A great cup win and Lincoln Moorlands

Just a few months ago it would have seemed inconceivable to the majority of Lincoln fans that the Imps would be able to hold a League One side to a draw. But having done just that at Sincil Bank many fans were now not only confidant of giving the Saddlers a good game on their own patch but actually turning them over. How football can change in a short space of time. The general opinion of people who were at the first match was that the Imps were by far the better side and can feel a tad unlucky not to have finished the tie off there and then. However Walsall’s late equaliser meant that a trip to the West Midlands was required.

On paper Lincoln went into the game as the form side.  Unbeaten in 8 league and cup matches, the last two being a comfortable 3-0 home win over Braintree and a gutsy 2-1 away win at Barrow. I listened to the Barrow match on BBC Radio Lincolnshire as I had a rare Saturday off from watching the beautiful game (or non league shite depending on your point of view) and decided to start sorting out my programme collection that at the moment has taken over pretty much all of the spare room floor. Needless to say I didn’t get very far and spent more time reading them instead of sorting the sods out. Oh well there’s no rush.

 It’s always hard to judge a game when you are not there. Even viewing on television doesn’t always give you the full picture in my opinion, but from what I gathered it was a real gritty, battling performance from Lincoln as we ground out three points.  Something that has been lacking in recent seasons. Top marks to the commentary team.

In contrast, Walsall are in dreadful form. The men from the Banks stadium had failed to record a win in ten matches in all competitions and had lost their last couple of home games including a 1-4 kicking at the hands of Scunthorpe. After a quick glance at their message board, I gathered that the fans aren’t the happiest at the moment and there seems a lot of disillusionment around at the moment. Given all this however I still had the hosts as very strong favourites to go through. Why? Well in my experience as the lower ranked side you normally only get one chance to upset the odds. As always with a game that pits two sides with a two division gap between them, the higher ranked side has to have an off day and the underdog has to raise its game.  Lincoln had Walsall on the ropes at Sincil Bank but could not quite land the knockout blow.  I just couldn’t see the Saddlers playing so poorly again and although they are in poor form you have to remember that there are some quality sides in league one this season, and doesn’t everybody always say form goes out the window when it comes to the FA Cup? I was however looking forward to this game. Again it’s another cliché but all the pressure was on the hosts so we could go out and give it our best with no fear.  And it was also another new ground to tick off. Throw into the mix the fact that I had the next day booked off work it had all the ingredients to be a great away match. Whatever happened this was the first time that Lincoln had played four matches in the FA Cup since the 1997/98 season.

 

Unfortunately due to a family emergency for one of our number we were unable to make the trip. In contrast to Saturday I decided to follow the game on Twitter. To some this may seem sad but I quite enjoy reading the fans reaction to the game. By the feedback I was getting the Imps were more than holding their own and took the lead just after halftime. Walsall came back to make it 1-1 and into extra time we went. Now it was at this point that I have to admit that I fell asleep. I then woke up at just gone 11pm and was greeted with a couple of texts that pointed to the fact the Imps had done it and would go on to face Mansfield Town in the next round. This was the first time that Lincoln had beaten a side two divisions above themselves in the FA cup in their history.  Obviously I was over the moon and incredibly proud of the team, but also a tad embarrassed that while we were grinding out a 3-2 win in extra time, I was fast on in the land of nod.  To be blunt I felt like a right twat.

Programme from the last time the Imps and Stags locked horns in the FA Cup in 1987/99

Determined to celebrate this fantastic win and without a day of work ahead of me, I headed out for a few drinks in Retford before watching the third biggest cup tie that involved Lincoln’s football teams this week; the NCEL league cup tie between Lincoln Moorlands Railway and Worksop Parramore, at the Moorlands Sports ground (The second biggest cup tie was the FA Youth cup game between Lincoln and Hartlepool at Sincil Bank).

Pulling up outside the ground at just gone seven we could tell that there was a game on tonight as the floodlights were on and the lights were on in the buildings inside the ground. The turnstile block was however shut. After a few moments a chap appeared and said that he would be opening up in about 5 minutes. On obtaining this information we headed over the clubhouse for a swift pint. Again further proof that this game hadn’t quite galvanised the Lincoln public became apparent when the lady behind the bar asked who Moorlands were playing and enquired as to whether it was a League or Cup match.

We entered the ground with about 15 minutes to go till kick off and it was clear that there hadn’t been a mass rush for the turnstiles. After paying our £5 entrance fee and £1.20 for the match programme the striking thing was how empty the place looked. I would guess that the crowd was in the 20s with a good number of those being officials of the two clubs. I have no doubt that the International friendly between Sweden and England had had a huge effect on the turnout plus the fact that quite a few fans would have been tempted to see the Imps youth team at Sincil Bank just up the road. This did mean there was plenty of food available and I bagged a rather tasty burger for £2.

Moorlands have had a turbulent season up to date and currently sit bottom of the division.  However since the new management team took over and drafted in some new players they form has improved dramatically and they have hauled themselves to within a point of the nearest side above them in the table. Even given this upturn in form I didn’t give them much hope against a Parramore side that sat fourth in the league.

The match was no classic and when it was goalless at halftme we all feared the dreaded extra time. Thankfully halfway through the second half Parramore broke down their right and as the Moorlands keeper came racing out from his goal the winger slid the ball calmly past him.  That pretty summed up the whole action in the game as it was pretty uneventful with entertainment at a premium. But cup football is all about getting through to the next round and that is what the visitors did. Moorlands did look competitive however, and if they battle like this for the rest of the season they have a great chance of avoiding the drop, something that looked odds on just a few weeks ago. If only they could get a few more through the gate to watch them.

It was a good night for away sides in Lincoln as City’s youth team went down 1-3 to Hartlepool in the FA Youth cup. Oh well you can’t win them all. 

Did I miss anything in the England game?