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  PGDPts
1Port Vale16+833
2Crewe15+628
3Doncaster16+428
4Walsall14+1227
5MK Dons16+827
6Notts County16+827
7Grimsby16-625
8AFC Wimbledon14+1023
9Bradford16+423
10Gillingham15+423
11Chesterfield16+922
12Barrow16+222
13Fleetwood Town14+521
14Salford16-321
15Newport County16-720
16Accrington Stanley16-418
17Cheltenham16-418
18Harrogate Town16-818
19Tranmere14-717
20Bromley15-216
21Colchester15-414
22Swindon16-713
23Carlisle16-1512
24Morecambe16-1310

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Lincoln Preview

By: Richard Hubbert
Date: 21/01/2005

AFTER securing just their third away win of the season last week at Leyton Orient, the Mariners meet local adversaries Lincoln City at Blundell Park - the clubs second meeting in a month.

Home > 2004-2005 Season > Previews > Lincoln (h)

The Opposition

Overview
It was less than a month ago that the two sides met - and not much has changed for either team since then. Lincoln won two games in a row after their game with Town on the 29th December - victories against Bury and Chester. The Imps then lost to lowly Kidderminster a few weeks ago and manager Keith Alexander (left) was not happy with his players - making several changes for their draw with Bristol Rovers last weekend.

Their Squad
The City squad has been boosted since they last met Town, with the arrival of Craig Westcarr (left), on loan from Nottingham Forest. Peter Gain is regarded as one of the best midfield players in the division, and after a month out through injury is now back to full fitness. Goalkeeper Alan Marriott was arguably the Imps man of the match in the game last month, while former Peterborough striker Francis Green is always a threat in this division and has six goals to his name this season. Joining him in attack is likely to be fellow marksman Gary Taylor Fletcher who scored six goals early on in the season but has failed to hit the net since the end of November. He hit 19 goals last term so will hope for a strong finish to this term to better that.

Key Player
Paul Morgan ­ - without the commanding presence of Ben Futcher, more responsibility falls on the shoulders of the Northern Ireland international defender. Morgan marshalled a tight Imps defence at Sincil Bank last month and will look to do the same again.

Recent Form

 

TownLincoln
WLeyton Orient(a)2-1
LNorthampton(h)1-2
WCambridge(h)3-0
DLincoln(a)0-0
DMacclesfield(h)0-0
Currently 14th in League Two.
DBristol Rovers(h)1-1
LKidderminster(a)1-2
WChester(a)1-0
WBury(h)1-0
DGrimsby(h)0-0
Currently 9th in League Two.

Top Scorers

 

TownLincoln
Pinault6
Parkinson5
Yeo9
Taylor Fletcher7

Team News

 

TownLincoln
  • Russell Slade has some tough decisions to make before naming his starting eleven. Firstly, he has to decide on the fitness of Mariners skipper John McDermott who has a knee injury. He didn’t train until Thursday, but will be desperate to face the Imps at BP.

  • Ronnie Bull is suspended as was Ashley Sestanovich, who has been sent back to Sheffield United after his poor behaviour and attitude in recent weeks. This means that Greg Young could start down the left hand side.

  • Jason Crowe and Justin Whittle remain sidelined, while Stacy Coldicott will hope to retain his place in the midfield after an impressive display last Saturday at Orient.
  • The Imps were dealt a blow last week when it was revealed that towering defender Ben Futcher could be out for the season with a fractured cheekbone. The good news is that Futcher’s injury is not as bad as first thought and could be back in March, but he will miss out of the Imps' line-up.

  • Peter Gain made a return to the Imps bench last week and after a run out in the reserves, Keith Alexander will have to decide whether to start him. If he does play, Ciaron Toner could be the one to make way.

  • Francis Green is suspended for picking up 5 yellow cards.

