to play against when we're at our best."
Street was pleased to give the travelling fans another magical moment as he got to celebrate his late winner with them - with the away supporters housed directly behind the goal he converted into.
He added: "I tried to get a clear head and was always confident and wanted to take it - you've just got to pick your spot and go with it.
"As a moment it's definitely up there, the fans were brilliant and kept us going so I'm delighted to help give them a good Boxing Day."
Street’s sentiments were echoed by head coach Michael Skubala: “It was a real ding-dong of a match against a really good team - this is a huge moment against a good well-coached team, they’’ll be right up there.”
He had named an unchanged side from the team that defeated league leaders Cardiff City the previous Saturday. Confidence was high and the Imps opened the scoring around the half-hour mark through Reeco Hackett, but the Hatters equalised in the second half and it looked as if the visitors were going to have to settle for a poin.
“It’s an unbelievable group that came through that, the players deserved it. All our front players are willing to put unbelievable work to press, we’re aggressive and front-footed and kept trying to push the game,” said Skubala
“We can’t be perfect and have 90 minutes of the game how we want it, but we’ve shown real resilience when the opposition are having that spell.
“The group is still learning, and once we’ve grown back into the game we can get back on top of it. I’m really pleased we got what we deserved from the game.
“The lads gave their heart and soul for the cause out there.”
Skubala also had praise for the 631 Imps fans who backed their side all the way to the end, and were rewarded with memorable scenes as Street concerted the late penalty kick in front of them to spark wild celebrations.
He added: “We managed the occasion and the crowd well. The fans were great, you can feel the connection - they were right behind us and we’ll need them for the rest of the season.”
Attendance: 9,690 (631 away).
Picture: Vaughan Photography
