Macclesfield Town v Lincoln City, 15 March 2011

Venue: Moss Rose, Macclesfield

Attendance: 1,067

Final score: 1-1

Once again a match between Lincoln City and Macclesfield Town is overshadowed as the two sides come together in grief to mourn a lost friend – Richard Butcher.

The Imps were able to name an unchanged lineup from Saturday’s battling win over Southend, and had high hopes of picking up more crucial points this evening.

The match started in tentative fashion, with neither side able to settle on the ball.  The first real chance came after about 15 minutes when Barnett was put through one on one with Carson, but the City keeper was up to the task and saved the low shot.

City responded well and were pressing Macclesfield back when Hunt played a one two with Grimes before curling a delicious long range shot past the despairing Veiga.  It was a superb strike – one of many long range efforts scored by City this season.  Despite the league table not always looking great, a DVD of City’s best goals would be well worth the purchase come May.

Macclesfield were quick to respond, with ex-Imp Hamza Bencherif poking wide from just a few yards out.

As the half came to a close, the referee had a few decisions to make, as first Hutchinson and Brown had words with each other and then Hutchinson appealed for a penalty after a high boot Diagne.  It was Hutchinson to receive the referee’s ire though, picking up a booking on the stroke of halftime for persistent foul play.

The second half started brightly with both sides having early shots.  Macclesfield slowly began to press for an equalizer however, winning a number of corners.

On the hour, Carson was forced into a good one handed save by Draper.  As City looked to attack again, the game’s decisive moment unfolded.  Hutchinson was penalized for a foul, but still struck the ball goalwards.  The referee, obviously inspired by the Arsenal Barcelona game of last week, deemed this a bookable offence, and just like Robin Van Persie, Hurchinson’s second yellow card meant a lonely trudge down the tunnel.  Hopefully Tilson will show slightly more decorum and class than Wenger did if he decides to discuss the decision after the match.

Macclesfield now began to take control in their search for a way back into the match.  In an attempt to sure up the defence, McCallum came on for Grimes, leaving Facey as a lone striker.  The Silkmen continued to apply pressure, but weren’t able to test Carson as the Imps midfield and defence held firm.

As five minutes of injury time were signaled, there was hope that the 10 men of City might just hold on, but sadly it was not to be.  A half cleared throw-in fell to Wedgbury who drove the ball past Carson to send the home crowd into raptures.

Just before the final whistle went, City’s evening took another turn for the worse as a collision saw Delroy Facey limp off nursing his shoulder, which may be disclocated.  Hopefully the assessment will show the injury to be less severe, as the Imps would certainly miss the big striker’s commitment and leadership in the coming weeks.

Although the late goal was gutting for City, a draw was probably the right result, and City have gained another important point on the road.  Also, the game saw two good, well struck goals from midfielders, and that in itself seems a fitting tribute to Butch.

MACCLESFIELD TOWN
1 Jose Veiga
14 Tony Diagne
5 Nat Brown
6 Paul Morgan
22 Dan Gray
4 Hamza Bencherif
15 Paul Bolland
11 Colin Daniel
17 Sam Wedgbury
8 Ross Draper
23 Tyrone Barnett

Substitutes:
10 Ricky Sappleton for Bolland (77)
9 Emile Sinclair for Draper (84)
2 Izak Reid
3 Carl Tremarco
20 Matthew Hamshaw
32 Jack Lane
13 Jack Cudworth

LINCOLN CITY
24 Trevor Carson
16 Julian Kelly
4 Adam Watts
6 Danny Hone
23 Stephen Hunt
14 Josh O'Keefe
19 Jamie Clapham
7 Mustapha Carayol
18 Delroy Facey
27 Ben Hutchinson
29 Ashley Grimes

Substitutes:
9 Gavin McCallum for Grimes (68)
15 Luke Howell for Carayol (75)
40 Patrick Kanyuka for Clapham (79)
2 Paul Green
25 Cian Hughton
39 Scott Spencer
20 Paul Musselwhite

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When giant robots meet classical Chinese history

The wonderful Ministry of Tofu (check them out if you don’t know of them and have an interest in offbeat modern Chinese culture), posted an article recently on this fantastic piece of public art.

It was created by students at the Central Academy of Fine arts out of old vehicle parts.  It depicts the Three Kingdoms hero Guan Yu, and appears to stand about 40’ high!

This definitely appeals to both my inner history student and my inner geek.  The only question left to ask is the most important one – autobot or decepticon?

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Lincoln City v Southend United, 12 March 2011

Venue: Sincil Bank, Lincoln

Attendance: 3,560

Final score: 2-1

Normally, the arrival of Southend at Sincil Bank wouldn’t be cause for particular interest, but this year there is a little more connection between the two clubs due to manager Steve Tilson.  Tilson is a bit of a legend at Southend, having been a successful player and manager there.  His tenure ended under a cloud, however, and he left to take up his current job with Lincoln after being put on gardening leave, but claims that Southend owe him unpaid wages.  This has all blown up this last week with Tilson taking legal advice and threatening to take Southend to the Football League.  Southend strenuously deny doing anything wrong and say they don’t owe Tilson anything.

