Darlington v Lincoln City, 29th August 2011

Venue: The Darlington Arena

Attendance: 2,252

Final score: 3-1

 

I have to confess that I was in London for the Bank Holiday weekend, so couldn’t even listen to BBC Lincolnshire’s fine commentary for this match, having to make do with ever more depressing score updates.  In fact, as the match went on, I began to consider myself one of the lucky ones…

There’s a very simple fact in football – if you can’t keep a clean sheet, you are going need to score at least once to get a draw and at least twice to win a match.  Such a goalscoring rate is, of course, impossible to maintain.  Therefore, if you want to do well at football, stopping the opposition scoring is crucial.  This simple philosophy seems to be eluding City at the moment.  We have lost 3 and drawn 2 matches this season, yet have only failed to score once (against Kidderminster).

City made a few changes to the starting lineup, with Danny Hone starting instead of Adam Watts in defence, and Kyle Perry and Sam Smith partnering each other up front.  I confess to being a little worried about the constant ‘striker swapping’ this season.  It seems that Steve Tilson doesn’t yet know what his best partnership is – hence a new combination seemingly every match.  Surely trying to give a partnership time to settle in will prove beneficial in the long run?

As I said, I missed the commentary on the game, so can only really relay the basic facts.  City conceded in less than a minute when Bowman fired home from the edge of the box.  Although City seem to have stopped the rot and got to halftime still in the match, the second half quickly turned sour, with Bowman getting his second on 5 minutes and then fed Campbell for number three just five minutes later.  Despite Power getting his second goal in successive games on 71 minutes with a long range drive, the match was beyond City, and it seems that Darlington saw the game out with little worry.

I warned in my comments after the superb performance against Stockport that we shouldn’t get carried away, but I have to confess that I predicted at least a draw here.  Sadly the team doesn’t seem to have performed close to that level, and will need to pick themselves up again.  Six games into the season, City sit in a lowly 18^th position, level on points with the top relegation place.  Good performances or no, points need to start being gained by fair means or foul before City find themselves struggling to climb the table.

DARLINGTON
23 Sam Russell
22 Ben Purkiss
18 Graeme Lee
6 Ian Miller
5 Greg Taylor
16 John McReady
2 Paul Arnison
12 Ryan Bowman
8 Kris Taylor
11 John Campbell
20 Adam Rundle

Substitutes
10 Jamie Walshaw, for Campbell 62
4 Jamie Chandler, for Rundle 68
7 Liam Hatch, for Bowman 76
14 Chris Atkinson
31 Marc Bridge-Wilkinson

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe Anyon
13 Tony Sinclair
5 Josh Gowling
6 Danny Hone
3 John Nutter
8 Alan Power
10 Ali Fuseini
15 Simon Russell
30 Gavin McCallum
9 Kyle Perry
14 Sam Smith
Substitutes
27 Jean-Francois Christophe, for Sinclair 10
7 Jamie Taylor, for Smith 63
19 Bradley Barraclough, for Perry 72
17 Nicky Nicolau
20 Doug Lindberg

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Lincoln City v Stockport County, 26th August 2011

Venue: Sincil Bank, Lincoln

Attendance: 2,152

Final score: 1-1

Sometimes you just don’t get what you deserve in football.  In this battle of the relegated teams City battled, strutted, played some sublime football and generally worked their socks off.  Unbelievably, the match ended in a draw, though City created enough chances to win three matches - in the end being denied the win by the woodwork, a stubborn Stockport defence and a less than convincing refereeing performance.

Stockport sat just above the Imps on 6 points before the game, having drawn both their previous away games.

After a miserably rainy day, the evening actually turned out to be good footballing weather – balmy and with no wind.  The wet surface certainly made it a night for testing goalkeepers from range, however.

City made two changes from the team that won at AFC Telford, with Perry and Barraclough, the two substitutes that had made the difference in that match, brought into the starting 11 at the expense of Taylor and Smith.  I find it interesting that Perry and Taylor haven’t yet been paired up front together at all, considering that they have the best goalscoring records at this level and would surely fit the 'big man, small man' template.

City set out their intentions from the start, attacking aggressively, with Gavin McCallum tearing pieces out of the Stockport right back Brahim-Bounab (who would be subbed halfway through the first half).  McCallum seems a different player this season – his confidence, pace and close control seeming a world away from the player we saw last season.

The lead was taken early, and it was Power who scored the goal, though it was more about precision than power as he curled a neat shot into the far corner from just inside the area after a scramble in the box.

