By Nathan Jackson
March 17 2006

The annual trip to south east Lincolnshire is finally here as the Imps prepare for the local derby with Boston. The Imps desperately need 3 points to maintain a playoff push whereas the Pilgrims need them to keep alive faint hopes of the playoffs and save a few people looking over their shoulders.

The annual visit to York Street is finally upon us and in theory, there couldn't be a worse time for the Imps to be facing their county neighbours. City have so far gone undefeated in 2006, have lost just once in 18 matches and currently hold a 7 game unbeaten run against Boston and they say that all runs come to an end at some point, but will Saturday see the Imps of all 3 of those runs at the same time?

 

If City do manage to win at York Street then the Imps would be in a great position to strike at the playoffs, however, with Peterborough and Cheltenham having easy (on paper) games, anything less than a win could prove the downfall of City's bid to make a 4th consecutive playoff appearance. The Pilgrim's playoff hopes have rapidly disappeared and despite Evans' optimism, it would take a miracle for Boston to make the playoffs and with the Scot under exceeding pressure, could a defeat to Lincoln prove to be his final match in charge at York Street.

 

Gareth McAuley is out due to a suspected hernia sustained in last Saturday's disappointing draw against Rushden and Diamonds, if the Imps don't secure a last minute loan or signing of a new defender, it is likely that Nat Brown will slot back into his natural defence position after impressing many fans in last week's stalemate. The void in midfield will more than likely be filled by Frecklington.

 

 Hughes is 50/50 to make it after missing the game at Sincil Bank last week and after Paul Mayo's laughable excuse for a performance last week, many will be praying that the Northern Irishman will be back. Other than that there isn't much to talk about in terms of team selection other than the front 3 that should consist of Birch, Green and Yeo. Gritton will more than likely be on the bench and the game will swing when he makes an appearance.

Who I think will start (Right to left)

Marriott

Cyran         Brown      McCombe   Hughes

S/Robinson      Frecklington        Kerr

Green    Birch    Yeo

 

Yet again season has gone by where Boston looked pretty certain for a playoff place but have yet again faded after several heavy home defeats. After a poor start that was blamed on Futcher, Boston went on an impressive unbeaten run and surged up the table and for a while, looked like possible outsiders for automatic promotion, however their season fell apart in November after a 2-1 defeat at home to Notts County and they have won just 5 times since them and only Wrexham out of that lot, weren't fighting against relegation. Ben Futcher's departure in mid-January signalled the collapse as just a few short days afterwards, they lost 5-0 at home to Carlisle, a result that they also suffered away at Mansfield last Saturday.

 

Boston have just one former Imp that is the less than prolific striker, Lawrie Dudfield. He is one member of a squad that really should higher up in the league, their impressive squad includes Michel Kuipers, Mark Greaves, Julian Joachim and many other players who could fit into most other teams in the division but the problem for Boston is that they don't seem to know how to play together as a team.

 

Worryingly for Boston, despite being a full 9 points clear of the relegation zone, their form has seen them slip dangerously down the table and with teams down there rapidly improving, Boston could easily finish closer to relegation than the playoff promotion they promised for so long.