Wakefield fc 1-0 Woodley sports

Monday was a huge day in football, Chris Sutton is the new Lincoln Manger (more on this on Friday) and in the Unibond division one its Wakefield FC v Woodley Sports



Wakefield is more of a Rugby Town than a football and given its close proximity to Leeds it isn't surprising that the towns football club has never climbed up to the higher reaches of the non-league pyramid.
One of the things that attracts football fans to watch games at this level is the fact that unlike in the premier/football/Scottish leagues you can have a decent night/afternoon out for not much finical outlay and you know your money is going back into the club.
from time to time though you do get the feeling that some clubs take non-league fans for a ride.I know that some clubs at this level do charge £8 like Wakefield fair enough.However Wakefield do also advertise on there website that a programme is included in the price.However the gate man told us that that wasn't the case and charged us £1.50 for the programme.
I accept this could be an Innocent mistake on the part of the club but could it be that the chap in the picture has been elected to the board of directors?


In all fairness the ground is quite nice.The large seated stand is quite impressive for a club at this level and wouldn't look out of place in the Unibond premier or conference north divisions.There are terraced areas to the wings of the stand and there is hard standing all the way around.
There is a basic bar inside the ground selling beer in cans and a nice range of scarfs,badges and scarf etc etc. While we had a pre match drink Chris Sutton was on Sky sports talking about the Lincoln job and why it took it.Good luck Chris,it may be a big job but i have faith that he can keep us up.He was never afraid to speak his mind as a player and i hope this continues as a manager.A club official was good enough to get us a copy of the teamsheet and with that we drunk up and went to join the gaggle of groundhoppers in the main stand.

I was impressed with the quality of the game both sides looked to play the ball around on the deck. The only goal of the game came about halfway through the first half when the Woodley keeper fumbled the ball and Jon Frogott slotted home to the delight on the Wakefield fans in the stadium. Sorry the match report is sparse but not a deal happened
On to my second moan of the night. Another area where non league football excels over its full time counterpart is in the food stakes.Again for the first time this season we were disappointed.The cups were small (about the size my Guinea pigs would drink out of.) and the chips were greasy i know that i am spoiled by living 2 doors down for the best chip shop in Nottinghamshire but these were dreadful.


Admission £ 8
Programme £1.50 -3/10 23 pages nice presentation and graphics but when you take out the league tables and adverts there wasn't a great deal to read.
Food 1/10 see above
Badge £3
Ground 8/10
Match 7/10
clubhouse/bar 6/10

Eastwood Town 2- 1 Corby Town

The FA Cup cup continues...

Today's tie was between two sides who had made decent starts in the blue square northern division this season. I had seen Eastwood destroy Gainsborough earlier in the season but knew little about Corby Town. Before today Eastwood was the highest ranked Nottinghamshire non league side i was yet to visit, that honour now falls to Carlton town, who drew in their FA cup game; so they could well get a visit in the next round if 1)they win the replay and 2) they are drawn at home in the third qualifying round.

I had a ferret about in Nottingham for an hour or so before i got the train to Langley Mill. There seems to be a few more Notts county fans about these days, isn't it surprising how a forward thinking board and a bit of investment brings the crowds back, I wish the board of LCFC would take note.
The walk to Eastwood's ground from the station seems to be all up hill. Plus it seemed to be quite warm yesterday which didn't help, its meant to be autumn for fucks sake! The area seemed to be a bit run down (especially near the station) but i found a decent pub called the "Man in space" right next to the ground, so i got a pint and sat outside in the sunshine reading Ballsmania which was quite pleasant.