    • Probable Teams

     

    TownLincoln
    1Anthony Williams
    2John McDermott
    3Greg Young
    4Simon Ramsden
    6Rob Jones
    28Terrell Forbes
    11Stacy Coldicott
    15Terry Fleming
    10Andy Parkinson
    9Michael Reddy
    26Martin Gritton
    1Alan Marriott
    5Paul Morgan
    17Gareth McAuley
    23Jamie McCombe
    14Matthew Bloomer
    8Richard Butcher
    3Kevin Sandwith
    11Peter Gain
    27Gary Taylor Fletcher
    19Craig Westcarr
    28Marcus Richardson

    Subs

     

    TownLincoln
    17Thomas Pinault
    5Tony Crane
    12Graham Hockless
    13Paul Fraser
    27Glen Downey
    7Ciaron Toner
    15Ritchie Hanlon
    26Jack Hobbs
    16Michael Blackwood
    9Simon Yeo

    Head to Head

    Town have the edge over their oldest adversaries, having won 37 of their 85 encounters.

    P 85 W 37 D 23 L 25 F 162 A 121

    Lincoln Head-to-Head (17th on The Opposition Ladder)

    Connections

    Down the years, there have been many players (and managers) that have had links with both clubs. In the 1980s, there was a long list of players who played for both sides. George Kerr, like Keith Alexander - had two spells in charge of Lincoln. He was sacked after just a year in 1978 before he joined Town and again from 1985-1987, resulting in Lincoln's relegation from the football league in 1987.

  • Those to appear for Lincoln were the likes of Kevin Kilmore, Bobby Mitchell, Jimmy Gilligan and Gary Lund. Once Lincoln were relegated and Colin Murphy took over he brought in Nigel Batch and Bobby Cumming with instant results - promotion back into the Fourth Division at the very first attempt. Both of these players were of course Town legends, clocking up 783 appearances between them for the Mariners.

  • Gordon Hobson was highly regarded by both Town and Imps fans. He scored 73 goals in 272 appearances for Lincoln before moving to the Mariners in 1985. He played just 52 times for Town (scoring 18 goals) before he was snapped up by Chris Nicholl at Southampton. He later rejoined the Imps in the late 1980s, continuing to bang in the goals with 22 in 61 games.

  • Paul Groves had a brief loan spell at Sincil Bank at the start of the 1989/90 season - the last time Town were in the bottom division before their relegation in May.

  • Current Mariner Terry Fleming was at Lincoln for five years between 1995 and 2000, when he made 188 starts for the Imps. Lee Thorpe was also at Lincoln for a few seasons - he of course had a short loan spell with Town last season.

  • When legendary Town manager Alan Buckley (above) took over at Sincil Bank in 2001; many ex-Mariners followed. Kingsley Black, who of course scored for Town at Wembley made 30 starts for the Imps before having the remainder of his contract paid up when Lincoln were in administration a few years back.

  • Adam Buckley (pictured), Alan's son, made 19 starts for Lincoln but last year was found guilty of stealing from his team-mates. Similarly to Black, Ian Hamilton was another to have the remainder of his contract paid up after joining from Notts County in 2001. Hamilton had a six game loan spell for Town in 1999 when the Mariners were in the First Division.

  • Luke Cornwall formed a good partnership with Livvo for the Mariners under Lennie Lawrence, but had a disappointing loan spell with the Imps in the 2002/03 season. He played for both Bradford and Woking last season.

    • Last Meeting

    The last time the two sides met was little under a month ago in a 0-0 draw at Sincil Bank. Many Town fans felt that they were robbed, however, when Town scored a last minute “goal” that was disallowed for a mysterious handball.

    Grimsby Team: Williams, Whittle (Pinault, 86), Ramsden, Jones, McDermott, Crowe, Fleming, Bull, Gritton, Sestanovich, Parkinson (Reddy, 67)
    Subs: (not used) Fraser,Hockless,Downey

    Lincoln Team: Marriott, McCombe, Morgan, Futcher, Bloomer, Butcher, Toner (Hanlon, 75), Sandwith, Green, Richardson (Carruthers, 72), Yeo
    Subs: (not used) Blackwood,Peat,Ryan,

    Attendance: 8,056    Report

    Prediction

    A narrow 2-1 victory for Town.

    2-1

    Recent Predictions

    GamePredictionScorePoints
    Leyton Orient1-12-10
    Northampton1-11-20
    Cambridge2-13-01
    Lincoln1-11-13
    Macclesfield1-10-01
    Oxford2-01-10
    Yeovil2-11-20
    Notts Co1-03-21
    Exeter1-10-20
    Scunthorpe2-10-20
    		 Reader's POMs

    Directions

    Click on the link for directions to Blundell Park (left).

    Admission Prices

    Click on the link for ticket prices to Blundell Park.

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