Lincoln have stuttered slightly of late, as I mentioned in my report of the game against Burton Albion, while Southend are still hopeful of a late surge into the playoffs.  I therefore went to the game with slight feelings of trepidation.  Southend fans turned out in numbers – a superb 1,016 making the long journey northwards.  Despite their slightly annoying cockney accents, they were in good voice throughout the match.

City made some changes to the starting lineup, Tilson obviously identifying the midfield as a problem area in recent weeks.  Jamie Clapham replaced the disappointingly ineffective Fuseini in midfield and, more surprisingly, McCallum was dropped to the bench.  In his place Ben Hutchinson started up front, with the busy and hardworking Facey moving to the left wing.

The match started in even fashion and without any good chances created, but with Southend looking confident to stroke the ball around.  City started to get into the game after 20 minutes, creating a few half chances, but Hutchinson in particular was looking hungry to impress.

On the half hour, City began to turn the screw, and the Southend half saw the majority of the play, but again without notable chances being created.  The deadlock was broken on the 38^th minute when Carayol broke free and fired a hard shot straight at Evans.  The Southend keeper spilled the shot in front of him, and who else but poacher-supreme Ashley Grimes was there to tuck in the rebound.

The goal gave City confidence, and Grimes came close to grabbing a second just 2 minutes later, but his header from a Kelly cross just went wide.

A Carayol tackle on Gilbert left the Southend man in pain and needing to be replaced just before the break, which the Imps took their 1-0 lead into.

City came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and began to pressurize the Southend goal, with Facey seeing his shot blocked.  Southend made an early substitution, with Grant replacing Easton in midfield.

Southend soon began to get more of the ball and the second half promised to be a more open affair then the first half had been.  On 55 minutes, City came achingly close to doubling their lead when Facey was put through on the left wing.  His deep cross found an unmarked Hutchinson who looped a header back towards the back post.  City fans were half on their feet celebrating, but Barker managed to get back to acrobatically clear the shot off the line.

Play soon went down the other end, though, and poor marking by the City defence allowed a freekick to fall to Blair Sturrock (son of Southend manager Paul Sturrock), and he made no mistake in firing past Carson.  The equalizer stung City as they had seemed on top, but now had to work hard to ensure that the balance of the game didn’t swing in Southend’s favour.

The expected Southend onslaught failed to materialize however, and if anything the game became scrappier, with the referee’s whistle the dominant soundtrack.

On 78 minutes, a backpass to Carson saw the City keeper heave the ball forward to Grimes, who was stood unmarked on the left of the field.  Grimes got to the edge of the box, cut inside past his marker, and fired a powerful shot off the underside of the bar.

A few minutes later, O’Keefe saw a curling shot from the edge of the box shave the outside of the post.

As the final minutes approached, Southend began to get numbers forwards, but City’s defense held firm and closed down well.  Four minutes of injury time were indicated, and in the second of those, Grimes came off to a standing ovation, to be replaced by former Southend striker Scott Spencer.

Spencer was clearly keen to impress, and began running around, chasing everything.  He was presented with a great chance to open his City account when Carayol picked him out in the box with the keeper out of position, but he could only put his shot over the bar.

No further goals were needed, however, as the referee’s whistle soon after ensured the City victory.  Although Southend failed to pose the threat to City I thought they would, it was a battling performance from the Imps, and certainly a massive improvement from last week.  The result lifts City into 15^th, 10 points off the playoffs but more crucially 11 points off the relegation battle and only 5 points away from the magical 50 point mark.

As an aside, before I finish, I was watching Scott Spencer warm up before he came on, and it finally struck me where I know him from.  I loved him in Bill and Ted!

LINCOLN CITY
24 Trevor Carson
16 Julian Kelly
4 Adam Watts
6 Danny Hone
23 Stephen Hunt
14 Josh O'Keefe
19 Jamie Clapham
7 Mustapha Carayol
18 Delroy Facey
27 Ben Hutchinson
29 Ashley Grimes

Substitutes:
39 Scott Spencer for Grimes (90+2)
2 Paul Green
9 Gavin McCallum
25 Cian Hughton
31 Ali Fuseini
40 Patrick Kanyuka
20 Paul Musselwhite

SOUTHEND UNITED
24 Rhys Evans
2 Sean Clohessy
3 Peter Gilbert
5 Graham Coughlan
23 Chris Barker
31 Kane Ferdinand
8 Craig Easton
11 Lee Sawyer
12 Ryan Hall
10 Barry Corr
21 Blair Sturrock

Substitutes:
19 Miguel Comminges for Gilbert (45+1)
7 Anthony Grant for Easton (51)
28 Kyle Asante for Hall (85)
16 Luke Prosser
17 Louie Soares
20 Harry Crawford
1 Glenn Morris

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If IKEA made Stonehenge...