Without wanting to sound harsh i was a little disappointed with Coronation Park overall. I had heard that the club is forward thinking and on the up and it does seem it, but it does seem to be doing this in a strange way. Although the club house is nice and new, their is a large room for directors and officials ONLY, and another room for the great unwashed, unlike in a lot of clubs where fans and officials mix freely (which for me is one of non-leagues strong points). On top of the club house is a stand from which the elite can watch the match away from the likes of you and i. I didn't take a picture of it, but it has the look of a conservative party conference about it. The club house does have its plus points though; the beer is nice, there is a good range of Eastwood town goods for sale (and of very good quality) the Portsmouth v Everton game was being played on the big screen and the service at the bar was quick, even when it was busy. It looks like the club have spent a lot of money on the club house but i cant help thinking it would have been better to spread the money around the ground instead of all on the club house.



I was reading the excellent programme before the game and was pleasantly surprised to see how many former Imps were in the Corby Town squad. Mark Stallard scored some great goals for us in the 2006/07 season, Phil Watt only played one game for the first team at Sincil Bank. Paul Mayo was as steady a full back as you would have found in league two and will always be remembered for that great goal against Scunthorpe united in the playoffs. Leon Mettam only played a handful of games for us, scoring one and getting sent of once. Jason Lee was at Lincoln before i started watching them but went on to play at the highest level with Nottingham Forest.
One of my all time favourite imps was also in the squad; Dean West. He came through the youth ranks at City and was one of the best right backs i have ever seen in the red and white of Lincoln. Steve Wicks dropped one of the biggest bollocks in Lincoln's history when we traded him with Kevin Hulme of Bury. West went on to play at Championship level for several clubs while Hulme was released a few months later. Even though he is well into his 30,s Deano won the southern league player of the season last season and when he came on today, looked quite at home playing at what is a decent level of non league football.


Match programme signed by Dean West v Scunthorpe United 94/95 season

Due to the ex-Imps connections i decided to stand with the Corby fans. Corby kept it tight for about the first 30 seconds till Eastwood took the lead, when nobody got close to the Eastwood player from a ball into the box. The Corby following were in good voice though as there side got more and more into the match. I did like some of their chants. Corby has a large Scottish population due to the steelworks there, illustrated by the chant of "we all drink irn,bru" plus a couple of Rangers shirts and caps in the away end. Apparently Corby has the largest Rangers supporters club outside of Glasgow and Belfast, so there!



Corby had a couple of chances kicked off the line as the former Retford goalkeeper Turner struggled to dominate his box; Eastwood looked dangerous on the break. i wandered to the club house a couple of mins before the start of the half time break and returned a couple of minutes late. Just before half time Eastwood got a penalty and scored it; didn't see it so i cant comment.
The second half was pretty much one way traffic with Corby making all of the play and pulling a goal back on 53 minutes. They had another couple of near misses but the worse one was when a shot was blasted against the underside of the bar, bounced down and out. A goal was not given but you could tell by the reaction of Turner that it was in.
Full time 2-1


All in all it was a decent day out. Apart from having to get a taxi back from worksop because i missed my connection to retford because the train in from Nottingham was late in due to vandalism. I will try and visit Corby at some point in the season.
oh and as a footnote next weeks league fixture is....

Corby Town v Eastwood Town!


Admission £9
Programme £2 very good 8/10
Badge £3
Match quality 6/10
Ground 5/10 one nice stand and covering on the other three sides but it looks a little run down.
Food,i didn't eat at the match as i was saving myself for the kebab in Nottingham after the game, but the pile of pies i saw in the corner on the floor seems to point to them not being very nice!

Lincoln City 0-2 Shrewsbury Town

Well another crap home game from the Imps.If things continue like this for much longer we had better all get our arses up steep hill and get praying at the cathedral that the board pull there finger out and select a manager because at the moment we are nothing more than a rudderless ship heading nowhere quickly.



We didn't start to bad to be honest.Simon Clarke does seem to have us playing more football than we did under Jacko.And for the first 30 minutes or so we were getting the ball wide and causing Shrewsbury problems while at the back we seemed solid enough.However the set play problem that has dogged us since Keith Alexander left us reared its ugly head again as we failed to deal with a free kick into the box,it was left to go across the goal,hit back in and bang 0-1 down.

