Sunday, 19 February 2017

Lincoln's Perfect Day

Huge congrats to Lincoln for flying the non-League flag all the way to the quarter finals. Furthest a non-League side has got since 1914 apparently. But that was when the League only had two divisions, so no comparison really.  This is totally new territory. If it wasn’t for the fact they are an ex-League set up with an ex-League fanbase, this would feel even more like a fairy tale, but by any standards it’s an amazing achievement.

From the highlights, it’s clear that this was no fluke.  They went there to win, even pushing men forward in the 89th minute rather than playing for time.  An interesting contrast with us taking the ball into the corner yesterday to protect a lead against the mighty Kings Langley.  Also top marks to the Imps for winding up Joey Barton (admittedly not quite such a challenge: this is a man who can be provoked by breathing the same atmosphere).

It was good to see Barton tangling with an old fashioned striker like something from a pub team, and a pleasingly retro Bobby Charlton comb-over. There aren’t enough people in the modern game that clearly don’t spend much time in front of a mirror.   Also great to see the goal celebrated by fans going absolutely mental like you or I would, rather than taking photos on their phones or clearly only there for the occasion with their brand new scarves.

For Burnley it was karma biting them on the arse after the famous day in 1987 when they were at the bottom of the old Division Four and scraped a win which sent Lincoln down to the Conference.

For Lincoln, it could still get better. This run isn’t over yet. They’re possibly only two games from Europe, for crying out loud.

At this point, having given Lincoln all due praise we must conclude by citing our record against them.  Played 6, won 5, drew 1, lost nil. We even managed to do the double in the Non Park season, when everything else was going tits up.
 
This is completely irrelevant to what happened yesterday or indeed our present situation, but it makes me feel better to get it out there again.

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