Lincoln City 2-1 Barrow AFC

Today we needed to see a response from the club, players and the fans. After the cup defeat at the hands of Alfreton Town on Tuesday night morale amongst Lincoln fans has really hit an all time low. The news that the club is looking at another round of redundancies amongst non playing staff due to the the poor financial situation has also cast a long shadow over Sincil Bank this week. After every defeat we keep asking ourselves have we hit rock bottom yet and just when we think we have, we manage to sink to a new low.

I spent the morning of the match in the centre of Lincoln helping to promote a newish Taekwondo school that has just opened in Lincoln. Well when i say promoting it i stood there holding up a huge placard and handing out free lesson vouchers to the good folk of Lincoln. If there are any Lincoln based people reading this and are looking to get fit, learn self defence or just try a new sport then Lincoln Taekwondo is just the thing for you. Master Simon Stockdale runs the classes at the Strike zone Dojang on at 45-48 croft street on Monday nights from 6.30-7.45 pm. There is a good number of black belts so good tuition is guaranteed all for only £5 a lesson. There is also a very good chance you will see the scribe of the humble blog training there as I look to get my martial arts career back on track after a two year break. If you want anymore information then just check out the website here. And remember you are never to old to start!

Myself when i was slightly slimmer, fitter, quicker etc etc 

After a couple of hours of that lark it was off down to Sincil Bank, via McDoanlds to pick up the Imps 3rd kit. I won't be wearing it for a while though, as it is to be a Christmas present but I wanted to make sure I bagged one of the "limited edition" shirts before they sold out. It is actually one of the smartest shirts we have had for a while. For those who haven't seen it it is the same design as the home kit but in blue and black so not only do Lincoln have the same kit suppliers as the great Inter Milan but we also have the same colour combination and yes Inter are having a crap season in the league as well! I am not sure how many games we will actually wear the shirt in though as I can't think of  a team that our green and white hooped shirt would clash with. Which makes you wonder why the club released it in the first place. For me the fact that I can purchase another Lincoln City strip; giving the club much needed revenue, and not look like a Celtic fan is good enough reason for me. This is the third time on the trot that the third shirts are better than the away kits in my view. I have got one of last season's red third kits that the club auctioned off on Ebay. None were available for sale and only about 40 were made. And the player whose shirt I have? None other that the Lincoln legend that is Shane Clarke. I have never wore the shirt out as I don't want to risk damaging such a rare item. Not to sure if the value will rocket up over the years but its still a nice shirt.

After I collected the shirt I took a walk back up the high street to the George and Dragon and had a couple of pints watching the Newcastle v Everton match on the TV. Then i had a couple more in the trust suite. A good number of Barrow fans had made the long journey down for the match and they seemed in good spirits. One person who hadn't made the trip however was Baz who was enjoying a trip down to Legoland. Whether this is a good enough reason to miss an Imps match will be decided by the Retford Imps judge and jury panel on our next away match. (Or the kangaroo court as Baz calls it.)

Fancy joining us at football Darth Oxby?

One ray of light at Sincil Bank over the past few days has been the transfer dealing of Imps manager David Holdsworth. Goalkeeper Paul Farman has arrived on loan from Gateshead and winger Conal Platt has joined on loan from Cambridge United. Both have signed till January the 1st. Former Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City and Scunthorpe United Centre back Richard Hinds has penned deal till the end of the season. All three were in the starting line up and all three performed very well.

I know its very early days but David Holdsworth does appear to very well organised and prepares his side very well. Two things that have been in very short supply in recent years. The manager had the squad training on the pitch at 12.30pm practicing set plays both for and against and other drills. He had also set new standards for the players codes of conduct. Players now have to wear suits on matchday instead of tracksuits and have been banned from "tweeting" and wearing headphones on matchday. David Holdsworth has come across as a disciplinarian who wont put up with any crap. All of this is most welcome and something we have badly lacked. It all brings back memories of how John Beck went about his work. And he didn't turn out to bad for us did he?

Holker Street. Home of AFC Barrow

It wasn't too long ago that we played the reverse fixture in Barrow when they defeated us 1-0 on a cold Tuesday night. On that night they looked a well organised side but didn't have much of a cutting edge.
Lincoln started this game brightly and were quick out of the blocks. Lincoln were actually playing with a confidence which belied our lowly league position.
City opened the scoring in the 20th minute when new boy Platt played a great through-ball on the ground which Sam Smith got on the end of and knocked it pass the advancing keeper. Two minutes later Lincoln doubled the lead when Hurst in the Barrow goal half cleared a John Nutter cross, it fell to Jean Francois Christophe who chipped home a great effort from 25 yards out. All of a sudden the doom around the Bank was lifted. I was texting Baz down at Lego land and his reaction to missing what was turning out to be a good Lincoln performance? Short but sweet "FFS!"
City kept up the tempo and dominated most of the first half. Barrow didn't create much and Lincoln with Hinds marshalling the back line looked alot more solid from set plays which has been our weak spot for a number of years.
HT 2-0
Although City didn't quite match their first half performance  they still looked the more likely to score. Smith, Perry and Platt all had decent efforts saved. Lincoln's cause wasn't being helped much by the ref. I don't normally criticise refs but City had three decent shouts for a penalty turned down. In the last 15 minutes or so Lincoln started to tire and Barrow came into it a little more. It was a bit of a surprise when the board showed 5 minutes were to be added at the end. Barrow scored in the 4th minute of this when a free kick was pumped into the box brought down and finished well by Mike Person. This kept up Barrow's record of scoring in every match they have played this season.
FT 2-1

In my humble view 2-1 doesn't really tell the full story. I haven't been able to say this much but City played really well today. All three new faces fitted in well and we looked more likely to score that we have for much of the season. I know it doesn't really say much but i feel that this is the best we have played this season and i left the ground felling better than i have done for a long while.
The over the last few years we have had Peter Jackson who maybe sometimes over hyped things in his post match interviews, Chris Sutton whose post match reaction sent you to sleep. Then we had Steve Tilson who to be blunt, talked a load of bollocks. Therefore its both pleasant and refreshing to hear Mr Holdsworth's post match views. Again it is early days but he does appear to talk sense compared to what we have had to put up with recently. He made the point that the players need to be fitter and sharper. City don't have a game next week so in his words the players will "Learn how to be fit" Its obviously not a great thing to be out of the cup but at least we are going to be using the time off to good effect.

After a good Lincoln performance i decided to celebrate long and hard into the night. I dont know how my bladder would cope if City went on a decent run. I really need to have a word with myself because i dont want to feel as rough as i did this morning and last night. Its also not a great idea to spent £5 on a large mixed kebab only to go and spew it up half an hour later in the bathroom.
I was highly delighted to see Terry Flemming win the manager of the month this week. So much so that i decided to phone Gav to tell him the good news; at about 12.40 in the morning, sorry about that mate. I really do need to have a word with myself. :-p

Terry Flemming. Evo stick South manager of the month for October.

Adams sporting world results

Lincoln City 2-1 Barrow AFC

Genoa p-p Inter Milan 

(Due to flooding in Genoa)

Hall road Rangers 1-2 Retford United

Cardiff Devils 3-1 Nottingham Panthers

Nottingham Panthers 3-2 Fife Flyers (Shoot Out win)

Pittsburgh Steelers 20- 23 Baltimore Ravens