That goal just knocked the stuffing out of us.In scenes very reminiscent of the Steve Wicks reign we just went back into our shell,the passing stopped and we just wilted.Any chance of us getting a draw were dashed when Moses Swaibu gave away a penalty when under no pressure at all.

It was a crap all round performance but i must mention "player of the season" and captain Scott Kerr. When things are going tits up you need players to show leadership, not disappear,not keep losing the ball.When the new manager is installed giving Kerr the boot must be high up his list of things to do!Maybe we could do a swap deal with Lincoln United for Terry Flemming, As captain he would,nt have put up with this crap.

Two plus points from today though

1) The meat and potato pie i had pre game was very nice
2) we couldn't hear what garbage the PA man was saying as the Katy Perry track in the background was drowning him out!



So where do we go from here? Before the game in the club bar the spokesman for the supporters trust said that the club had drawn up a second shortlist and 2nd interviews for the managers job were to be held this week we a view to appointing in 10-14 days time.After today's performance it is clear for all to see that it needs to be done before the Bury away match next week.It is also hard to see Simon Clarke getting the job full time after losing two out of his three match's (each by two goals) The board must after the best part of three weeks have an idea of who they want for the job lets just draw a line under this make a decision and then we can move on.
Gary Brabin would seem to be the favourite for the job. He isn't my choice due to the fact he hasn't worked in this league before,He failed to get Cambridge out of the conference despite having one of the biggest budgets in that league i know that in he two previous jobs he has taken his clubs to playoff finals but as the Imps have found you get nothing for losing playoff finals.i also acknowledge he won the conference manager of the year award last season but if he is so good then why did Cambridge sack him? (for those you don't know the conference is the league below the league Lincoln are in,at the moment anyway)
He was also a crap player but then again so were alot of managers. If he gets the job (and i have a horrible feeling he will do) then i will support him but my choice for the job is still Ronnie Moore.We need an experienced hand at the moment not a rookie who is used to playing the likes of Forest green and Northwich Victoria. Mind if things don't get better it will be us going to such venues.



Admission -season ticket
Programme £2.50 crap nothing at all from the board in there page about the mess we are in, just some crap about the midd lincs youth league and how important it is for us in the long run. more interested in the next week or so myself.
Imps performance 4/10
Man of the Match -the girl who served me my pie before the game

Frickley Athletic 2 1 Worksop Town

FA cup 1st qualifying round replay.

The most recent stop on my FA cup journey took me to the village of South Elmsall to see a battle between two of the three bottom sides in the Unibond premier division.The two sides had drawn 1-1 on Sunday in the first game hence the need for tonight's match.
Just to recap, this is in effect the third of six rounds teams have to get through to make the 1st round proper.three more rounds must be won(not counting replays) before the non-league sides join and beat the likes of Lincoln city etc in the first round proper,then two more to get to the "Holy grail" of the third round when the likes of Liverpool,Chelsea etc etc join the fun,and more than likely where my journey in the cup will end.Although we are still in the early rounds of the cup the prize money is starting to build up which will help clubs out no end.



We arrived at the ground with plenty of time to kill normally this isn't to much of a problem,however South Elmsall isn't exactly the kind of place you can kill an hour or so.The pub that was near to the ground has been bulldozed down and the place doesn't feel exactly welcoming,South Elmsall is still feeling the pain of the last Conservative government's policy's.How anybody can want to vote this Muppet's back in next May is beyond me.It is even worse when you are wearing a black and gold woolly Pittsburgh Steelers hat (also Worksop Towns colours)
After a little stroll around the area we return to the stadium just as the gates were opening,we paid our 8 pound entrance fee and after a quick chat to the gateman about my Lincoln City fleece we headed for the club bar.Carling was a very reasonable £2.20 a pint and tasted quite fresh as well. The club isn't the biggest in the world but it is nice enough and has a real football feel to it plus there were one or two WAGS in there to brighten the place up.
As we strolled out into the ground which artists recent smash hit was belting out? none other than Sophie,s Heartbreak make me a dancer!! good times!!


