JOYOUS manager Peter Jackson today heaped praise on players and supporters alike for the second-half effort which scuppered Lincoln.
Jackson's unchanged starting line-up got their biggest rollicking of the season at half-time and responded with a two-goal fightback.
Jackson - who revealed that striker Pawel Abbott, who was nowhere to be seen among the celebrations, had been dropped for a "disappointing attitude" - explained:
"I was fuming at half-time and told the players that after a season of hard graft we were going to throw it away in one lousy 45-minute spell.
"I told them that I needed at least 50% more from every player on the pitch, otherwise we weren't going through to the final, and thankfully they delivered in style.
"That shows the character in the squad here.
"People have kept writing us off and saying we couldn't handle the pressure.
"It wasn't nerves which put us in the mire last night, it was simply that we didn't compete in the first half. We were just rubbish.
"Lincoln won every second ball, they looked fitter and stronger and under the pressure they created we defended too deep - far, far too deep.
"It needed really massive determination to turn that around and, with the help of our magnificent fans, we did."
On Abbott's omission from the bench, Jackson said: "I have been disappointed with Pav since I left him out at Lincoln and put him on the bench down there.
"I've been disappointed with his attitude in training and that's why I selected John McAliskey on the bench."
