As I am getting back into this blogging lark I thought it
would be fun to award my own end of season awards for the 2018/19 season. It’s
fair to say this have been a fantastic season for the Imps and one that will
live long in the memory
and this made some of these awards quite tough to call. As
ever with my blogging the main aim is to have a little fun with these kinds of
things. Some awards are serious, some less so. Some awards relate to events on
the pitch and some off it. So without further ado...
Best away trip of the
season.
1st Everton (L 2-1)
2nd Cheltenham (W 2-0)
3rd Forest Green Rovers (W2-1)
As you can imagine during a season in which Lincoln had the
best away record in the division there are a few strong contenders for this
award. As anybody who travels to away games will tell you the day is about far
more than just the game itself and from the baking heat of Northampton on
opening day to the long trip to South Wales and Newport to close the season out
many memories have been made.
Notts County is always a great away day (and the one I look
for first when the fixtures come out). On the pitch the Imps were below par but
as ever it was a cracking day off it. Cheltenham was excellent also – a new
ground, great day on the ale with my best friend and taking both Cheltenham and
Gloucester by storm (it was also a weekend away so that adds to the fun). Other
grounds that were memorable were Northampton, Forest Green and MK Dons. But in
the end the FA Cup tie at Everton was the clear winner. An iconic ground, huge
away following and a very good performance from Lincoln on the pitch. Plus the
staff at both Everton and Liverpool were all first class which added to the
experience.
Worst away trip of
the season
1st Tranmere away
(0-1)
2nd Oldham (1-1)
It has to be said neither of these was awful, far from it. The
reason Tranmere wins it is because it came at a time when my Asthma (which has
been quite bad this season) was starting to get on top of me. It was quite a
cold night so when you have a combination of a bad chest and a flat Imps
performance you have the perfect factors for a poor away day. In a way I feel
bad about writing this as I normally enjoy going to Prenton Park as it’s a
cracking old school style stadium with fans that create a decent atmosphere but
alas even a decent Kebab pre game couldn’t save it from this dubious award.
Oldham comes in second even though I didn’t go. Basically I
am bitter. This was one that I really wanted to visit at the start of the season,
a golden tick as it were as I have never been there. However my Asthma had
other ideas and my plans were scuppered, and therfore it remains un-ticked.
Best disappearing act
sponsored by Lord Lucan
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| Lee at Tranmere. |
Very easy one this. After failing to attend a game for over
a year the winner this award was as one sided as a North Korean election, step forward
Mr Lee Housman!! Little more I can say really. Shocking to think both mine and
Felice’s other halves attended more away games than him. He did however attend
the same as all our pet cats combined so that’s something.
Best new ground
visited
I realise I may be going against the grain on this one but
for all the stick the club get I found Forest Green Rovers, New Lawn to be a
lot better than I expected. Yes it’s pretty small but it’s clean and it is perfect
for what the club needs as opposed to clubs that build grounds that are way too
big for them. The FGR fans really made a decent bit of noise behind the goal
which always adds to the atmosphere. Although we didn’t get time for a pint
there looked to be some decent pubs in the village and the chippy was nice if
not exactly cheap.
Best piece of
navigational skills
For once I am going to give this to myself. Macclesfield has
always been an awkward place to get to and Felice was really struggling with this
one. Thankfully I saved the day and got us there in good time. I won’t go into
it too much as i am not one to blow my own trumpet too much but safe to say he
would have been fooked without me.
Embarrassing moment
of the season
Normally things that happen late on in the season stand more
chance of winning these awards however for this we are going back to the first
pre season game and a visit from Sheffield Wednesday. As we ambled round to the
fanzone the smell of pork filled the air as the visitor’s team bus pulled in.
With this Baz turned around to go and greet the players while I continued my
trip to the bar.
In second place I have myself pouring salt instead of sugar
in my tea during halftime of the Lincoln v Morecombe game. The weather was
awful and coupled with the shock of Felice getting the teas in meant I grabbed
the container with what I thought was sugar in only to pour lashings of salt
into my much needed cup of tea. What a twat.
In third it has to be Felice getting all the way to the
turnstiles at a home game only to realise he left his phone in the car. Thus
meaning he needed to go back and get it. What made this all the more amusing
was the fact he was busting for a piss and waddling like a duck. Why did he
need his phone? To check how his bets were coming along and to play some stupid
farming game on his phone at HT of course. The icing on the cake was Bolton winning at
his beloved QPR to mess his bet up.
Best team seen this
season
This is quite a tough one to judge as firstly I have seen
some sides three times, some twice, some
once and a couple not at all. Bury really gave Lincoln a run for their money in
the televised game at Gigg Lane and ran us close at the Bank when Lincoln
defeated them 2-1. Both games v Mansfield were also close with very little
between the teams. This season however many sides have looked to sit back and
given that at times Lincoln have struggled to break teams down you cannot
really blame them for employing this tactic even though it’s awful to watch. I
have always been a believer that the best form of defence is attack and thus I
respect teams that try to win games. Not necessarily all out attack for the
first whistle but not just sitting there is with 10 men behind the ball
timewasting from the start. So to that end I tip my hat to the likes of Forest
Green, Tranmere and Bury who did try to win the game. It’s hard to pick a
winner but I would say Bury, FGR then Tranmere were the best I saw this season.
Credit also goes to Northampton who looked decent in all three games against
the Imps and were on the end of a Josh Vickers masterclass on the opening day
of the season.
Worst team seen this
season
Quite a few up for this one award as well. Oldham looked
totally disinterested when they visited the Bank and gave the Imps the easiest
three points of the season by far. Away from home Cheltehnam were awful with
the Imps barely needing to get out of second gear in their 2-0 win at Waldon
Road. Notts County were poor at the Bank but were unlucky not to take all three
points in the 1-1 draw at Meadow Lane. Both Macclesfield games were close
contests with little to choose between the teams and although I missed both
Yeovil games Baz informs me they were poor in the game at Huish Park.
So overall Oldham get my vote as the worse side seen this
season with Morecombe coming in second. I feel bad writing this as they are one
of the smallest teams budget wise in the league and the fact they are still in
the league is achievement in itself. As for third... let’s give it to Grimsby
because... why not?
And lastly and most importantly.. The food!
This is the hardest one to judge. Hand on heart i dont think we have had an outstanding Kebab this season nor an awful one. So with this in mind i thought i would just post a few pictures for you all to drool over!
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Bury (home) from our normal joint on the High Street   |