The game was a bit,well crap.Worksop didn't seem as if they were bothered. Frickley were 1 nil up at half time but had a stonewall penalty turned down.Worksop were lucky to have eleven men on the field plus Frickley had missed a few good chances.In spite of all this the Worksop manager thought it right to have a go at the ref as the players trudged of at half time.I sometimes wonder what goes off in managers heads.One or two Worksop fans let the manager know there feelings about his managing ability as he stormed back to the dressing room.We had a ferret about in the club shop at half time then we went behind the goal Worksop were attacking to view the second half.
The game didn't get any better.The home side added a second half way through the second half.Worksop didn't seem to have a plan A let alone a plan B The voice,s for the manager to step down became louder as the night wore on.
The last 5 minutes were the best of the night. firstly Worksop scored from a header which came from a freekick(the Worksop player was booked for taking the free kick early-twice!)Frickley had a good chance at the other end then there keeper pulled of a great save to keep the score 2-1.which was to be the final score as Worksop followed Retford United(who lost there replay 2-1 at Lincoln United the night before) out of the FA cup at an all to early stage.



Admission £8
Programme £1.50-Quite good 7/10
Badge £3.50(!)
Food had a cheeseburger and chips £2.80 burger was ok,chips were a bit greasy but you can't moan for the price
Ground 8/10 nice main stand and plenty of covering
Match 4/10

On the road for the next couple of weeks

It looks like there may not be a midweek game for myself this week so i have been looking at what the next couple of weeks has in store

Saturday 19th September

Lincoln City v Shrewsbury Town

Tuesday 22nd September

Boston United v Retford United is a possibly (With the Retford Imps in full Lincoln colours of course!)

Saturday 26th of September

Lincoln are at Bury so that looks unlikely as Bury isnt the greatest of away days so i will continue my quest along the road to Wembley in the FA cup 2nd qualifying round,these are the ties i have picked out for maybe going to

Retford utd/lincoln utd v Jarrow Bollon Roofing
Eastwood Town v Corby Town
Alferton Town v AFC Wulfruians

also playing

Causeway utd/Bedworth v Rainworth Miners welfare
Market Drayton Town v Gainsbrough Trinity

If Retford win the reply i will more than likely give it a miss as there will be plenty of opportunities to see them over the course of the season.I always like going to watch Lincoln United and haven't been there yet this season so that's tempting. I would like to go to Eastwood as its the highest ranked Nottinghamshire side i am yet to visit and has the added attraction of a few beers both pre and post match in Nottingham so at the moment that is my preferred match.Alferton is another localish ground i am yet to visit so although its the outsider on this list don't rule anything in or out as they say.
having said all that if i am skint and Retford win i could end up there!

The past weekends Results of note

Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10 Tennessee Titans (OT)
Inter Milan 2-0 Parma
FC Tescoma zil 0-1 Victoria Zizkov
Crusaders 3-0 Glenavon
AFC BOURNEMOUTH 3-1 LINCOLN CITY theres always one that spoils it, and its normally the same one....

Retford United 1-1 Lincoln United

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round

The FA cup continues with the competition now reaching the 1st qualifying round stage.The match i picked today was my home town club Retford United of the unibond premier division taking on Lincoln United of the Unibond division one south.I have always had a soft spot for United, they were the first non-league side i every saw and there is normally a few ex-Imps there to bring back the memories.Today in the squad they had Jamie Forrester, Ian Wilkins Sam Mullarkey and one of my favourite (and Gavs all time favourite) players Terry Flemming. From 1995-2000 he was the enforcer in the Imps midfield,Scott kerr isn't fit enough to lace this mans boots.He has since moved to right back and no longer takes the long throws that set up many a city goal in the past but his calmness on the ball hasn't changed.How the Imps need a Terry Flemming style player now.



