By theimps.tk
March 29 2006

The Imps were defeated at Carlisle in a game that was far from exciting as both teams resorted to the constant long ball. Neither side looked scoring until a 70 yard punt upfield saw Bridges score in what was one of the few decent chances of goal for either side in a near lifeless game.

What a good awfully bland game that was, even now, nearly 24 hours on, I can't think of anything that made the game noteworthy other than the goal, it was the ultimate anti-climax to what was viewed by a lot of fans as the biggest game of certainly the Imps' season and possibly even Carlisle's. There are few good points for the Imps after going from pole to pole. On Saturday, the Imps destroyed a team who were in contention to win the league but Tuesday night, the Imps were 2nd best near enough all over the pitch, the most irriating part about it was that Carlisle didn't look anything special and if they end up as champions after playing as poorly as that, it'll back up many people's views at how poor this division really is. By the way, for an apparantly "flowing football" team, they sure as hell liked booting it 50 feet into the air." Granted, we weren't exactly Brazil but at least we tried to pass it along the ground before booting it up the field.

For me, the turning point came around 10 minutes into the 2nd half, up until that point, it had been a pretty even game and then on came Tom Wilkinson. Now, I'm all for giving youth a chance, it's a good way for the club to get potential stars without having to spend any extra money, my only problem with giving youth players their debut is bringing them on in the biggest game of the season and their first touch doesn't come until nearly 40 minutes after he gets on the pitch. I mean, when you've got the leading goalscorer on the bench (Birch) and a player, who admittedly is a bit rubbish but at least tries (Gritton) and yet both are being overlooked for someone unproven, it says a lot really.

Maybe this was just an off day but the different between this off day and the other off days we've had this season is that we were actually playing a team who were half decent and they punished us for wasting what few chances to had throughout the game. Infact, only one player looked like scoring and that was Marvin but his affection for the cross bar once again struck and if he had scored so early in the 2nd half, maybe it would have been a completely different game.

Alan Marriott - 7 - He had little to do (again) but was given very little chance for the goal as the defence didn't do a lot to help him. Made some excellent saves throughout and prevented the Imps from losing by a higher scoreline.

Jamie McCombe - 7 - Jamie was off par and even though 7 does sound good, that is relatively poor for Jamie. Maybe it was the slippery pitch or maybe his "magic pants" have run out of steam but there were a few occasions where he hesitated to make a decision.

Nat Brown - 5 - Never seemed to get going and although he made some fantastic tackles, he performance was otherwise not as good as recent times.

Colin Cryan - 6 - Average at best.

Lee Beevers - 8 - He was one of the few positive points for the Imps tonight and after moving into his natural defensive position, he has been nothing short of fantastic.

Lee Frecklington - 5 - He continues to show a lot of promise and he will be a big star some day but Tuesday wasn't one of his better games

Scott Kerr - 6 - Set pieces were a complete joke and wherever the hell we've got a reputation of being dangerous at set pieces from, I'll never know

Luke Foster - 7 - Had a good game down the left but started to lose his cool a bit towards the end and was constantly seen trying to manhandle the opposition, footballing wise, he did quite well but a few wayward balls probably cost the Imps at point.

Francis Green - 4 - Nothing at all went for Franny against Carlisle and the one player who has been instrumental in City's upturn in fortunes inevitably proved that when he has a bad day, so do the Imps.

Jamie Forrester - 7 - Never got a shot in on goal and looked to be struggling against Carlisle's defence but then again, if you aren't getting service from anyone then you aren't going to score.

Marvin Robinson - 7 - Worked tiredlessly all game and almost scored a good goal for the Imps but not for the first time this season, he hit the bar when he had the chance to be a hero. He was the only player who looked like scoring but inevitably, you wouldn't put your house on him.

Jude Stirling - 6 - Wasn't really on long enough to anything but his effort was there for all people to see.

Gary Birch - 7 - Like Forrester, Birch was getting no service and had to create his own chances and almost scored what would have been a brilliant goal. He wasn't on long enough but his performance in his small time on the pitch made a lot of people wonder why he was used.

Tom Wilkinson - 0 - Came on in the 61st minute, he didn't even touch the ball until the 92nd and even that was a mishit first time shot. Could this be the new Ollie Ryan?

 

"We did alright but too many times this season, we've conceeded a sloppy goal. I'm disappointed because I felt we did alright but we had an extra touch when we shouldn't, lost it in a silly area and it was a long ball down the middle which we should have dealt with comfortably. That's why they're leaders as they get one cahnce and score. We've hit the crossbar and dominated at times without really being at our best but you can still get a draw in these games. I'm not being critical of the players as they've all done okay. But okay isn't good enough."

"We say week in, week out that we create enough chances again good sides and if you don't take them you're going to struggle. That's what's happened to us tonight. We were very hard done to and I'm more disappointed today than I have been for some time because I think there was a point for the taking.

"I’m delighted as we knew it was going to be a tough game tonight. I don’t think there is a more difficult side to play against in the whole league than Lincoln. We knew it was a case of just rolling our sleeves up, dealing with the big lads that they have got and the aerial threat that they have got, and then hoping that we could play ourselves. On a very difficult surface to play I think we have played some good football, we’ve created some good opportunities and I would imagine as a supporter it was an excellent game to watch."

" It was a hell of a finish for the goal, there were a few chances, more for us than for Lincoln, I thought we marshalled them very, very well. I thought Chris Billy in midfield was absolutely superb, the defence defended very well and I thought the goal was a reward for the other chances we created. We knew it was going to be a game of very few chances and we just had to be clinical when we did actually get the good one."

Paul Simpson, Carlisle manager.

"Thought we were unlucky. Battled hard, probably just shaded things possession-wise. First half, tried to play some decent stuff, though Second Half was scrappier. Even got the better of the decisions from the ref (some were hilarious). The difference for me was in the two sets of attacking players - Carlisle always looked a threat when going forward, us less so. Not helped by Forrester in my opinion, who I don't think held up the ball at any point." Ghost_of_Bob_Cumming

"Forrester didnt look any different to sat in my opinion. He just didnt get the service that he did on sat. The Pitch was in awful condition. The ball couldn't ROLL and it didnt bounce just kind of LANDED. But for me the difference between the teams last night was the fact that Carlisle have a £5 Million player in Bridges. He was the difference. I think with the playing service as tough as it was Forrester was worn out as were most of the Team. Very unlucky indeed. On a plus side though i think Marvin really has an eye for the goal. He was unklucky with one shot as he hit the bar.

For me i think the reason we wont get promoted this season is because of injuries. The list seems to be getting longer and we havnt really any quality to replace them. I was very worried last night incase one of the KEY players was to get injured, Jamie Mac, Nat Brown, Forrester, Ker. The pitch really was in a terrible state." lancs