The ground is on the outskirts of town so with plenty of time to kill we decided to go into the town in search of food. Bishop Storford seems to be a quaint little town, quite hilly with lots of old fashioned style pubs(which i prefer). Parking does seem to be a problem though and we must have done at least three laps of the town before we worked out where to park. On our circuits we had spied the excellent looking "Kebabery" take away.
The Kebab was indeed very nice. In fact i would say it is leading the Kebab standings this season. The meat and the salad was very fresh and it came in at £5.20(large lamb donner)
After feeding we headed back up to the stadium and arrived at 7.00pm.
Tonights admission was a bargain £5 for adults; which is half what we paid at fellow blue square premier outfit Staines Town in our first pre season match. On the down side no programmes had been produced for the game. Later on i went hunting for a team sheet and found one but it isn't the same as a programme.
The ground is tidy enough. You enter in one corner and to your right is the main stand and snap bar. I had a look in the clubhouse bar and it seemed nice enough. There is covered terracing behind each goal. Opposite the main stand sits a much lower stand with about 5 rows of seating in it. All in all a decent enough ground and set up.
The club shop is in the far corner of the ground and sells the normal stuff. Badges were the standard £3.50. One different thing they did have was a computer set up so you could search there database to see what programmes they have in stock.
We ambled around the ground and stood on the stand opposite the main stand.
Imps manager Chris Sutton came over and thanked us for coming down and we had a brief chat with him about how pre season was going and the up coming Celtic game. It was nice of Chris to come over and chat. Sometimes he may not come over great in interviews and stuff but he was a total gentleman to us. Although i felt a tad nervous chatting to him, maybe a tad in awe i guess.
We also had a chat with a Bishop Storford player about this and that. He told us he had played for Barnet a few years back when City had won 4-1 at Sincil Bank. He had been out for ten months but was on the way back and would not be playing tonight. Good luck to him.
We just had time for a cup of tea before kick off and what a cup it was! Only 70p and poured from the pot the way tea should be!
We sat on the terrace behind the end City were attacking and the Imps were quick out of the blocks. Chris Sutton had told us before the match that he expected this to be our hardest game so far but the Imps took control early on. Albert Jarret in particular looked dangerous on the wing. It was good to see Adam Watts back and although he looked a tad rusty at times, he was his normal solid self.
City took the lead through Cian Hughton when he beat a couple of defenders and shot into the top left hand corner. McCallum and Broughton missed further chances as City piled on the pressure. At the other end the home side looked dangerous on the counter but the final ball often let them down.
Second half sub Andy Hutchinson got the second goal halfway through the second half with a glancing header from about the penalty spot and that was that. As normal with these games the second half wasn't as good as the first with both sides making plenty of changes. City brought on old hands Paul Musselwhite in goal and centre back/assistant manager Ian Pearce for the last twenty minutes or so. With the last kick of the game Drew Broughton missed a penalty in what looked like a Chris Waddle Italia 90 effort.
All in all a cracking day out. Baz even made a new friend who he spent all the game chatting to about various things, including Lincoln and how Germany had a "young old side" at the world cup!
Admission £5
Programme none
Badge £3.50
Tea 9/10 best football tea i have had for years!!!!
Kebab 8/10 the standard has been set!!
Ground 7/10
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