After an exciting morning of doing the washing up and cleaning out the Guniea pigs out i set off for the ground via a couple of pubs in town.After handing over my pre paid match ticket over at the turnstile and buying the programme i sat in the club house, had a couple of beers, and watched the GP qualifying on the big screen. Jensen Button does seem to be doing all he can to throw away this years championship only managing to qualify 6th. At least nobody else is putting together a run of wins but he really needs to pull his finger out soon.

Retfords clubhouse is one of the best in Nottinghamshire,second only to Hucknall Rolls Royce in my view. As you can see from the picture below many of the big teams have visited cannon park for friendlies and left mementos of their visit and they come no bigger than the club who left the pennant pictured below

One of the most valuable items in the Cannon park social club


Retford have always produced a good programme(even for friendlies) and this seasons was no different although i think that it does miss Neil Tooths column maybe the editor could look at reinstating it? if enough people ask for it i am sure it could return and sales would double. Maybe we could start a facebook campaign? BRING BACK THE TOOTH!!

Retford do seem to be getting more organised off the field these days. They have opened up a club shop selling the normal stuff so i wandered of to get one of their new pin badges. The range of stuff on sale is quite smart and hopefully this will take off as this is an area the club have missed out on in recent years.
Lincoln United haven't had a great start to the season, but for the past couple of years they have been better on the road than at home. Retford seem to be blowing hot and cold at the moment,as we had seen only a few days earlier in the North Notts derby

Retford took the lead after about ten mins or so and it looked to be going to form as they had much more of the ball. Lincoln United then started to find there feet as the match went on and got a deserved equaliser half way through the first half. The match report may be brief but there wasn't a hell of alot to report on in all honesty.
HT 1-1

City were getting stuffed 2-1 at Bournemouth, no great surprise there really i haven't blogged about Jacko going, i will leave that till the next manager is appointed. The second half was pretty much 50/50 either side could have won it, alas neither did. So its a replay in Lincoln on Tuesday night; a ground Retford united supporters know very well. I do however think Lincoln have missed there chance here, Retford were poor today and a half decent side would have finished them off plus i can't see Retford playing this bad again.It is the FA cup however....

Admission £8
Programme £2 8/10 needs the Tooth back for a perfect 10
Badge £3
Clubhouse 8/10
Ground 5/10
Match quality 4/10
Food i didnt have any at the ground but as you can see below my fellow Retford Imp thoroughly enjoyed a chicken and mushroom pie... and a chip butty etc etc



In other FA cup news the Rudy Funk express steamed into the 2nd qualifying round with a 2-1 win over Holbrook miners welfare

Worksop Town 3-3 Retford United

Sorry for the lack of pictures,as its starting to get dark for the evening games now its getting hard to get decent pictures for the blog.If anybody wants to become the official mind of an Imp camera blog sponsor for the 2009-10 season then please get in touch.

Tonight's match was the one than most of non league football fans in north Nottinghamshire had been looking forward to for years Worksop Town v Retford United. The downside however being that firstly it was a night match and secondly due to reasons known only to Worksops ex chairman Worksop have to play there home match's at Iikseton towns New Manor ground (70 mile round trip from Worksop).The people there now deserve a medal for keeping the club going.

On the way there we had another great quote from Baz saying that " the ground can't be down here" (i said it was) needless to say it appeared on the left hand side soon afterwards. trust me boys with the force the west street sith is strong!!
I like the New Manor ground. there is covering on three sides of the stadium and one side is all seated. As normal with the Retford Imps the food bar was visited first.I got a cheese burger for £2 its was ok, the cheese was fresh,the burger well cooked but the bread was quite cheap. the tea was ok, but the milk was served in those crappy little plastic cartons.

