Volleys, chips and hammers...Part 3
By Nathan Jackson
June 21 2008
Peter Gain features twice in this section of the best goals of the last five years. He scored two very different goals in the 2003/4 season against Hull and Carlisle United. Richard Butcher also scored a very decent goal in a lovely Tuesday night trip to Southend United. Not to forget about two "tap-in" goals against Boston United.
GOAL 10
Peter Gain vs Hull City - 2003/4 season
Peter Gain was a player who could be better than anyone in the fourth tier....and I do mean anyone. His level of skill was a class above and he was one of the best technical players that we've had in recent years. He very rarely scored a goal that didn't contain a high level of class and that his goal against Hull in the 2003/4 season was a sign of pure technique at it's best.
City and Hull were playing out a rather dull draw. City were aiming to avenge a 3-0 defeat the KC in October and had been the better team throughout the game at Sincil Bank. Hull had come closer to taking the lead but then a scramble in the box saw the ball fall to Peter Gain about 12 yards out. He acrobatically swung his leg at the ball and it sailed past Boaz Myhill and opened the scoring in the game. Paul Mayo scored a few minutes later in his final game before leaving for Watford.
4 years later and City were struggling against relegation to the Conference...Hull were getting promoted to the Premiership....strange old world.
GOAL 9
Ritchie Hanlon vs Boston United - 2004/5 season
Hanlon joined the Imps from Stevenage Borough in November 2004 and had been distinctively average up until an away game at Boston United. The game against the Pilgims had been re-arranged following a frozen pitch on Boxing Day.
Andy Kirk had hit the bar early on for the Pilgrims but that was the only time Boston had really gotten near our goal. City were on top but struggling to get in any decent efforts on goal. That was until a defensive error saw the ball fall to Hanlon. He didn't even take a touch and hit the ball first time from 30 yards. The ball sailed through the air and past Abbey to make it 1-0 to the Imps with a stunning goal.
City went on to win 2-0 when Yeo continued his fine run of form. The Imps went on to make the Playoff Final but a defeat to Southend meant a trip to Boston United in the following season. Speaking of Boston United in 2005/6 season.....
GOAL 8
Marvin Robinson vs Boston United - 2005/6 season
13 months after the previous meeting at York Street, City headed to Boston United on the back of a run that had seen just one defeat since mid-November. It had been a run that had seen the Imps charge up the table and in with a realistic chance of winning the Playoffs. However, Julian Joachim had halted City's charge with a first half opener for the Pilgrims and it was starting to look as though the Imps were heading for a defeat.
After a small scramble in the box, Marvin Robinson suddenly found himself high up in the air and producing a very uncharacterstic bicycle kick that sailed beyond Kuipers and sent the thousands of City fans manic, including causing a knee injury for myself that lasted a few weeks.
It would turn out to be pretty irrelevant though because Lawrie Dudfield, as he tended to do at the time, scored late on in the game against the Imps and that handed Boston the win.
GOAL 7
Richard Butcher vs Southend United - 2003/4 season
I've said it several times whilst counting down these goals but Richard Butcher is capable of scoring some very stunning goals. This scorer of great goals features four times in this top twenty, more than any other player in the last five years.
When the Imps travelled to Southend United on a Tuesday evening in September 2003, very few could have predicted the type of game that they were about to watch. Marcus Richardson had opened the goalscoring with his first goal for the Imps. Marriott saved a penalty late on in the second half and our 7th best goal in the last five years came from the counter attack.
City broke forward very quickly and the ball fell to Butcher again. He took a few touches before unleashing an unstoppable left footed drive past Flahaven and into the net.
GOAL 6
Peter Gain vs Carlisle United - 2003/4 season
This wasn't just a great individual goal but a great team goal. City had travelled to Carlisle United hoping to reinforce their Playoff bid. However, a Carlisle win could have seen them climb out of the drop zone for the first time since the second game of the season. It certainly wasn't going to be easy and the Cumbrians were making it a difficult game.
Following a Carlisle chance, the Imps broke forward and produced a fine 14 pass move that ended with Peter Gain playing a one-two with a team-mate and then sending a beautiful chip over the goalkeeper and into the net to bring to an end one of the best team goals ever seen at a game involving Lincoln.
City would win 2-0 but that would be the final taste of victory that City had that season, Carlisle United were relegated two weeks later.