Lincoln City 1-0 Kidderminster Harriers

Well here we are folks. The 2012/13 season is upon us. Fans up and down the land dream that this season will be their season where their side is basked in glory as they sweep aside all before them on the way to the championship. After the Euros and the Olympics, football is back and the video below gives you all a taste of what the next nine months has in store.
 It has to be said that expectations are not particularly high at Sincil Bank this time around. As we all know cash is rather short in supply and after another dreadful season last time out, Imps fans just want to see a little stability and hopefully not spend too much time looking over their shoulder at the dreaded relegation zone. Is that really too much to ask? The last week of pre season hadn't been ideal for the Imps. Firstly the last pre season game of the campaign against Leicester City was called off on "police advice", costing the club about £30,000 in the process. City did play Leicester at the Foxes' training ground and got stuffed 5-0. Then a couple of days later we flogged last season's leading goal scorer Sam Smith to BSP rivals Cambridge United for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £25,000. I must admit i was a bit of a Sam Smith fan last season and certainly didn't want to see him sold. However at this level we can ill afford to keep a player who doesn't want to be here so its the best for all parties that we cut our losses on him. This move has cost me money as i had a bet with Baz that Smith would smash the 20 goal barrier this season but with Smith now having moved on the bet is null and void.

 Speaking of Baz he was again missing in action for the season opener as he was away; down south on holiday and with Lee again a no show, it left only Felice, myself, and Josh to represent the Retford Imps on one of the biggest days of the season. Those Retford Imps who missed out on today, hang your heads in shame.

 Looking back over the years i have been following them, City have normally been slow starters. I have never known them win the first two league games on the trot, with a win and a draw being the best start i have experienced. Even in the years when we have won the first league match of the season it has more often than not been a false dawn. Back in 1995/96 City started the season with a bang, with a fantastic 1-2 away win at Championship favourites Preston North End. About a month later City were rock bottom of the table and manager Sam Ellis was sacked. In more recent times Lincoln started the 09/10 season with a solid 1-0 home win over Barnet, but manager Peter Jackson only survived a handful of games before being relieved of his duties. A decision i believe was the starting point of the rapid decline of this football club. Given all this it is hardly surprising that i wasn't exactly looking forward to this season's opener against Kidderminster; a side that were very close to making the playoffs last year and are being tipped by many as dark horses to make the playoffs this time around.

After stuffing our faces at the chip shop we ambled over to the club offices as I needed to pick up my season ticket. To save costs the club has asked season ticket holders who have renewed season tickets to place them in last seasons plastic wallets so as to save costs. This action alone shows how much the club is watching the pennies this year, although i believe that if you didn't want to do this they would give you a new wallet. Eager to help the club out i have decided that i will be keeping my season ticket inside my 1997/98 wallet. This was the last time we managed to gain a promotion and so it is a little happy reminder to me of a time when we had a board that knew what they were doing, a manager who talked a good game AND got results (Sir John Beck) and a time when the likes of Doncaster, Scunthorpe, and Hull were finishing below us on a regular basis. Oh how times changed, as the three clubs mentioned are now on a totally different level to us. Swansea City finished in the bottom half of League 2 that season, they are now looking forward to a second season of Premiership football.

 

Normally one of the first things that one does at a football match is purchase the matchday programme. However there was a fire at the printers on the Friday night which delayed the arrival of the programmes, although the club were hopeful that they would arrive by halftime. Unfortunately this didn't happen but they were available from the club office after the match. I wasn't that desperate to purchase one there and then as there was ale-a-plenty to drink in Retford post match, but i did buy one from the club's Ebay account the next day. City have kept the £2.50 cover price but reduced the size to 32 pages to keep costs down. Personally i would have liked to have seen the club revert to a smaller A5 size issue but i am glad that they have not bothered adding a glossy cardboard cover as this makes them harder to store. Overall the editor has done a decent job given the budget and tools he has to work with. It probably won't win any awards but it does the job and is a decent read for home fans although there could do with being a bit more information on the away side in my humble opnion.
 Anyway on to the match.

In the build up to the game Imps gaffer David Holdsworth had been up to the normal mind games by saying how we were down to the bare bones, with both Alan Power and Gary Mills set to be out but in the end both made the starting line up.
Due to having problems with the computer i am writing this blog a week after the game so i am not going to bother doing a detailed match report but rather more give my impressions of the game and my thoughts on the Imps  going forward.
Last season Lincoln were their own worse enemy at times and conceded some stupid goals by putting themselves under pressure. On the showing of this match  we look much more solid at the back, with Tom Miller and Andrew Boyce. City have a pretty mean looking pairing; one that will not be pushed around as we have been in previous seasons. We had real problems defending long throws last year but we looked a totally different beast this game, and although Kidderminster had plenty of long throws they never really looked like causing us problems with any of them.
At the other end of the pitch City went in with a classic 'big man little man' combination with Rob Duffy and Jamie Taylor up top. I have read and heard quite a bit about Duffy but have kept an open mind on him. On this showing he may not be bursting the back of the net every week, but he will give centre backs plenty to think about and looks to be a very streetwise type of player. In truth the target man role is one that often gets overlooked with fans often quick to get on their backs if they don't score. In past seasons we have had players like Drewe Broughton, Steve Thorpey, and Tony Battersby playing in this role. Players that would hardly get many fond words from the City faithful. I believe Duffy will be much more effective than that merry little band but whether he can reach the highs of City's last really decent number 9; Mark Stallard, remains to be seen.
The main benefactor of Duffy's hard work was Jamie Taylor who is perhaps the cleverest footballer on  City's books; his tactic of playing on the shoulder of the last defender gave the visitor's defence problems all game. His goal just beofre half time was well taken and in truth was no more than what he and City deserved and with a bit more luck he could have had more goals.

Overall City deserved the three points. Paul Farman in the Lincoln goal had to be alert to make a smart double save early in the second half but apart from that the visitors didnt really look like getting back into the game. Lincoln did start to drop a bit too deep during the last twenty minutes or so which invited Kidderminster to come forward a little too much but nerves are always going to play a part when you are defending a one goal lead on the opening day of the season. The ref certainly seemed to be enjoying himself and the Lincolnshire sunshine, as he added 4 additional minutes at the end of the first half and six at the end of the second. Quite where he found all this time nobody is quite sure but to be fair to Lincoln, they saw it out pretty well and managed to run down the clock to take a deserved three points. One of the more interesting moments of the match was a heated disscusion between Rob Duffy and Andrew Boyce after a Kidderminster move ended with them hitting the post. The two Lincoln players had to be separated from each other by their team-mates, and a game of fisty cuffs between them was avoided. Was it a storm in a tea cup or are there deeper problems? In my view definitely the former, but it is something to keep an eye on.

I am reluctant to draw too many conclusions from the opening game of the season but based on this performance, Lincoln look like they will be a hardworking side with a little bit of know how on playing the ugly side of the game. We 'be challenging for honours but hopefully we will be competitive in most games. Of course all this may be tripe but thats just my impression from watching the first game.
One game down forty five to go, lets hope that alot of them are like this.

Nice Sunday morning read :-)