The referee was letting the play flow in the early stages (in sharp contrast to his later behaviour) and it was allowing City to find their feet.  A second goal was denied the Imps after an inch perfect freekick found Gowling’s diving head, and the City skipper swung away to celebrate, unaware that the linesman had flagged for offside, though from where I was sitting it seemed impossible that the Imps’ skipper himself had strayed.

The threat of being caught by a suckerpunch was ever present, and it was Stockport’s bulky striker Tom Elliott who looked the most dangerous.  Although not getting much service, it was clear that Elliott is a very good player at this level, and his touch and movement seemed effortless whenever Stockport had the ball.

Just as City were looking to hold out for half time, it was Elliott who provided the blow that would ultimately deny City all three points.  His glancing header from the edge of the box sneaked past Anyon before clipping the inside of the post, and rolled slowly across the goal before crossing the line.  It was a good header, but the contact with the post could have taken it anywhere, and it was cruel luck for the Imps that the woodwork favoured Stockport now and would prove just as unkind in the second half.

The second half would be marked by a noticeable change in the referee’s consistency, and the love affair that seemed to have blossomed between him and his whistle over halftime.

Stockport actually came out of the blocks flying, and for the first five minutes it seemed as is City wouldn’t be able to regain their first half dominance.  That doubt was soon laid to rest, however, as City began to once again hammer on Stockport’s door, Barraclough in particular looking lively and dangerous.  I think Barraclough is another player I’m going to like this season – he has a great desire to run and has the ability and confidence to take on defenders.  If I had to make a tiny criticism of him, it’s that he often tries to take on too many defenders when a simple pass would be the better option.  His passing was often off target, however, meaning that he is wont to give possession away a little too often.  However, he is still young, and I’m sure his decision making will improve in time.

City came closest to retaking the lead when McCallum (who else), smashed an audacious 25 yard effort off the front of the crossbar, with Glennon well beaten.

The danger of conceding a sloppy goal yet again reared its head, though, as a scramble on the edge of the box almost led to Stockport getting a clean shot at goal, before Gowling cleared with a bizarre (if a little reckless) ground level diving header.

The woodwork would yet again come to Stockport’s aid soon afterwards, as a freekick to Lincoln well outside the box was pushed to Power, whose powerful effort took a slight deflection before hammering against the underside of the bar.  After conceding from good freekicks a few times already this season, it was unlucky that City couldn’t benefit from one.

City had two late penalty appeals as Stockport’s defending started to get a little ragged.  First McCallum seemed to be pulled back in the box, then Smith was clearly dragged over while stretching for a ball at the back post.  Both were good shouts for penalties but the referee, who had been giving niggly decisions throughout the second half, seemed unable to make the big decisions, no matter how blatant they were.  I’m not one of those fans who likes to blame referees – they do a very tough job – but sadly the standard of refereeing and linesmanning (is that a word?) in the Blue Square Premier seems poor, and I fear that more frustrating decisions await us in the games ahead.

The blowing of the final whistle meant that City had only gained a point from a match that could, and should, have yielded three.  However, the work rate and quality of football were recognised by the crowd, and the players should be under no doubt that the fans were proud of them.  I would stick my neck out and plainly state that I don’t believe that this team would have been relegated from League 2 last year.

I think we need to be careful not to get carried away, however.  This was City’s best performance of the season, and comes on the back of two other good performances, but we’ve seen in seasons past that good attacking form can come to an end (especially if performances are not turned into goals and wins).  Instead, we should see this as a very encouraging step along the road. Let’s not forget amid all the excitement that we didn’t actually win – we couldn’t turn chances into goals, as a top of the table side surely would have done.  We also failed to keep a clean sheet, when Stockport were restricted to very few chances in the match.

So overall, a very solid performance from the Imps, another point gained, but we need to keep this level up if we are really going to challenge for the playoffs or better this season - the bar has been set.