Apologies if you've seen this already (it seems to have being doing the rounds for a month or so), but someone brought it to my attention today and I think it's great, so here it is.

Just in case I get into trouble for reposting the images, I got them from www.designboom.com, so make sure you go to their website too and restore universal karma.

 

 Now why haven't the archaeologists considered the use of giants yet?

 

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Burton Albion v Lincoln City, 8 March 2011

Venue: Pirelli Stadium, Burton

Attendance: 2,051

Final score: 3-1

Burton Albion are a relative newcomer to League football, this being only their second season.  Their first season was a fairly stable one, the Brewers finishing in 13^th position.  29 games into this campaign, Burton sit precariously in 22^nd position, but with numerous games in hand over teams around them, having suffered even worse than Lincoln did with postponed games over the winter.  I’ll stick my neck out here and say with confidence that Burton will survive, and will be a good few places higher than they are now come the end of the season.

Before turning to tonight’s game though, have a look at their crest at the top of this post.  What on earth is that all about?  Why does it show some fat man frogmarching?  Why would you let kids design the crest of a professional football club?  Urgent PR makeover needed I feel.

Anyway, City fans were hoping for better then the turgid drivel that was Saturday’s bore draw against Accrington, but as it turned out they would have taken the same again over the eventual result.

Burton came out of the traps fighting, winning an early corner and forcing Julian Kelly to make a goal-line clearance.  Just as Barnet had done in City’s last away match, the good start turned into an early lead.  With just 10 minutes on the clock, a mix up between Hone and Carson allowed Winnall to pinch the ball and roll it into an unguarded net.  I feel like I’ve written about far too many defensive errors recently, particularly involving Carson, and it feels as if City are slipping back into giving away the soft goals that proved so costly earlier in the season.

The game continued in a scrappy fashion, but with the Brewers undeniably having the upper hand.  In the 37^th minute, a lob by Winnall looked to be going in, before Watts managed to head the ball back onto his own crossbar and away to safety.

It was clear that City needed to get hold of the ball to have any chance of getting back into the game, but once again the Imps wafer-thin midfield was struggling to either win or retain the ball.  It also seems that any side with a pacy right winger will do well against City, as Hunt has been turned inside out in more than one game recently.

City looked to quickly get back into the game after the break, and a Grimes dummy for O’Keefe seemed to present a great chance, but the outstretched leg of James denied the City midfielder the chance to test the goalkeeper.

The ball went down the other end, and once again City were the architects of their own downfall.  Kelly and Carayol managed to cheaply give the ball away to McGrath, who centred to give Webster a simple sidefoot finish from 6 yards.

The second goal gave Burton the confidence to go on the attack again, with City barely able to create any play in front of Burton’s goal.  City’s deficiencies are illustrated by the fact that Facey’s shot straight at the keeper on 66 minutes was the side’s first on target.

On 75 minutes, any doubts that Burton would take all three points were removed when Carayol made a clumsy challenge on Maghoma and the referee had no hesitation in giving a penalty.  Winnall duly stepped up to score his second and Burton’s third.

Ironically, when the game was beyond saving, City managed to achieve some fluency in their play.  Following a quick throw in, Grimes showed his ability to score goals from nothing by curling past keeper Legzdins from 20 yards with 8 minutes to go.

This, of course, proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal, and once again defensive errors, an absent midfield and a simple lack of fight from the first whistle to the last have cost the Imps.  Although the run of results in the new year gave City a more optimistic league position, there can be no doubt that that run is now well and truly over, and Tilson and Brush must ensure that complacency doesn’t set in, and the Imps own slack attitude doesn’t allow them to be clawed back into the relegation mire.

BURTON ALBION
23 Adam Legzdins
8 Andy Corbett
5 Tony James
7 Darren Moore
2 Paul Boertien
6 John Mcgrath
26 Adam Bolder
3 Aaron Webster
19 Jacques Maghoma
16 Russell Penn
29 Sam Winnall

Substitutes:
9 Simon Whaley for Penn (79)
30 Nialle Rodney for Webster (79)
10 Richard Walker
15 Ryan Austin
17 Jimmy Phillips
18 Greg Pearson
1 Kevin Poole

LINCOLN CITY
24 Trevor Carson
16 Julian Kelly
4 Adam Watts
6 Danny Hone
23 Stephen Hunt
14 Josh O'Keefe
31 Ali Fuseini
7 Mustapha Carayol
9 Gavin McCallum
18 Delroy Facey
29 Ashley Grimes

Substitutes:
27 Ben Hutchinson for Fuseini (62)
19 Jamie Clapham for McCallum (62)
39 Scott Spencer for Facey (76)
2 Paul Green
25 Cian Hughton
40 Patrick Kanyuka
20 Paul Musselwhite

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