With the Mighty Imps away at the dump that is Macclesfield i decided to go to Ashby Avenue on the outskirts of the city to watch Lincoln United's quest for FA cup glory.
Frickley play their football a league above united, however Lincoln had already knocked out Retford United (who play in the same league as Frickley) in the first qualifying round. Lincoln United are the only team from the unibond division one south still in the cup and were playing their 5th match in the FA cup this year which is more than a lot of Premiership clubs will play when they enter in the 3rd round proper in January. Because of this cup run United are second bottom in their division but have up to four games in hand over some teams.
Ashby Avenue home of the Whites
Its about a 30 minute walk to Ashby Avenue from the train station. On the way i popped into Pets at Home to check out the latest news from the Guinea pig world (if there was any). They had some wonderfully cute Guinea's in there but although i would have loved to have given one or two a home, i know its much better to rescue them from a rescue centre.
I popped into the Monsoons inn near the ground and found out that Scotland had lost two nil to Japan. This match had been organised because the Scottish FA thought that they would have a world cup playoff in November to prepare for. As we all know that went tits up although it would have been interesting to see if the ten players who pulled out through injury for this game would have done the same had Scotland still been involved in the World cup. Japan is along way to go to get beat in a meaningless game.
You will have to go a long way to find a better run non league side than Lincoln United. They have plenty of covering around the ground, you are always made welcome and the food is great. I didn't have any on this occasion, due to the fact that i stuffed my face at the chip shop outside the ground. The chips were very nice and the batter on the fish was quite tasty; not bad for £3.30 (its an extra 10p if you want them in a box but i didn't bother as i always think they taste better out of the paper).
Next stop was the clubhouse. There were a few in there already when i got there at about 2.10pm.
The problem with watching all these non-league games here there and everywhere is that you start to see the same faces and they are not always the faces you want to see. For example today i saw a chap who's arse exhales the worse gas in Yorkshire, of which he is proud, i also saw a couple of hoppers who seem to do nothing but take pictures of each other and not watch the game.
I wanted to get into the ground quite early as it looked like there would be a larger than normal crowd in. After paying my six quid at the turnstile i got the programme and was gutted to see that Imps legend Terry Flemming was one of the few players who already had a sponsor. I say this as i had planned to sponsor him myself; looks like its another £25 quid to spend in the pub then!!
Frickley took control of the match at the start and as they did when i saw them play Worksop in an earlier round. It took about ten minutes or so but United slowly started to find their feet in the match, anything worthwhile from Lincoln came through Ex Imp Jamie Forrester. Although he may not have the pace he once had, his footballing brain is as sharp as ever. It was his good work halfway through the first half that gave Lincoln the first real scoring chance of the match; he beat two men on the right hand side drew the keeper off his line but his cross was mis-kicked by George Zuerner.
Soon after that Frickley took the lead with a well taken goal that involved some good passing football in the build up.
Sods law struck again as i wandered out to the clubhouse a couple of minutes before the end of the first half. During this time Forrester scored with a diving header to make it 1-1! I watched the halftime scores come through in the clubhouse. The Imps were the only goalless game in the Division at half time.
As is often the case at this level the second half didn't quite live up to the first. Chances were few and far between and much of the play was bogged down in midfield. Frickey, whose supporters travelled in good numbers, maybe just shaded possession but failed to do much with it. The main talking point came 10 minutes from the end when Lincoln united's number 9, Sam Wilkinson, was sent off for an alleged stamp. I was at the other end of the ground but to me it looked like the Frickley player slid in from the side to tackle him and the Lincoln player just fell on him but the ref had no hesitation in showing the red card.
That was the last meaningful action of the game and it means the two sides will have to do it all again in Yorkshire in the replay on Tuesday night.
Just a couple of other bits, The Imps won 1-0 thanks to a Rene Howe penalty to maintain Chris Suttons 100% record. Gainsborough Trinity lost there FA cup tie so Lincoln United are Lincolnshires only remaining non-league side left in the FA cup
Admission £6
Programme £1.50
Badge £3
Food 6/10-fish and chips
Clubhouse 7/10
Match quality 6/10
Both sides had female phyisos and for me Lincolns shaded it!!
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