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe Anyon
13 Tony Sinclair
4 Adam Watts
5 Josh Gowling
3 John Nutter
8 Alan Power
10 Ali Fuseini
15 Simon Russell
30 Gavin McCallum
9 Kyle Perry
19 Bradley Barraclough
Substitutes
7 Jamie Taylor, for Barraclough 74
14 Sam Smith, for Perry 81
6 Danny Hone
17 Nicky Nicolau
27 Jean-Francois Christophe

STOCKPORT COUNTY
1 Matt Glennon
21 Nabil Brahim-Bounab
5 Danny O'Donnell
22 Carl Piergianni
3 Euan Holden
7 Sean McConville
14 Sam Sheridan
4 Jon Routledge
10 John Miles
19 Nick Chadwick
20 Tom Elliott
Substitutes
16 Ryan Mccann, for Brahim-Bounab 21
24 Elliott Chamberlain, for Miles 74
8 John Nolan, for Chadwick 81
9 Martin Gritton
12 Ian Ormson

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AFC Telford v Lincoln City, 23rd August 2011

Venue: The Buck's Head, Telford

Attendance: 2,323

Final score: 1-2

 

Hurray!  My positive vibes have obviously paid off, and the Imps have finally got their first win of the season.

Telford are also new to the BSQP this season, having being promoted last season by winning the Blue Square North playoffs.  Despite playing one game less than the Imps they had already recorded a win, beating York 1-0 at Bootham Crescent with a late Craig Farrell goal.  Nevertheless this represented the best chance for City to get their season up and running, not least because Telford are one of the league’s part time teams.

Despite a rumour before kickoff that Josh Gowling had picked up an injury, City started the match unchanged from the side that had worked so hard against Wrexham.

Listening on BBC Lincolnshire, the match was a sometimes frantic affair, but one that failed to see any real chances created in the first half.  City were working hard, particularly Gavin McCallum, yet never got in behind Telford to test the keeper.  Telford came back into the match as the first half wore on, and came closest to opening the scoring with a freekick on the stroke of halftime.  Although it came to nothing, City still look like they’re going to concede every time the opposition has a set piece – surely a training ground priority for the near future.

City started the second half well and created a good chance almost straight from kickoff.  As the half wore on, it seemed as if a goalless draw was all the Imps could hope for as the few chances they managed to carve out could not beat Ryan Young in the Telford goal.

The turning point of the match was a double substitution as Kyle Perry and Bradley Barraclough came on in the 74th minute.  They combined almost immediately as Barraclough played the ball across the box for Perry to finish from 12 yards.  It was a good finish from Perry against his former club.

The Imps’ burly striker was not finished there, however, as only minutes later he latched on to a Fuseini cross to head home his second of the match, and his third of the season. 

Despite the substitutions obviously having match winning impact, I refuse to give Steve Tilson full credit for tactical genius, considering he’s made the exact same substitution in the last two games.  That’s not tactical ability – that’s just tradition.

The two goals certainly seemed to knock the wind out of Telford, but they still had it in them to pull a goal back in the dying moments, a good effort from Greg Mills beating Anyon at his near post.  Although not ultimately affecting the result, it was a shame not to cap the win with a clean sheet.

At the end of the day, however, City are officially up and running with their first win on the board.  Confidence in the squad should be high, early season nerves put away, and we can look forward to Friday night and the visit of fellow relegatees Stockport County to Sincil Bank.

TELFORD
1 Ryan Young
2 Will Salmon
16 Dan Preston
6 Shane Killock
3 Sean Newton
7 James Reid
8 Phil Trainer
20 Richard Davies
23 Ryan Valentine
10 Andy Brown
9 Alex Meechan

Substitutes
24 Greg Mills, for Reid 68
19 Craig Farrell, for Salmon 78
17 Craig King, for Meechan 81
11 Jon Adams
13 Lee Evans

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe Anyon
13 Tony Sinclair
4 Adam Watts
5 Josh Gowling
3 John Nutter
8 Alan Power
10 Ali Fuseini
15 Simon Russell
30 Gavin McCallum
7 Jamie Taylor
14 Sam Smith
Substitutes
19 Bradley Barraclough, for Taylor 74
9 Kyle Perry, for Smith 74
17 Nicky Nicolau, for McCallum, 90+4

6 Danny Hone
23 Josh O'Keefe

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Lincoln City v Wrexham, 19th August 2011

Venue: Sincil Bank, Lincoln

Attendance: 2,211

Final score: 1-2

It’s been a divided week in Lincoln City Land since Tuesday night’s defeat to Kidderminster, with some fans lamenting the defeat as a continuation of last season’s home form and other fans (myself included) appealing for patience and for last season to be left out of the equation.  In my match report for that game I put out a plea for fans to get behind the team, and I want to reiterate it again here.  Booing a new team will get us nowhere.  The exchanges on twitter that some fans had with Josh Gowling after the Kidderminster game were very disappointing, and I can only hope that the players do not perceive the negativity of some fans as representative of all of us.  It didn’t completely click on Tuesday but the effort and desire to win was plain to see, and for that reason alone it was an improvement on last season.

