Freddie Draper Secures Late Victory for Lincoln City Against Preston
Freddie Draper stepped off the bench and twisted the knife into Preston’s bruised start to the season, glancing in a late winner as Lincoln City snatched a 1-0 victory at Deepdale.
One touch. One chance. One game decided.
Draper punishes wasteful Preston
For an hour and more, this was Preston’s game to take. Paul Heckingbottom’s side began with intent, driving balls into the Lincoln box and pinning the visitors back.
Cross after cross rained in. End product? None.
Lincoln, by contrast, needed only a moment.
On 81 minutes, Andrei Coubis launched a long throw into the heart of the Preston area. Draper darted across his marker and applied the faintest of touches with his head. It was enough. The ball skipped beyond Daniel Iversen and into the net, the away end erupting as the Imps’ unbeaten run stretched to four league games.
For Preston, it was the same story again. Pressure, territory, chances – but just three points from the first 21 on offer.
Wickens stands tall as Preston squander chances
Preston had threatened early. Andrija Vukcevic almost scored without meaning to, his hanging cross curling towards the top corner until George Wickens flung himself across goal to claw it away.
Johnny Kenny then had a clear sight of goal inside the box and lashed over. Stanley Mills drove infield and tested Wickens, who again stood firm.
The pattern grew familiar. Alfie Devine whipped in a low cross that Kenny slid in to meet, only to finish a fraction short. Liam Gibbs delivered another teasing ball that flew just too high for Callum Lang, then dragged a shot wide himself.
Preston were edging closer, their main threat coming from wide areas, but Lincoln refused to break.
Lincoln ride the storm and strike late
The second half opened with the same one-way traffic. Crosses, cut-backs, bodies piling into the box. Lang met one delivery at the far post and Wickens blocked with his foot. Moments later, Kenny tried again and the Lincoln goalkeeper answered once more.
Tom Shaw’s side had to live on the counter, but they still carved out moments of their own. Conor McGrandles saw a low strike saved by Iversen, then clipped a delicate ball to the back post that just eluded Ben House.
House then wriggled into space inside the area and drilled a ball across goal, which cannoned into Harry Clarke. Lincoln screamed for handball; the referee waved it away.
Preston kept coming. Jordan Storey thought he had finally broken through, only for Dom Jeffries to hack his effort off the line.
The pressure built. The goal never came.
And then Lincoln delivered the sucker punch. Coubis wound up that long throw, Draper stole a yard, and the slightest of glancing headers turned a hard-fought away point into a precious three.
Managers’ verdicts
Heckingbottom cut a frustrated figure afterwards, left to pick through another defeat shaped by fine margins.
“We're really frustrated,” he said. “While we're not in front, they're going to have their counter-attacks, opportunities and set plays and 90 per cent of the time we dealt with it, but ultimately it was their biggest weapon.
“There's no lack of effort there. We had opportunities, but we didn't force the big moments to go our way… They defended their box really well and they were the ones who forced a scrappy goal in at the other end.
“I can't be critical of the effort of the players, but we are missing that – what Lincoln did today – being the ones that force the ball in. The margins are so fine.”
Shaw, in contrast, praised the grit that underpins Lincoln’s recent rise.
“Our supporters want full throttle football and that's what we're trying to give them,” he said. “We've built this success over the last few years on the real ugly side of football, and we're very proud of how we play.
“We've recruited, nurtured and developed a set of players that have got incredible character… We pride ourselves on those horrible, ugly things.
“All the other stuff will come over time and we will be threatening at this level. There were glimpses of that today and Freddie gets the goal he deserves.”
Lincoln leave with belief swelling and momentum building. Preston leave with the same question echoing around Deepdale: how long can they keep wasting chances before this slow start becomes something far more serious?
