Yet more top quality sporting action.

Sunday 28th November

Kansas City Chiefs 9-13 Pittsburgh Steelers

Up until Sunday night it had been a great sporting weekend for myself. Lincoln had dispatched Ebbsfleet United 3-0 at Sincil Bank. Retford United had won 4-3 away from home. Inter Milan had beaten Siena 1-0 and the Nottingham Panthers had beaten the Hull Stingrays 6-1 in Nottingham on Saturday night. They followed this up with a 5-5 draw away at Coventry Blaze in the Challenge Cup Sunday evening. The game had no meaning however as Nottingham had already won group B and Blaze couldn't make the knock out stage. Even so it was nice to see the Panthers stage a great fightback coming from 5-0 down to claim a pointless point. It would appear that the Braehead Clan will be the Panthers opponents in the semi finals unless they can beat Fife by 15 goals or more in there last group game. Should they manage this unlikely feat then League leaders Belfast will be the Panthers opponents in the semi finals. 

So after all this good news only one result stood between myself and a "full house";  The Steelers were on the road and on TV playing the Chiefs at Arrow Head stadium with a 1.30am UK time kick off.  So i booked a the Monday off work, got a load of popcorn in, and settled down with the guinea pigs to watch some football. 

The Steelers came out on top and although the scoreline looks quite close the Chiefs never looked like scoring a touchdown until the very last drive of the game. The Steelers wasted a few chances to add to their score. In the end a win is a win and it was an enjoyable night. The Steelers still need to improve before the playoffs but the team is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the AFC.

Tuesday the 29th November.

York City 2-0 Lincoln City

My good sporting form was brought back down to earth with an almighty bump on Tuesday night as Lincoln fell to a predictable defeat at playoff chasing York City. All in all it was a pretty shitty night. Bad traffic on the A1 meant that the journey took us a fraction under two and a half hours meaning we didn't have time to sample a pre match kebab and pint in York. 

In truth Lincoln were pretty much second best throughout the match. York scored early and from there on in we never really got into it. Ex Imp Scott Kerr won man of the match which shows you the standard of players in this League. He also had a bit of a dig at the Imps and our former manager in the programme. Such a classy guy isn't he? I would have hoped that after employing him for five and a half years he would have been a bit more respectable to the club, but there you go folks. I was disappointed with the second goal; after their player out muscled Thompson, Gowling was caught in two minds and backed off, allowing their guy to pick his spot and kill the game. York were on of the best sides I have seen this year and could well end up winning the playoffs at the end of the season. On the plus side we could have gone all the way to London to watch the Arsenal get stuffed by Manchester City reserves......

Wedensday 30th November

Worksop Town 5-4 Mickleover Sports

Normally one midweek game a week does me just fine. However the chance of a game at a new ground for me, just over 7 miles away, came up and, better still admission was free. Its normally a tenner to enter so it would be rude not to take advantage of it really wouldn't it? Plus we had the chance to make up for our disappointment of missing out on a kebab the night before.

Former Lincoln caretaker manager Simon Clarke has recently taken the reigns at Worksop and has brought the club an upturn in fortunes. Town's recent form has earned Clarke the manager of the month. As you would expect their form has slumped since then.
The tigers roared (boom boom) into a two goal lead early on. Sports rallied and pulled one back only for the tigers to added a third. Sports kept the game alive with a cool run and finish just before halftime.
The sports then equalised just after halftime when they took advantage of some poor Worksop marking from a free kick. Back came Worksop with an equaliser about ten minutes before the end. The hosts took all three points in injury time. Quite simply the best game i have seen for a long while and all for free as well!

This blog my be a little sparse on details as i am a bit behind at the moment. Normal service to be resumed shortly. The curse of night shifts and Christmas strikes again!