Wrexham had a good season last year, reaching the playoffs but being beaten in the semi-final by Luton.  This year they have had financial problems, but have started well on the field with 4 points out of a possible 6 from their opening 2 games.

In front of the live cameras of the TV channel Premier Sports (who I confess I have never heard of before), City and Wrexham fought out a lively encounter, but one which ultimately ended in narrow and undeserved defeat for the Imps.

City only made one change to the starting 11, with Taylor starting up front instead of Perry.  Although Taylor had done well after coming on as a substitute against Kidderminster and deserved a start, I thought Perry’s bustling style would cause problems, and that Smith might be the one to lose his place.

The opening exchanges were evenly balanced, with City matching their opponents.  Russell in particular impressed me throughout the match, with his patience on the ball, the accuracy of his passing, his willingness to take on an opponent and the quality of his delivery.  If he can keep developing, I think he might well be an unexpected star for us this season.

Sadly, the one thing with City is that we are a confidence team, and going behind always seems to shake us.  It was Wrexham who took that lead in the 28^th minute in familiar circumstances.  A freekick given away needlessly by Ali Fuseini was rolled to Jamie Tolley, who blasted an unstoppable shot into the top corner.  It seems ridiculous that City have now conceded two such goals in three games – not ridiculous in the sense that we have defended badly, but ridiculous that the odds are against such accurate freekick taking at this level.  Surely we have now conceded a season’s worth of these things?

To their credit, City refused to lie down, with Gavin McCallum in particular leading the charge.  The Canadian winger was criticised by Tilson in the week for being too nervous, but showed no signs of them now.  He repeatedly tore at the Wrexham defence, testing the Wrexham (and Welsh U21) keeper Maxwell time and again.  His quality would ultimately deny the Imps a victory, as throughout the match he pulled off numerous saves from shots that would surely have beaten other keepers at this, or even League 2, level.

The deserved equaliser eventually came moments before half time.  If it didn’t have the quality of the Wrexham goal, nobody cared.  After more good work by McCallum, who forced Maxwell into another save, the ball bobbled around near the line for an eternity, even hitting the bar, before Smith managed to squeeze it over the line.

City duly started the second half looking spritely, and it seemed that a victory could be on the cards with the ball constantly in the Wrexham half, and the visitors beginning to look ragged.  McCallum, Smith and Gowling all saw good efforts denied.

Cruelly, some might even say inevitably, City were punished by a single Wrexham move, when Jay Harris controlled the ball on the edge of the box, pushing it inside the box before drilling a superb low shot past a helpless Anyon.

It took City some time to regain their composure and begin to press the attack again.  The introduction of Barraclough and Perry brought some life back into the attack, and City finished strongest against a backdrop of horrific timewasting by the visitors.

Kidderminster had also been allowed to timewaste in the most obvious manner, and it is to be hoped that referees at this level will not tolerate it constantly, as it will quickly become tiresome!

City’s best efforts were ultimately not enough, but for two superb strikes by Wrexham and the wonderful quality of their keeper, City could easily have won the match by 2 or 3 goals, such was their dominance and the number of strikes they placed on target.

The crowd thankfully seemed to recognise this, and the disgraceful booing wasn’t repeated at the final whistle.  The Wrexham manager afterwards even commented that he was grateful to be playing the Imps now before we really find our form (though of course graciousness after an undeserved victory is easy).

City have a seemingly relentless run of opening matches, but it will surely not be long before the first victory is recorded, and the league table climbed if this performance can be repeated.  I remain convinced that this Imps team has what it takes to have a good season, and maybe even challenge for the playoffs.  A clean sheet would be nice sometime soon though…

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe Anyon
13 Tony Sinclair
4 Adam Watts
5 Josh Gowling
3 John Nutter
8 Alan Power
10 Ali Fuseini
15 Simon Russell
30 Gavin McCallum
7 Jamie Taylor
14 Sam Smith
Substitutes
9 Kyle Perry, for Fuseini 74
19 Bradley Barraclough, for Taylor 75
6 Danny Hone
17 Nicky Nicolau
23 Josh O'Keefe

WREXHAM
21 Chris Maxwell
2 Curtis Obeng
4 Mark Creighton
20 Nathanial Knight-Percival
3 Neil Ashton
6 Jay Harris
8 Lee Fowler
18 Jamie Tolley
11 Andy Morrell
9 Daniel Wright
10 Jake Speight
Substitutes
7 Adrian Cieslewicz, for Speight 63
14 Gareth Taylor
15 Steve Tomassen
26 Joe Clarke
25 Joslain Mayebi