I would say the crowd was about 50/50 which is what you would expect for a game which is in effect being played on a neutral venue.It was good to see some many people i knew from Retford ( and a few from Worksop) Work mates,drinking mates former darts team mates, it seemed half of retford was there. and thanks for the nice comments on the blog, its nice to know people read this tripe!
Retford were by far and away the better side in the first half they went 1-0 up just on 45 but in truth should have been out of sight by then.

the second half was as good as i have seen this season. Worksop got it back to 1-1 then went behind to a very unlucky own goal.Gary Townsend made it 2-2 with a goal that can only be described as "Adamesque" i didn't score than many goals when i was playing but when i did they tended to be belters,(Felice will back we up on this one)just like this shot from the edge of the box.The tigers then took the lead for the first time only for Retford to get a great counter attacking goal from goal machine Mick Gober to make it 3-3 this lead to Retford finishing the stronger of the two sides but it stayed 3-3.
There was a bit of banter between the two sets of fans with alot of peole knowing somebody from the other side but there is only 7 miles between the two towns.It was a bit disappointing to hear one fan try and start a chant about worksop being shit and having no ground, but you always get a prat or two,

All in all a great local derby played in the right way.It would have been better had it been played in Worksop so lets all hope the future is brighter for the tigers (and for the badgers who's ground needs a bit of work ASAP).I will more than likely be at the second derby match between the two sides as Lincoln are at crewe the same day.
until then....

Admission £8
Programme £1.50 not great to be honest not much to read but with whats going on at the club its hardly surprising that there isn't more in it 5/10
Badge £3
clubhouse 7/10
food- burger £2- 7/10
Tea 80p-5/10 the milk in plastic cartons is always crap
Ground 9/10 both clubs here tonight need to have a good look at this stadium to see where they need to be.
Game quality 9/10 best game i have seen yet this year.

We had a great little quiz on the way back trying to name all 53 countries in Africa,needless to say we failed, if you ever have a boring car journey try it some time!!

The NFL returns!!!!

I know i have to write up yesterdays North Notts between Retford and Worksop but in a few short hours the NFL kicks off with record SIX times champions the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Tennessee Titans! it kicks of at 1.30 am UK time though so i wont be up and await a report in the morning!

in the mean time a little American based song to mark the start of the biggest league in world sport!!

Sutton Town 5-1 Pinxton

Due to the England match on Saturday many non league clubs had switched there kick off times to early kick offs or as in the case of Sutton Town Friday night so it was a hopping we went!

The ground isn't the easiest one in the world to find as it would seem that the local council must think it funny not to place road signs up on certain streets and the signs they do put up tend to be ones telling you that you carnt turn the way you want to turn into.



After the tour of Sutton it seems that the ground is in the nicest part of the town (not that that means much).There was some kind of party on in the club house next to the ground so that meant no pre match pint.It was easy enough to spot who were going to the football match and who were going to the Party. Still i think i Lincoln City fleece and jeans looks better than a cheap looking suit anyway.



The ground seems to be one of the smarter Central Midlands stadiums that i have been to.Given that the Weather had been crap for the last couple of days it was good to see that there was covering on two sides of the ground with plenty of seating as well.The only problem i can see is that they appear to be boxed in a bit with little room for expansion should it be needed if they want to climb up through the leagues.
We were met by central midlands PR man Rob Hornby and chatted about various things to do with football.He recommended the burgers but i had eaten before i set off. the tea was ok though.He checked to see if we had done out predictions in his online competition he has set up,At the time of writing i am third in the table....out of five still its a bronze medal winning position,its a long season etc etc.



There seemed to be a bit of dispute as to what time the kick off should have been, it was 7.45 some clubs really need to check there central midlands hand books more often.
Sutton looked good.There is quite a slop on there pitch so its an advantage to kick up hill first half (as Sutton did).Sutton are managed by former Retford United manager Mark Shaw who seems to have them playing much better football than he got Retford playng.They took the lead bang on half time wti a header from a corner.
Sutton stepped it up in the second half going 2-0 up.Although Pinxton did get it back to 2-1 at one point Sutton killed it off when they added a third as the Pinxton keeper goofed up with the ball at his feet.it was then 4-1 and Shaw brought himself on and added the 5th with a cool calm finsh
And sods law it started to rain as the games finished!
I quite enjoyed the night as a whole.nice ground great company and a team that can play a bit of football.Just wished i had tried one of those burgers.


