Tonight was the Unibond league cup final between the uniteds of Boston and Retford. And the Retford Imps were firmly in the corner of the Badgers of Retford.
On the way there we discussed Inters great win over Barcelona in the Champions league semi final and all agreed that Jose is indeed the best manager in Europe, and a gentleman as well! The man can do no wrong at the minute.
Thanks to my good self we got to the ground in good time. If you ever need how to get to a ground then just ask my good self. I found the ground with no trouble at all. As the sign above center court at Wimbledon says " If you can keep you head while everybody else is losing theres..."
When we got to Ashby Avenue the first shock we found was that there was..... A CUE TO GET IN!!!!
It took about ten minutes to get in, In that time i bought a programme which was poor value for £2. It was ten quid to get in. Boston had about 3/4 of the crowd. Not to worry though. As anybody with any brains knows quality over rides quantity everyday of the week. It Always nice to see Ex Imp players on show and Boston had former Lincoln rejects Mark Camm and Ryan Semple in there line up. Just shows how low they have sunk since leaving Lincolnshires premier side.
Boston look like the are going up this year. Many years ago when they were in the league they had the crapest ground and support in league two. Now they take the piss out of clubs like Retford because of there ground etc etc. One of my favourite Boston memories is in the year that Boston United were relegated Lincoln had more fans at the away match than Boston had home fans there. That to me tells you all you need to know about there "support" or lack of it.
We ambled round and stood on the opposite corner to where we came in.
Retford have had a tough time over the last couple of weeks, before kick off there playoff chances were hanging on a thread and manger Peter Duffield had announced that he was leaving at the end of the season due to problems with players wadges being paid late. Both of the sides had scored a win over each other in the league this season with both sides winning there away fixture.
For most of the first half Retford more than held there own against Boston. It was in fact a decent game with both sides looking to get the ball down on the deck and play. Retford had the best chances but Boston had the better ones.
As the half was drawing to a close we went round to stand behind the goal next to the boardroom. Boston took the lead in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Another Imps reject Spencer Weir-Daley scored a great goal from a tight angle after good work down the Boston left. No sooner had Retford took the kick off the Ref blew for half time.
At half time we chatted about City's up coming match's at home to Bury and Aldershot away. Baz went on the search for fodder in the canteen. I saw one guy who had gone to the trouble of painting his face yellow and black. (Bostons home colours) I could mayby understand it if it was the world cup final but the Unibond league cup final? hmm i know i have done some stupid things in my life but even i wouldn't stoop to that level, but then again Lincoln City are unlikely to be playing in the Unibond league cup final anytime soon so mayby i don't appreciate the magnitude of the competition.
Boston stepped up the tempo in the second half and had Retford on the back foot for most of it. Credit to the Retford fans who never gave up cheering for there side but you felt there was only going to be one winner. Boston had a goal disallowed and it was no surprise that they went 2-0 up. Retford had plenty of shots but Boston blocked everything and there defence was very solid. Retford flashed a couple of crosses across the Boston box but no one was there to tap them home
FT 2-0 :-( We stayed to watch Boston lift the cup and it was nice that both sets of players got a good round of applause. All in all a decent match between a couple of decent sides.
Retfords night got even worse with the news that Kendals win now means they can on longer make the playoffs.
Admission £10
Programme £2 3/10 ok but poor value for money
Match quality 7/10
Baz gave the burger a 7 out of 10 but gave the onions on it a 9. chips were average i am told.
I went to watch Lincoln united on the Saturday before. I didn't blog it as i didn't take my camera but i can recommend the fish and chips at the nearby lakeside fish bar. £3.35 for fish and chips but for an extra 10p you get them in a plastic box.
On the way back we discussed the up coming election and the lack of a party to fight for Guinea pigs needs. So watch this space....
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