By theimps.tk
May 17 2006

Lincoln's season ended just like the previous 4 as the Imps were eliminated from the playoffs, this time at Grimsby. It was a game that defined the Imps season and after taking the lead through Marvin Robinson, the Imps collasped and goals from Futcher and Jones sent the Mariners through.

City kicked off the game but there were virtually no chances in the first 5 minutes of the game, infact the first chance came when Beevers sent a deep cross into the box but it was easily claimed by Mildenhall despite pressure from Forrester. Shock, a Lincoln corner comes to nothing as Hughes hits it straight at the first defender. Grimsby took the ball down the end and Saturday’s goalscorer, Gary Jones headed the ball wide from Tom Newey’s cross.

 

Jones again headed wide minutes later but this time from a Woodhouse cross. The game died for a while but when McCombe was penalised for handball despite the ball hitting his chest. He was booked but Newey could only direct the free kick wide. Scott Kerr hits a free kick straight into the wall.

 

Rob Jones and Marvin Robinson headbutted each other accidentally and both went off for treatment. Robinson came back on with a Vaseline covered head and when City won a free kick on the edge of the box, Scott Kerr actually managed to get the ball over the first defender and Marvin Robinson popped up and headed in into the net to make it 1-0 on the night, 1-1 on aggregate and move him to the top of City’s scorers chart.

 

Jones was still off the field of play and Russell Slade decided to quickly replace him with Ben Futcher, seconds later, Jones re-emerged from somewhere and look perplexed as to why he had been substituted. Grimsby won a quick corner but it was easily cleared by McAuley. Yeo was booked for diving in the area in an attempt to win a penalty (how many times have we said that in 4 years). Hughes quickly entered the book aswell after an extremely late challenge on Croft. The free kick was wasted.

 

Good work from Hughes saw him draw Mildenhall out of his goal area and the defender played the ball to Yeo, he shot and the ball rebounded to Nat Brown who sent his shot well over the bar despite having an open goal. Brown’s blushes were saved when the linesman flag went up so the goal wouldn’t have counted anyway.

 

City were lucky to stay level on aggregate though as Mendes sent in a shot that swerved in midair and Marriott barely managed to save it. Before the end of the half, Gary Croft was booked for Grimsby and then the referee blew for half time with a cheer from City fans and seemingly indifference from the Grimsby fans.

 

The first action of the second half was Beevers and Cohen colliding near the Imps area and both required lengthy treatment. Futcher then headed a Newey free kick over the bar. Morgan then showed what he had failed to do for the majority of the season when he sped back to deny Mendes having a free run on Marriott. Yeo then had an effort cleared off the line by Croft.

 

Michael Reddy replaced Cohen for the hosts. Grimsby won a free kick deep in the Imps half, it fell to Gary Jones who played the ball to Futcher who slotted past a very lazy Imps defence and all of a sudden, it was 2-1 on aggregate and this was around the point that the Imps effectively stopped playing.

 

Whittle was booked after a foul on Robinson, however, Kerr hit the free kick too hard and it went out for a goal kick. Forrester then dived in the area but unsurprisingly didn’t win a penalty. A well worked free kick from City from about 25 yards out was shot over by Brown.

 

Parkinson headed over for Grimsby from a corner and then Green replaced Beevers in a surprise substitution after the former Boston defender had a good game for the Imps. Ex-Imp Toner came on for the hosts, replacing Mendes and then just minutes later, Kerr made way for Frecklington.

 

Then came the goal that ended the game, City had invited pressure on themselves all game and Grimsby won a free kick with just under 10 minutes to go. Woodhouse hit it in and an unmarked Gary Jones headed past Marriott and yet again, the defence was to blame.

 

If I was to say to you the following words, what would you think, Francis Green, time, space, unmarked, shot. Add all those words together and you get a Francis Green shot, something that is barely worth mentioning because it’s crap. Jones got sent off in injury time for the hosts but the game ended and the Imps were out of the playeoffs. Grimsby fans invaded the pitch and the last Lincoln fans will see of some Imps’ players is the sight of them running away, nothing new there then.