By Nathan Jackson
February 19 2006

City didn't quite achieve a 5th win in a row but gained a valuable point against Macclesfield on Saturday afternoon. Hughes equalised with 15 minutes left after Wijnhard had given the hosts the lead but the game will go down as the latest additions of the "Jarnel Singh's Guide To Refereeing" video

I've seen comments from other Lincoln fans saying that we were lucky to escape with a point because of how well Macclesfield played. Were those fans watching the Macclesfield vs Lincoln game because if they were, they weren't paying attenion. Macclesfield were an extremely poor side and if it hadn't been for Yeo being as usual as a match that's been throw into a glass of water, then we would have absolutly battered Macclesfield. I can't recall Macclesfield causing us any major problems and other than the penalty, there was only one other occasion where they looked like scoring.

Also, it's quite funny that Macclesfield fans are moaning about the "blatent" penalty they should have had 5 minutes before they got their actual penalty. Macclesfield fans obviously need glasses because the "foul" (that didn't even get a free kick) was committed well outside of the area.

Our own performance was far from perfect though and nothing has changed since the last 4 wins, we've been playing awfully for weeks now and the reason we've been winning is down to the fact that we've been playing relegation threatened teams. Once we start playing the teams that are in the hunt for promotion, such as Carlisle in 2 weeks, we will have to improve immensly because if we keep playing this badly, we will get destroyed at not only Brunton Park but also every other ground we go to this season.

We just seem to lack the ability to string 3 or 4 passes together and it says it all that the only time that we achieved a decent passing movement, we scored. It's really frustrating watching a player, *coughs*Robinson*coughs*, run past 4 or 5 players only to pass the ball to no-one and out of play for a corner. A large selection of part-time supporters were out today and finally released that we aren't very good and Yeo was yet again guilty of missing so many easy chances and yet he's somehow still rated as our best striker. If he was as good as people say he is, he would have at least made the keeper work in the last 2 games.

Jarnal Singh, where do we start. I'm sorry, I don't care if I get a letter from the FA but whoever allowed this guy to become a referee needs to be sacked because he is truly the worst referee in the football league. He's inconsistant beyond belief and I counted no fewer that 7 incidents where for one team he gave it, but for the other, he didn't. Singh seems to be a referee who's only obsessed with making himself the centre of attention in every game and the fact that every single game he's reffed this season, he's been booed by both sets of fans, says it all. There's a difference between being a referee who frustrates fans by making bad calls and a referee who frustrates fans by seemingly just doing what the hell he wants, regardless of the rules.

Alan Marriott - 6 - He didn't really have a lot to do all afternoon but typically, after diving to his right for penalties for all of his career, the first time he dives to his left, the striker shoots right, good old sods law.

Jamie McCombe - 8 - Nothing much to report about Jamie's performance to be honest. Whenever he was called upon, he did his job well.

Gareth McAuley - 4 - Gareth can moan as much as he wants in the papers but there's no denying that he's performances have gone down the pan since his transfer to Crewe collasped. Never looked comfortable on the ball and was one of the most guilty for giving the ball to Macclesfield.

Colin Cryan - 7 - Provided some quality balls forward but was never really called on defensively.

Jeff Hughes - 7 - Jeff continues to impress in Mayo's absense and he came in with another vital goal in this game, however, he looked jaded and was often caught out of position.

Scott Kerr - 7 - He finally appears to have sorted his set pieces out and he looks like a dangerous prospect going forward now.

Nat Brown - 5 - Didn't really do anything to be honest. Often went missing at vital moments and touched the ball very rarely.

Steve Robinson- 5 - Although Robinson clearly has skil, he does seem a little lost in recent games and like McAuley, gave the ball away too often.

Francis Green - 9 - Fantastic performance from Green and he looked much better once he was partnered with strikers that would run for him. Worked tirelessly and set up a goal and almost scored one for himself.

Simon Yeo - 2 - The honeymoon period is definatly over now. In this game, he missed numerous open goals......again and quite often looked like he couldn't be bothered to chase after crosses. Much like the game against Barnet, all he seemed to do was run about 5 yards, fall over and then moan at the other players. His complacency in front of goal is starting to get very tiresome and if he would actually stop shooting wide from open goal oppurtunties, we would have easily won today.

Martin Gritton - 1 - Were you actually there? I can't recall Gritton making a single contribution all afternoon and the only time in the whole game that he was noticed was when he was walking off the pitch to be substituted and his excuse of not being match fit is now well and truly gone. Based on his first 4 games for the club, he is the answer to a question no-one asked.

Lee Frecklington - 5 - Gets a 5 by default because he didn't really do anything after coming on except guide a weak header goalwards.

Gary Birch - 8 - Anyway who calls him lazy now compared to the other strikers simply isn't watching him. I know you're probably sick of me praising Birch but quite frankly, he did more in this game than Yeo and Gritton combined and doubled. It was no coincedence that as soon as he replaced Gritton, the Imps suddenly started to play fluid football and looked dangerous. He was yet again involved in the build up to a goal and if he doesn't start against Notts County then we know we'll have 60 minutes of pure crap.

Lee Beevers - 5 - 5 by default because he didn't have enough time to make an impact.

"I'm delighted with the point today as I didn't think we were at our best. It keeps the unbeaten run going and picking up a pointaway from home at this stage of the season at places like Macclesfield is very important, particulary when we've not played well. All credit to the team for keeping going. I had a few words at half-time because I thought we were second best all over the park. We kept going and in the end, we've got something when we've not played particulary well."

"You've got to be careful what you say about the referee but I was swinging at the ball in frustration about what's in front of me. He didn't even say anything, just sent me to the stands. Referees don't speak to you tese days and they're a law unto themselves. He made wrong decisions all after, including a penalty after he didn't give one then we had a similar one in the second half and didn't get it. We've had him a few times and I don't think I've ever seen him have an acceptable performance for both teams.

"Why is it that you can see better refs on a sunday morning on skelly road doing mid-lincs than those picked for well all games in this divition." moorland_imp

That's the only quote on this game from Lincoln fans because it quite frankly says it all.

"Maybe we don't deserve to stay up, for long periods the opposition dominated the game and they didn't even play particulary well. Half of our players looked exhausted and our strikers became the chasers of lost causes. Wijnhard was awful today and if it hadn't been the penalty, there's no way he would have scored and even if you gave him a banjo and a cow, he wouldn't figure out what to do."

"Lincoln weren't a large side anymore and other than those two central defenders, they seemed a lot smaller than in recent years. They seem to have dropped their long ball tactics and actually played some decent stuff, especially in the build up to their goal. The interesting thing about Lincoln is that all the supposed better players that are left from last season, we the worst players on the pitch, especially Yeo. The way that the Lincoln fans have gone on since he resigned, you'd think he would have scored 5 hatricks today, however, he appeared to be very poor and if he's the best striker in this division, it doesn't say a lot about this division."

"It's a pity that the referee ruined what could have been a good game. Our matches against Lincoln are often very good games but today, there seemed to fluidity to either teams' play simply because the referee didn't allow it."