By Nathan Jackson
March 18 2006

It was a bad day all around for the Imps as despite a great goal from Robinson, City lost and now have more injuries to contend with before next week's game with Grimsby. There were many talking points in a very heated game but at the day, it was the usual lacklusture defending that cost us.

There's an old saying in football, "form counts for nothing in a local derby" and how right that is. City lost 3 unbeaten records on Saturday afternoon, 7 games unbeaten against Boston, 1 defeat in 18 and unbeaten in 13 and predictably, all 3 came crashing to an end against Boston. The iritating thing about is was that they scored with the only 2 times that they looked dangerous and just like so many other times this season, the defence couldn't concentrate. Everyone moans that we don't score enough goals yet no-one takes into account the goals that we've conceeded, we can't keep a clean sheet to save our lives these days and the quicker we get it into our heads that we need to defend, the better.

Yet again, substitutions changed this game. As soon as Yeo went off, we actually started playing like a team and what a fantastic goal that was by Robinson, if that was scored in the Premiership, they'd be raving about that for weeks. The Imps dominated after that until, yep, you've guessed it, Martin Gritton came on and surprise surprise, it all falls apart. Where the hell was Luke Foster? I'm not trying to sound funny but he's one of our better players, even when he's playing out of position.

I see Keith has moaned that the players aren't good enough. Excuse me Keith, out of all the players who played today, the only 2 you didn't bring to the club were Marriott and Frecklington so that excuse goes right out of the window. You're always saying that "We look to bring in better players than we've already got," What a load of crap, your signings made within the season over the last year or so have been diabolical, how the hell was Gritton better than anything we had? Seriously, what about Asamoah? Your track record for bringing in crap is unbelieveable Keith so don't you dare bullshit us by saying you'll bring in better players than we already have because everyone knows that if they aint in the non-league, you aint interested.

Alan Marriott - 6 - Made a few good saves but had no chances with either goal due to the joke of City's marking.

Jamie McCombe - 6 - Looked quite uncomfortable at times as he was having to work in a brand bew partnership due to the injuries of others. Never seemed to get settle but on the plus side, he was the only one who tried to stop Joachim's goal

Nat Brown - 7 - Was arguably the best player on the pitch for the Imps.

Colin Cryan - 6 - Nothing spectacular from the former Scarborough man.

Paul Mayo - 4 - Here's a tip for you Paul, look up before you pass that ball.

Lee Beevers - 6 - The amount of shit he gets from the fans is unbelievable and shows how fickle Lincoln fans can be. He put in a lot of effort over the game and if all players had tried as hard as he did, then we'd have easily won this game. But no, everything that goes wrong is Beevers' fault.

Scott Kerr - 6 - Nothing spectacular from the other former Scarborough man,

Steve Robinson - 4 - Seems to be getting worse as the games go by. Just like Mayo, he doesn't look up before he pass' the ball.

Francis Green - 7 - Ran all afternoon and seemed to be the inspiration behind anything the Imps created but his final ball was lacking.

Simon Yeo - 2 - He did sweet F-A before being injured. It's no coincedence that we played better once he got off the pitch and amount of times I saw him moaning that other players wouldn't pass to him was unbelieveable, here's a tip Simon, maybe if you passed to them every once in a while then maybe they'd pass to you. Without trying to sound funny, maybe his injury is the best thing to happen at this point before the Imps output after he left was considerable higher than when he was there.

Gary Birch - 6 - Seemed to be trying too hard to impress and definatly didn't have the run of the green, however, as usual, he tried to create chances for other players but that luck seems to have deserted him.

Lee Frecklington - 7 - The youngster continues to impress many Imps fans and another solid display after coming off from the bench.

Martin Gritton - 1 - He actually touched the ball this week but as usual, I don't need to say why he only gets a 1.

Marvin Robinson - 7 - What a beauty of a goal, could be a challenger for goal of the season and definatly deserved more than to be involved in a defeat. After not playing for ages, Robinson seemed determind to impress and he did just that.

 

"Before Foster disappeared, he was given a chance in the first team i thought he did very well and does a much better job than Beevers. I cant see why Beevers starts in midfield when we have Frecklington who looks quality." spilsby_imp

"anyone else agree that Cryan needs resting? Looked off the pace in the first half and seems to have struggled a little lately. Curious as to whether he's one of these players who are playing through a 'niggle'? wholey 

 "Despite a spectacular goal from Marvin almost as soon he had replaced a lack lustre Birch in the second half, too much ground had been conceded in the first 45min. A somewhat surprising starting line up with Beaver’s in mid-field and Paul Mayo at left back took some comprehending. One surely must ask as to what on earth has young Foster done so wrong to be almost ignored or disregarded by Keith? How Beavers could have been selected above him or Frecklington in the starting 11 is baffling to say the least. Next weeks game against Grimsby now becomes a must win or else a play-off place will be extremely difficult to achieve!" southender

"The news about Yeo is not good. I understand that it's his knee and ankle and that it is pretty serious. Yes, he's a pain in the butt when he's playing against you but I'd have him in my side any day. Let's hope that he makes a speedy recovery." woody

"Boston was much the better in the first half, and we should have had 3-4 goals. Lincoln had the better of the second half and they could have had 3-4 goals. Little J popped up to win the corner, ok some say offside, BUT, i was watching and as the ball was cleared and it hit OUR player JJ was running back up the pitch, and the lino was running up to. The ball suddenly came to JJ and i would guess the Lino didn't see if it was a Lincoln player or a United player who *passed* the ball.
If that was the case then he gave the decision in favour to United cos he wasn't sure.
And to be honest, not many City players were appealing, which does say a lot." norfolk_townie