Lincolns pre season rumbles on

Barton Town old boys 0-2 Lincoln City


Two friendly games for the Imps this week and we attended both of them. We are at the stage in pre season when we are still running the rule over various trialists and potential new players and working on fitness levels so the results really aren't of the highest importance. The first match was a trip to Northern counties Eastern premier division side Barton Town Old boys. For those of you who read this blog (and many thanks for reading by the way) who aren't as familiar with the various levels of the English non league system Lincoln now play at "Step one" ie Blue Square Premier division and Barton are at Step 5.

Barton play in a newish ground which looks quite smart. The clubhouse contains the bar, changing rooms, and tea hut looks nice and you can tell its had quite a bit of cash spent on it. It was a mere £5 to get in and 50p for a smart enough programme. We enquired about purchasing pin badges and were directed to the boardroom where they were on sale for £3.00

Barton gave it there all but Lincoln were always on top and strolled to a 2-0 win. Sam Smith and Adam Watts with the goals. It was also nice to see a few trialists catching the eye. All in all a decent nights work and a new ground ticked off.

If you ever visit Barton you need to remember four things.

If you find yourself on "Butts lane" then you have gone hopelessly wrong and need to remind yourself to put the sat nav in the car for the next away game.

If you end up on the afore mentioned "Butts lane" Don't not under any circumstances confuses the lights on the local Tesco with floodlights and drive towards them like a crazy moth.

Do not follow the sign hold up by a couple of kids that points you in the direction of "Football parking"

You must have a cup of tea at the ground. Its poured from the pot and comes in real mugs and not the normal plastic crap you normally get.

Brigg Town 1-4 Lincoln City

The next night it was another trip to North Lincolnshire to take on Evo stick south side Brigg Town. (Step four) Baz drove this time and we arrived at the ground in good time. Brigg had been smashed 0-8 by Gainsborough Trinity at the weekend (serves them right for wearing kits like Grimsby) so you would imagine that they would be keen to put things right. We found Brigg's ground a lot easier than we did the previous night at Barton. The only real worry was the good old British summertime weather which was its normal unpredictable self. Pissing it down one minute bright sunshine the next etc.

We had the rare occurrence for this match in that we had a full car. I can't remember the last time we had such an occurrence but it must have been at least a couple of seasons ago. Tonight entrance to the game cost you 6 of your finest English pounds. Unlike Barton, Brigg hadn't produced a programme for sale but a free folded teamsheet listing the squads and Brigg's upcoming fixtures was given away free. As it turns out it was pretty useless as some of the Lincoln names and numbers were wrong but its always nice to get something from the game. I was surprised to find out that Brigg don't have a clubshop. Apparently this is due to the former shop being robbed a couple of seasons ago and the club not replacing it, so no badge tonight i am afraid. Brigg's ground is pretty basic. You get covered seating along each side and two open ends behind each goal and thats about it really. We nipped in for a pint in the clubhouse at halftime which again is pretty average stuff

I wasn't hungry but i heard reports that the pie and peas along with the sausage rolls were very nice. A good few Imps fans had made the short trip to Brigg and were rewarded with a fine display from City. Lincoln took the lead when a tame looping header from Josh O Keefe was fumbled by the Brigg Keeper and dropped into the net. Up until then Brigg had done ok but that really did take the wind out of their sails. Gavin McCallum was seeing plenty of the ball but just trying to do to much with it. and beat one man to many.
City's second goal was a stunning 25 yard free kick taken by Ali Fuseini which curled into the top corner giving the home keeper no chance at all. Lincoln added a third when O Keefe's scuffed shot hit Jamie Talyor who finished from close range.
HT 0-3

As is the norm with pre season Lincoln made plenty of changes in the second half. Midfielder Simon Russell had been signed from Cambridge United in the afternoon and he was the stand out player in the second half. It is nice to see that most of the players Lincoln have signed have a good deal of experiance at BSP level. We now have good competition for midfield places and all bar one of them know the BSP inside out which will stand us in good stead for the scraps that lie ahead. Gavin McCallum added the fourth with a close range header to round of the Lincoln scoring. City could have had more goals as efforts from Power, Smith and Russell drew great saves from the Brigg substitute goal keeper. In the last minute of the game City conceded their first goal of preseason when Brigg scored with a close range volley. All in all another good workout for City but the next few games will be alot tougher than the first three. Next up League One Scunthorpe United at home in the semi final of the Lincolnshire senior cup.