By Nathan Jackson
December 28 2007

April finally saw the confirmation that Lincoln wouldn't finish in the automatic promotion places and left us one bad result away from missing the playoffs all together. Although City only lost once during April a winless record meant that the top 3 became out of reach and our draw at a side seemingly out of the promotion race all together would inevitably prove costly just a month later.

April started really quietly and the first incident was when the Imps faced Stockport County at Sincil Bank. Nat Brown and Liam Dickinson were both sent off as City dominated but couldn't get a goal as they drew 0-0 for the first time since the Grimsby game in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy against Grimsby earlier in the season.

2 days later and the Imps travelled to Darlington's 96.6TFM Arena, our fourth visit to the stadium and also the fourth time it's changed name. City were poor in the second half and fell behind when Julian Joachim gave the hosts a 1-0 lead just before half time.

The second half was much better from City and a deserved equaliser came from the head of Lee Beevers, but a controversial decision overshadowed the game when Junior Mendes clearly put the ball into the net and at least 2 feet over the line, only for the linesman to rule it hadn't gone over. This was made even more annoying when pictures came out showing that the ball had quite comfortably crossed the line.

Paul Morgan then shocked Imps fans by saying he wanted to leave after 6 years at the club. The former Captain had been absent for most of the previous 20 months due to injuries and suspensions and was rarely considered a first team player anymore. He said his goal was to get the Imps promoted at the 5th time of trying.

The first game after that saw Wrexham visit Sincil Bank and the relegation strugglers left with a 3-0 victory. A shocking display from City saw Simon Spender and a brace from Lee McEvilly sending the Imps crashing to a 3-0 defeat, it would be our last defeat of the regular season, but the pack were catching up.

City extended Junior Mendes' loan from Notts County much to the frustration of City fans. Mende's arrival had coincided with the Imps sudden dip in form and his performances were hardly inspiring.

Jamie Sherlock was released after a grand total of 0 appearances for the first team since joining from Gainsborough just over a year before. The came the day before a trip down to the Memorial Stadium. At the time Bristol Rovers were heading for another midtable finish, although they had just come off a trip to the Millennium Stadium for a brave performance against Doncaster Rovers in the final of the JP Trophy.

Forrester missed an open goal from a yard early on and the Imps hit the woodwork 4 times but again failed to score, but thankfully neither did Bristol Rovers. That result would cost the Imps as a win for City would make it impossible for Bristol Rovers to make the Playoffs.......Rovers won all their remaining games.

The final incident of the month saw City travel to Grimsby Town and secure a 0-0 draw in a dire game between the sides. Although not viewed as a bad result it meant that City could now easily finish outside of the Playoffs, a defeat in the final game of the season at home to Chester would mean the doors were wide open for our rivals.