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Lincoln City v Kidderminster Harriers, 16th August 2011. Match report and a plea to all Imps fans

Venue: Sincil Bank, Lincoln

Attendance: 2,448

Final score: 0 -1

Lincoln were reacquainted with one of their former League 2 rivals tonight, in the first of two evening home matches this week.  Following the opening day draw away at Southport (which I still maintain wasn’t as bad a result as some people made out), Imps fans were keen to see their team record their first win of the season.  Before the game I’d said that 4 points from the two games this week would be a good return, but sadly City have failed at the first hurdle.

Kidderminster just missed out on the playoffs last season, so were never going to be pushovers, but in truth City made the game harder than it needed to be, and were ultimately the architects of their own downfall.

After a cagey start, City managed to get into the game and for a spell midway in the first half they were applying a lot of pressure and confidence was high.  Sadly, when you fail to get a goal in such circumstances, the fates of football have an unfortunate habit of biting you, and so it proved.  Kidderminster’s goal came from a 41^st minute freekick, and poor marking saw Anyon beaten at close range by Gittings.

The second half saw more effort from the Imps, but it all seemed somehow aimless.  Despite some huffing and puffing towards the end, the simple fact is that the Kidderminster keeper was rarely tested, and Anyon had to make a couple of good saves to stop the scoreline from being worse, despite Kidderminster not looking like a team of world beaters (though they were certainly professional timewasters).

I promised to be positive this season and I intend to stick to that, certainly after only two games.  I thought that a number of the Imps new signings showed promise.  Power battled well in midfield, and showed an ability to run with the ball.  Nutter seemed solid at left back, and looks like he might be able to link up well with McCallum, who looked lively in the first half especially.  Perry had a good first half, though seemed to become more lumbering as the second half wore on.  Taylor looked creative when he came on, and was prepared to run at defenders.  There were some nice close passes from a number of players, and with other creative players still to return to fitness, I genuinely think we can score goals this season.

However, there are of course negatives to mention.  I was happy before the match to see that Watts had been moved to centre back, but almost as soon as the match kicked off, it was obvious that something is not right with him.  He looks to be lacking in confidence somehow, slow to react and too easily turned by opposition strikers.  I would be surprised if Danny Hone doesn’t get a return to the starting 11 on Friday night.  I said in my review of last season that being hard to beat was number 1 priority for this year and I still stand by that.

Another slight negative has to be Ali Fuseini.  I’m still prepared to give him a chance this season after his poor performances last year, but for me he still gets caught in possession far too often, and in dangerous positions.  Yes, he can ping some nice passes around, but he has to learn that the opposition are not going to let him take 10 minutes to do it.  His tackling is also generally poor, though his last ditch, goal saving tackle in the second half is certainly worthy of mention.

My single biggest worry for this season though is with Steve Tilson’s tactical prowess.  I still believe that he has managed to put together a hardworking side that has some degree of talent but I fear that he doesn’t know how to get the best out of them, to make them work to a game plan, and to tweak the team when things aren’t going to plan.

BUT!  I said in the title that there was a plea to City fans, and it is this:

Don’t get on the player’s backs this early in the season.  There was booing at the final whistle tonight, which I thought was out of order.  The fans may be carrying emotional baggage from last season, but the majority of this team aren’t.  To boo them after their first competitive home game, when despite the performance not being great the effort couldn’t be faulted, is self defeating.  We saw last season that a lack of support from the terraces ultimately led to the team not wanting to play at Sincil Bank because of the poor relationship with the fans.  If the fans aren’t careful, a whole new team will become similarly alienated.

Get behind the team.  Give a shout of encouragement instead of a groan.  Give the players the confidence to play attacking football.  Booing has been proven not to work.  Let’s give cheering a chance.

Anyway, at least we were treated to a nice sunset this evening, so it's not all bad...

