Battle of Lincolnshire - PART 2


By Nathan Jackson
February 5 2004

The Imps' mammoth month kicks off on Saturday against Boston United in what is the 2nd of 7 local derbies in a row. The Pilgrims will be looking to gain revenge against the Imps but Keith's back so anything goes.

  • <INTRODUCTION
  • It has only been just over a month since the Imps domination of the game at York Street that wasn't reflected in the 1-0 scoreline. It was one of the Imps better performances so far this season but the Imps home form is very patchy recently so a hard afternoon looks to be on the cards.
  • Also, the day that every City fan has been waiting for, THE RETURN OF KEITH ALEXANDER
  • TEAM NEWS FOR THE IMPS
  • Richard Butcher is the only new injury worry as he looks set to miss the rest of the season with a knee problem. Other than that, the Imps have no new injury worries.
  • TEAM NEWS FOR BOSTON
  • The "inbreds" will be pretty much the same as the game on boxing day with the exception of Peter Duffield and Simon Weatherstone. Duffield has expressed desire to leave the club and head back to his former team, Darlington. Boston have now sold Simon Weatherstone to Yeovil Town which means that every player that has scored for Boston in the league against Lincoln, has now left the club.
  • HOME FORM VS AWAY FORM
  • As I commented earlier, the Imps home form is quite poor at the minute, the last home game saw the first home defeat since August when the Imps conceeded 3 in a league game at Sincil Bank for the first time in almost 2 years. Before that, the Imps only managed a 0-0 draw against Cheltenham which was one of the most dire games that has ever been at Sincil Bank. Before that was a thoroughly professional display by the Imps as they beat Bury 2-1 despite dominating the majority of the game.
  • This is nothing compared to Boston's problems on the road though, out of their 14 away games so far, they have only won 2 and lost 10. Those 2 wins came against Scunthorpe and Southend. However, they have suffered a few heavy losses as well. They have lost 3-0 at Swansea, Donny and Darlington. They have improved in position since the Imps last played them though with wins over Macclesfield and Scunthorpe pushing them up to 17th in the table.
  • PREVIOUS RESULTS AGAINST BOSTON
  • BOSTON 0 LINCOLN 1
  • LINCOLN 1 BOSTON 1
  • BOSTON 2 LINCOLN 0
  • LINCOLN 5 BOSTON 1
  • BOSTON 1 LINCOLN 2
  • PRE MATCH PREDICTIONS
  • With the Butcher injury, I feel a bit nervous about this game but then I think that we scored after he went off injured at York Street so it isn't all bad.
  • IMPS 2 BOSTON 0