The Imps will be showing their 3-1 win at home against Grimsby Town from March 2018 on their YouTube channel this weekend, so I thought I would publish our match preview again.
The much-awaited Lincolnshire derby looms this week in what could well prove to be the highest attended game at Sincil Bank this season. While the Imps gained a welcome win on Saturday (incidentally, the first time we won on a Saturday afternoon since we beat Forest Green Rovers 2-1 at home on 30 December!) Grimsby grimly searched for their first win in sixteen games, funnily enough, also against FGR 1-0 on 09 December. The fact is they scored a very late equaliser against Port Vale, but the poor run continues with five draws and eleven defeats in that run of sixteen; 5 points from a possible 48 is a very bad run indeed.
Following Tuesday night’s games, the Mariners sit 21st in the table on 37 points and a -23 goal difference having been passed by Port Vale who gained a point at Barnet and who still have a game in hand over Grimsby. Town are now only ahead of: Morecambe on 36 points (-11 GD) but with two games in hand; Barnet on 30 points (-20 GD) who have now played the same number of games and Chesterfield on 30 points (-28 GD) but also having two games in hand. One has to say, it’s not looking good at all for the Mariners and by Saturday evening it could be a whole lot worse for them as I simply cannot see them taking anything from Sincil Bank whilst Barnet are at home again (Vs Wycombe Wanderers), Chesterfield are away to Cheltenham Town and Morecambe are at home to Exeter City. The Mariners could well find themselves in third-bottom position after those games and the prospect of another very difficult away game at Coventry City looming the following week.
Perhaps it is fitting that new Town manager, Michael Jolley’s first away game in charge should be at Sincil Bank where he spent some time coaching during 2012 although he left us in the November of that year. I can’t help wondering why did John Fenty bring in someone with little managerial experience, especially after the transfer window was slammed shut? Still, time will tell, that’s for sure.
For the Imps, we will again be missing the services of Luke Waterfall as he serves the second of his three-match ban, so we should see the same back line. I fully expect Elliott Whitehouse to keep his place in the starting eleven with Alex Woodyard and Lee Frecklington keeping him company in the middle of the park. Matt Rhead and Matt Green will probably both start, although don’t be surprised if Ollie Palmer gets the nod ahead of Rheady. Jordan Williams seems to have made his mark in the last two games, so a starting place should be his. I don’t know why Danny Rowe wasn’t in the squad on Saturday. Perhaps someone could enlighten us?
Many Imps fans will be wishing for the same kind of result as we gained against them at home on Saturday 25 March 2006, some 12 years ago, when we went in 4-0 up at half time with goals from Luke Foster, Jamie Forrester, a Paul Mayo penalty and Marvin Robinson with the fourth just before half-time. Grimsby’s players were forced to stay on the pitch for their half-time team talk, much to the amusement of all home fans in the 7,182 crowd. It sort of paid off as they only conceded one more goal in the second-half, a late Lee Beevers effort.
Isn’t it always a pleasure to see an Imps player in the EFL Team of the Day, and this week we have Sam Habergham proudly representing us following his amazing performance at Chesterfield. Well done Sam.
The referee for the game will be David Coote.
My prediction: a return to winning ways at home for the Imps as they run out comfortable winners with a 3-0 score line in front of 9,800+ fans.
Writer: Impalex
If you haven’t already had a go at the quizzes, they can be found here: Quiz No.1, Quiz No.2, Quiz No.3, Quiz No.4, Quiz No.5, Quiz No.6, Quiz No.7, Quiz No.8, Quiz No.9, Quiz No.10 and Quiz No.11.
Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!
Imps To Reel In Cods As Mariners Set Sail For Sincil Bank:https://t.co/NWeHVwUYuu#ImpsAsOne #ImpsRewind #GTFC pic.twitter.com/KC1OgGTmKP
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