E I E I E I O - Up the Football League we go?

By Nathan Jackson
November 11 2003

At the begining of the season, no-one would have preidicted that the Imps would challenge for promotion. After getting only 1 point from the first 4 league games, the Imps looked destined for a relegation battle but after an excellent run of only 1 loss since August, that has changed.

August will go down as the most miserable month of the season for the Imps as out of a possible 15 points, the Imps gained 4. Three 1-0 defeats (against Oxford, Stockport and Torquay) in a week saw the Imps near the bottom of Division 3 and out of the Carling Cup.

The Imps first point came in a home game to Doncaster in a very entertaining 0-0 draw. 2 days later, the Imps travelled to Bury and scored the first goal of the season when Gary Fletcher rounded the keeper to give the Imps a 1-0 lead but the Imps went on to lose 2-1 thanks to a very late and debateable penalty.

Next were top of the league, York. They had won all 4 of their opening games so would have been confident of getting a result against the Imps, however, goals from Fletcher, Butcher and Mayo (penalty) saw the Imps finally win.

September was the only undefeated month of the season so far. Two 0-0 draws against Cambridge and Orient saw the Imps still lingering around the relegation zone but away wins at Southend (2-0) and Kidderminster (2-1) saw the Imps propelled to midtable. Two more draws against Rochdale (1-1) and Northampton (0-0) saw the Imps end September in 14th posistion.

October was a very rewarding month for the Imps seeing them win 4 of the 6 games. An away draw at Swansea (2-2) saw them lose their 100% home record. The Imps then went on their best ever run under Keith Alexander with 4 wins in a row against Scunthorpe (3-1), Huddersfield (3-1) and Macclesfield (3-2) in the league and a 3-1 victory over Telford in the LDV 1st Round. However, the month ended disappointingly as the Imps crashed to their biggest league defeat under Keith Alexander. Hull became the first club since Keith took over to score 3 goals past the Imps in a league game and recorded their first victory over the Imps since boxing day 1996.

So far, November has been quite good as the Imps have won all 3 games so far. A 2-0 win over Carilsle started the month off although the Imps could have won by many many more. A very exciting LDV 2nd Round game against Chesterfield saw the Imps score the odd goal in 7 to see off the 2nd Division team 4-3 in extra time. Finally, last Saturday, the Imps beat another 2nd Division team in Brighton who were very poor as they went down 3-1 to the Imps.

So City have now won 7 of the last 8 games in all competitions and have only lost once since the end of August.

The goal drought also seems over as the Imps have scored 22 goals which surpasses the same point of last season. The defence looks a bit dodgy though, they have conceeded 15 goals so far this season, although it is still one of the best, it is still a very poor record to have compared to the standards of last season.

The Imps have a mixed rest of the month as they travel to Darlington and Yeovil with a home game against Bristol Rovers sandwiched in between. I would expect to get maximum points out of the Darlington and Bristol Rovers game but Yeovil will be an incredibly tough game.

December sees the Imps travel to Mansfield and Boston whilst hosting Cheltenham and Cambridge. I suspect we'll beat Cheltenham and Cambridge whiolst get a draw at Boston and Mansfield.

January is a very difficult month on paper. Trips to Oxford, Doncaster and York will be the main games whereas home games to Bury and Torquay will prove very tricky. I think we'll be lucky to get 6 points out of this month.

February was automatically everyone's lucky month when the fixture list came out. The Imps host, Scunny, Hull and Boston whilst travelling to Huddersfield. This promises to be a very profitable month both financially and points wise. Infact, the only team I can't picture winning against is Hull but I feel the Imps will do enough for a draw.

March on paper looks to be a very easy month with the only difficult tie appearing to be the home game against Mansfield. Other games are away at Macclesfield, Cheltenham and Orient whilst Kiddy and Southend come to SB.

April will also be a good chance to pick up points as the Imps face only one promotion challenging team in Swansea. Away games at Northampton, Carlisle and Rochdale should all result in a maximum haul whilst the home game against Darlington shouldn't really be a problem.

May will have a minimum of 2 games where the Imps travel to Bristol Rovers before the season ends with a home game against Yeovil. If the Imps get in the playoffs then a maximum of 3 more games will take place.