 

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe Anyon
13 Tony Sinclair
4 Adam Watts
5 Josh Gowling
3 John Nutter
8 Alan Power
10 Ali Fuseini
15 Simon Russell
30 Gavin McCallum
9 Kyle Perry
14 Sam Smith
Substitutes
7 Jamie Taylor, for McCallum 72
23 Josh O'Keefe, for Smith 72
19 Bradley Barraclough, for Russell 72
6 Danny Hone
17 Nicky Nicolau

KIDDERMINSTER
1 Danny Lewis
2 Lee Vaughan
4 Luke Jones
6 Tom Marshall
3 Mike Williams
24 Kyle Storer
8 James Vincent
18 Callum Gittings
14 Nick Wright
9 Steve Guinan
10 Marc Williams
Substitutes
20 Jamille Matt, for Guinan 73
5 Scott Phelan, for Gittings 80
17 Luke Medley, for Wright 87
15 Tom Sharpe
21 Dean Lyness

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Southport v Lincoln City, 13th August 2011

Venue: Haig Avenue, Southport

Attendance: 1,687

Final score: 2 - 2

With a new football season there is always change, and one change I'm going to make this year is in the way I do match reporting.  Last season I tried to do more 'kick by kick' reporting, but to be honest you can get that from the official club website or from the Echo.  This year the reports will be shorter, but based much more on my own personal feelings.  As this is a personal blog, hopefully that will also make them more interesting (as well as quicker for me to write!).  I also intend to remain positive this season, starting with this opening day clash away on Merseyside.

Despite twice surrendering the lead, City at least hung on for an away point, meaning that this season has already started on a brighter note than last.  As disappointed Imps skipper Josh Gowling tweeted after the game 'No its not a disaster at all the sign of a good team is when they don't play well but pick up points and that's what we have done'.  If some City fans are going to get depressed every time we fail to win in the belief that we should walk this league, it's going to be a tough year for them.  There are good, organised teams in the BSQP and we would be arrogant in the extreme to let our hopes for an immediate return to the Football League become a belief that we are better than every other team and that every dropped point is a terminal disaster.

Despite Southport starting the game stronger, City settled into a rhythm and opened the scoring on 29 minutes when a clever corner saw Fuseini cross for Sam Smith, who planted his header firmly past keeper McMillan.

The Imps were being terrorised virtually single handedly by Southport striker John-Paul Kissock, and it was he who did the damage to the Imps on 41 minutes, curling a direct free kick from all of 30 yards away.

Interestingly, City were playing Adam Watts at right back, and the out of position centre half he struggled to cope all afternoon. This worries me in three ways:

1) our squad is obviously still lacking depth in some areas

2) Tilson didn't do anything to stop the damage being done when it was obvious early on who the danger man was

3) we don't know enough about this league and who the opposing danger men are in advance so as to tailor our tactics to counteract them

Despite this, it was the Imps who again took the lead in the second half, when Fuseini (who I've promised to give a second chance to this year after thinking him a complete pile of poo last season) whipped in a cross for Kyle Perry to convert with a header.

The celebrations of the large and boisterous Imps fans were once again cut short, this time after only 4 minutes, when Kissock fed Whalley, who was allowed to cut inside from the wing and fire past Anyon into the far corner.

I said here in my thoughts before the season started that our inability to stop the other team scoring will cost us, and it certainly did here. However, I promised to stay positive and I will, so here are the positives we should focus on:

1) two of our new strikers both scored well taken goals

2) it was a draw, not a defeat. Win your home games and draw your away games and you'll be fine, footballing lore tells us

3) the team is still bedding down so we shouldn't expect Brazil-like performances from day one

4) we still have creative players coming back from injury so the squad will improve

5) the away following was tremendous and will surely be of benefit to us at many smaller grounds this season

So, like most Imps fans I'm looking forward to the two nightime home games this week against Kidderminster and Wrexham, and the thought that if we can get 4 points out of them, we can officially say the the season has got off to a good start.

SOUTHPORT
1 Tony McMillan
14 James Smith
15 Andy Owens
4 Steve Akrigg
6 Simon Grand
2 Kevin Lee
7 Shaun Whalley
17 Karl Ledsham
10 Tony Gray
21 John-Paul Kissock
12 Jonathan Brown

Substitutes
9 Steve Daly, for Brown 68
3 Chris Lever, for Owens 71
20 Russell Benjamin, for Gray 80
5 Earl Davis
13 Matt Nemes

LINCOLN CITY
1 Joe Anyon
4 Adam Watts
5 Josh Gowling
6 Danny Hone
3 John Nutter
8 Alan Power
10 Ali Fuseini
15 Simon Russell
30 Gavin McCallum
9 Kyle Perry
14 Sam Smith
Substitutes
19 Bradley Barraclough, for Mccallum 75
7 Jamie Taylor, for Perry 85
23 Josh O'Keefe, for Smith 88
13 Tony Sinclair
17 Nicky Nicolau

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