By Nathan Jackson
December 14 2005

Lincoln City and Oxford United very rarely share a thriller, infact, since Oxford were relegated to this division 5 years ago, there have only been 14 goals in the 9 meetings, however, if the game is anything like last season's meeting at the Kassam Stadium, it will be a very happy day for the Imps.

Lincoln vs Oxford is usually a fixture that won't have many goals in it, something that history has shown, in the last 8 meetings, a totally of 12 goals have been scored between the sides and on average, chances on goal are few and far between. So how have we faired against the U's in the last 9 meetings.

City had started 2001/2 fairly badly, winning just 2 of their first 12 games, Oxford were the next opponents and for the majority of the match, the fans were bored to tears. It was a truly awful game. It was only when the 4th official showed how much added on time there was (3 minutes), that the game really livened up. With just over half of that time gone, David Cameron worked well down the right and he fed Kingsley Black, the classy midfielder then found Lee Thorpe in amougst a crowd of players, the striker shot and City took the lead. However, that is only half the story.

6 minutes in added on time, Lee Thorpe and Oxford's Wayne Hatswell were battling for the ball down the left hand wing but then the ball was taken out of the equation and the two got into a heavy brawl which then involved all 22 players. Both were given their marching orders, however, 2 minutes later and Marriott claimed the ball from a cross but then went down after apparantly being elbowed by Martin Thomas, which saw the midfielder sent off. The game finally finished after 12 minutes added on time.

Both clubs went onto continue struggling through the season, when the clubs met on 16th February, both shared 35 points although Oxford led the Imps on goal difference. City were coming off the back of a 4-1 thumping at home to Mansfield. Again, it wasn't a classic but in the 19th minute, Oxford took the lead when David Morley crossed the ball in, it was only half cleared by Mark Bailey and Phil Gray tidied up by smashing the ball past Marriott. Within minutes, Oxford had a penalty after Paul Morgan fouled Dean Whitehead and Andy Scott put away the penalty. However, Lee Thorpe again scored past Oxford, however, it was late on when he struck home with a back heeled flick from a Gain cross. It could have been all different for the Imps who had 2 goals disallowed that afternoon. It wasn't to be happy season for either club however as Oxford finished 21st, one place above City.

9 months later and nearly 4 months in the 2002/3 season, both sides were doing quite well in the league. City visited the Kassam Stadium on November 30th 2002 and the game, just like the one at Sincil Bank the year before, was one where only the last 3 or 4 minutes seemed worthy of mention. Oxford were on the edge of the City area, Scott Willis ran towards Jefferson Louis, the striker sent his shot straight at Willis, the midfielder who was only 2 yards away from the ball when it was kicked, was judged to have handled it, Andy Scott again scored from the penalty spot to give Oxford a 1-0 lead. Whereas the season before, there had been a lot of extra added on time, this time, some was taken away, 3 minutes were indicated but only 1 minute was played.

April 5th came around and both clubs were still in the promotion hunt. Oxford came with a game plan to Sincil Bank and after Andy Scott again gave Oxford a lead, this time in the 4th minute, they shut up shot and the game was full of time wasting, 11 men behind the ball, hoofball (and before you say it, yes I know) and Oxford became the first side to win at Sincil Bank since October. However, City would have the last laugh, on the final day of the season, Oxford needed to win and hope that Torquay beat Lincoln to qualify for the playoffs, with 5 minutes to go, everything was going well but then up stepped a certain Mr Yeo and the rest as they say, is history. I would just love to be in both places at the same time, just to experience Oxford's realisation of our equaliser.

Predictably, Lincoln vs Oxford was an opening day fixture in the 2003/4 season and it was definatly a sense of deja vu as Steve Basham gave Oxford an early lead and again, they shut up shop, although to be fair, Lincoln didn't deserve anything on the day. Yeo was also set off for the Imps after kicking a ball at a ballboy in frustration. Oxford went on to lose just 1 of their first 22 games.

However, when the clubs met on January 10th 2004, both sides were on a run of good form and the Imps really pushed their opponents in what was a very open game. Gary Fletcher had the Imps' best oppurtunity where he picked up the ball in midfield and ran forward, he shot from 30 yards and the ball hit the post. At the other end, Richie Foran headed against the post following bad defending from the Imps for a free kick. It went into the final minute of added on time and Adriano Rigolioso sent a 30 yard shot towards goal and only a superb save prevent Oxford from snatching another win off the Imps. City went off to the playoffs again, however, Oxford's good form faded away and they finished outside of the playoffs.

October 16th 2004 was a game that the Imps simply DOMINATED. The game started pretty averagely but then the action started in the 13th minute when a throw in saw Green provide McAuley with the ball, the defender shot at goal, it came off a defender and Yeo smashed the ball home, however, he was offside. Soon after and Yeo was again called offside after again finding the net. Gareth McAuley added himself to the disallowed goal scorers when he headed in Sandwith's cross but was leaning into the keeper. Martin Carruthurs joined in the fun when he headed in from close range, however, the goalkeeper was apparantly fouled despite appearing to fall over his own feet and City had their 4th goal disallowed. However, just before half time, Green broke free of the Oxford defence and ran 40 yards before scoring a goal, what's this though? The ref's not blowing he whistle? There's no offside flag, WE'D SCORED A LEGAL goal.

The second half proved just as one sided, however, the Imps' chances were reduced. Martin Carruthurs however did head against the bar from close range and Kevin Sandwith sent a marvelous 40 yard shot smashing against the bar, however, there was to be no second goal and the Imps won one of the most 1 sided 1-0 victories ever.

Oxford came to Sincil Bank on February 5th having just gone 8 games unbeaten and their manager, Ruiz had just been given the manager of the month, you just know what's coming next. Surprisingly, for a team that had just gone unbeaten in 8, Oxford were very easy pushovers and the Imps took a 31st minute lead thanks to a Yeo penalty. Gary Taylor-Fletcher doubled the scoring on 57 minutes before Yeo got his second with a 5cm effort in the 91st minute. City went onto to lose the playoff final whereas Oxford finished in midtable.

So we come to this second and the 20th of August. Oxford took an early lead at Sincil Bank when the impressive Davies headed past Marriott to make it 1-0 in the 2nd minute. However, with the Ian Atkins days gone from Oxford, they continued to try and keep their lead and to be fair, dominated vast sections of the game and Gary Birch's 62nd minute equaliser came as a genuine shock. However, that wasn't even half as shocking as what happened 12 minutes later when Asamoah pounced on a lack of defending to smash home his first goal for the Imps. There was still time for Mayo and Chris Hargreaves to get sent off.