By Nathan Jackson
March 17 2008

Lincoln City head to Barnet on Saturday afternoon with the last 4 games between the sides at Underhill producing a huge 23 goals, 3 of those meetings seeing the winners come from behind to win. It's a fixture that virtually guarantees goals down the years but Barnet will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last season's thrashing.

The first of the 4 goal filled meetings came on January 22nd 2000. Lincoln went into the game in a midtable position. Relegation was extremely unlikely as Chester were having an awful season. City were 18 points ahead of Chester with them only having 19 games left. Barnet were riding high though, sitting in 3rd place and knowing a win could see them go top.

Gavin Gordon scored the opener in front of 2,504 fans but Sawyers equalised within minutes. Charlery gave Barnet the lead a minute before half time but a Paul Smith own goal meant the Imps went into the break with a 3-1 deficit to deal with.

Miller gave City hope by scoring early in the second half but Hackett restored the lead in the 67th minute. Doolan scored Barnet's 5th in the 83rd before Battersby made the scoreline somewhat respectable with a penalty in added on time. Barnet did go second with that win but finished in the Playoffs, losing out to Peterborough in the semi finals.

The 28th of October was the next visit to Underhill for the Imps. City were 16th heading into the game and hoping for the first away win of the season. Barnet were 12th and had only lost once at home, but they'd only won 1 of the other 7.

City raced into a 3 goal lead. Gordon scored a brace in the 6th and 26th minutes respectively, with a Richard Peacock goal 2 minutes before his second. It was an unusual sight for Imps fans are City were awful on the road. The 3 goal lead lasted just 2 minutes though as Niven grabbed a goal. City took a 3-1 lead into the second half, surely they couldn't throw it away.

Warren Goodhind pulled Barnet back into the game in the 53rd minute before Omar Riza, a former Arsenal trainee, equalised for the hosts in the 77th minute. Richards then unbelieveably scored Barnet's 4th to leave City shell shocked. Barnet moved up near the Playoffs after that game but were inevitably relegated and the next meeting at Underhill wouldn't come until 2006.

After several years in the Conference, Barnet won promotion and had initially looked like they were going to secure promotion again. Their form slowly disappeared though and City had spanked Barnet 4-1 at Sincil Bank exactly one month earlier. The Imps headed into the game on 45 points, 1 point outside the Playoffs places, not bad for a side who'd spent the majority of the season down near the relegation zone. Barnet were 5 points ahead of the drop zone.

City dominated the early exchanges. Simon Yeo typically wasted several easy chances to give the Imps the lead before Ben Strevens gave the hosts the lead with their first shot. Tresor Kandol extended the lead with a neat lob over Marriott in the 53rd minute and the Imps looked defeated already. However, within a minute and Ross Flitney, a dodgy keeper at the best of times, gifted Jamie McCombe an equaliser when he spilled a cross.

City's top scorer, Gary Birch, came on as a substitute and the game changed at the point. Flitney added to his own personal gaffes DVD when his goal kick went straight to Birch. The man who City had signed from Kidderminster in the summer ran coolly on goal and slotted in past Flitney to level the action.

Nat Brown was a midfielder with a reputation for an eye for goal. He'd scored several stunners during the season and in the 87th minute he swung his right foot at a loose ball and it sailed into the net to give City an unlikely win. Lincoln made the Playoffs again that season whereas Barnet successfully avoided the drop.

Exactly 9 months after the previous meeting came the next. City were 3rd having enjoyed an excellent start to the season. Barnet on the other hand were just a point off the drop zone and had an injury hit squad. Despite their position in the table, Barnet dominated the opening period of the game but the Imps scored against the run of play when Frecklington played in Forrester to give the Imps a rather undeserved lead.

Marriott produced a fine save to deny Bailey almost immediately before the Imps won a penalty. Forrester stepped up and put it away before Beevers scored the Imps 3rd just before the break. All fears of a comeback were put to rest when Jamie Forrester scored another penalty just after the break. Another player scored a 5th for the Imps, but he's enjoying the supposed "superior" training facilities at Stamford and therefore isn't worth mentioning.