Local celebrities of the central midlands league compare notes


Admission £ 3
Programme £1 7/10
Badges- sold out :-(
food -tea 60p
Ground -6/10
WAG factor-none lets be right no self respecting WAG is going to sit it the cold watching this crap on a Friday night when to could be out on the piss in Mansfield/Nottingham.
Game rating 8/10 you can't moan at six goals can you

Staveley Miners Welfare v Clitheroe

FA cup Preliminary round replay

The magic of the FA cup again!As i have been to stavley recently in pre season i wont go into reviewing the ground all all that stuff apart from the prices. i didn't take my camera either so the images are all from the pre season match i saw there against Worksop town
The first game on Saturday between the two sides ended 1-1 hence the need for the replay. Stavely play two leagues below Clitheroe but were winning there until the 94th minute when by all accounts the Stavley keeper tried to catch a ball dropped in and the rest as they say is history.



It had been pissing it down here in North Notts during the day but thankfully the weather held off.Clithroe didn't get there until 20 mins before kick off but the game kicked of on time.
quick match report Stavely were 1-0 up at half time and looked much the better side. In the second half Clitheroe woke up and played Stavley of the park whilst all the time being backed by there fanatical supporters who had traveled in good numbers from Laneshire.This is what the FA cup is all about. Stockbridge park steels await in the first qualifying round and on this showing they are in for a hell of a match. For Stavley it was a case of so near yet so far,had they taken there chances in the first half they would be going through.but i am sure this well run club will bounce back.



Admission £4
Programme £1
WAG factor 8/10 one even held up my travel companion at the turnstiles as her hand bag was stuck in it!Also there is something funny about the sight of a women attempting to walk across a muddy bumpy car park in high heels

Gainsborough Trinity 1-4 Eastwood Town

What better way is there to spend a bank holiday than to go to the lincolnshire town of Gainsborough to see them take on Eastwood town? hmm. I saw Gainsborough play four times last year and they were poor on all four occasions.(losing 3 and drawing one) Home form was there problem while on the road they had a quite respectable record, a bit like another Lincolnshire side i know quite well.Gainsborough had parted company with there manager in the week and had appointed Brian little (who lost out to Jacko when he got the Lincoln job) for this game ex-imp Adie moses took caretaker charge



Eastwood had won promotion to the blue square north last season and just lost the Notts senior cup to Retford United in the last few seconds and are seen as a club very much on the up and are Nottinghamshires 2nd highest ranked non league football club.
We sampled the pre match delights of the blues club. It is the first time i have ever been in there and was surprised at how full it was,although i suppose there isn't much to do in Gainsborough on a bank holiday.free teamsheets were available.



Gainsbrough have normally had a good number of ex imps on there books due to how close the two places are. Today they had Nathan Peat and Ryan semple in there line up Peat never got a real chance at city while Semple spent to much time on the treatment table to make a impact although did score his only goal for us against Liverpool in a pre season game in 2006-07.
Gainsborough started like a house on fire and so the first twenty minutes or so were all over Eastwood i missed there goal as a was getting some chips, but from what i am told it was a from a low header.After this goal though Gainsborough just went back into there shell and invited Eastwood on to them. a great individual goal brought them level ht 1-1
The second half was a total disaster for Trinity as Eastwood rattled in three goals without reply and in truth it could have been worse ,Brian Little has a hell of a job on his hands. If it wasn't for other clubs having point deductions Gainsborough would be bottom.this win sent Eastwood top of the table




Admission £10
Programme £2 poor effort for the price with lots of adverts and not much to read 4/10
Food- 9/10 you wont find better chips anywhere shame they dont do meat and potaote pis though
Club house 6/10 ok,nothing more nothing less
Ground 8/10 great little set up here
Match quality 7/10 always good to See 5 goals but Gainsborough need to wake up ASAP