A Complete Lack of Surprise : Part 7 : September

By Nathan Jackson
December 31 2005

September was a mixed month for the Imps and quite literally saw the face of the club change within a matter of days. City had put up a good fight against Fulham and almost upset the Premiership team, however, 3 days later came easily the lowest point on the pitch for many many years.

September started with the news that the Wrexham game had been postponed for 10 days following the call up of several of their players to international duties. It was a very slow first week for the Imps with the only noteworthy news being the Lee Beevers had earnt his 4^th cap for the welsh. The second started with Beevers’ 5^th cap and the news that Danny Bacon had been loaned out to Burton Albion. Gareth McAuley also returned from injury to help the Imps to a 2-1 victory in a friendly with Derby.

 

City’s first game in September came with a very long trip to Bristol Rovers. The first half was shaded by the hosts although City had the best chance when a poor pass from a Rovers defender gave Birch the best opportunity for the Imps but his shot from 12 yards was well saved by the Bristol Rovers keeper, who was getting sarcastic cheers from his own fans whenever he caught the ball. It started to rain at half time and as the second half began, the rain started coming down harder and the pitch became practically unplayable even a shot from 3 yards out by a Rovers player didn’t reach the goal and the game ended an unsurprising 0-0.

 

86 Wrexham fans made the trip to Sincil Bank a few days later and witnessed their side get well beaten by a confident Imps side who were putting together a nice little unbeaten run. City controlled the flow of the game and opened the scoring with a scrappy goal in the 63^rd minute when Brown tapped in following a goalmouth scramble. City did make it secure when Francis Green successfully won the ball following a defence mistake before passing it to Keates who had no trouble in shooting into an empty net in added on time.

 

Peter “lacklusture” Gain then returned to Sincil Bank for the first time since he was seen in a bed with a half naked Barry Fry and strangly, he actually gave a damn about this match and his “I’m better than this” attitude seemed to have disappeared as he inspired Peterborough. However, it took a while for Peterborough to make their dominance count and it came with 2 scrappy goals. The first was when James Quinn headed in from close range following a corner and the second after Peter Gain crossed to Newton who only just managed to score when the ball came off his knee. Dean Keates did equalise for the Imps with easily the best goal of the game when his bicycle kick from 12 yards sailed past the keeper, however, they couldn’t capitalise on their sudden surges and the Imps 6 game unbeaten run came to an end.

 

However, City made the trip to London to face Premiership Fulham and it turned out to be arguably the best City performance for many years. However, it didn’t start well for the Imps and goals in the 26th and 30^th minutes from Rehman and Helguson gave Fulham a commanding 2-0 lead and only fantastic saves from Marriott kept Fulham at bay. More fantastic keeping from Marriott in the 2^nd half saw Birch provide a chance for Green who confidently shot into the net from 18 yards, although Batista didn’t even try and save the shot and City suddenly had an impetus, however, Marriott saved fantastically from 3 yards out from Brian McBride. Then it came, Volz entered the fray and within a minute, Francis Green was running at the defence and unleashed a confident cross which Volz tried to clear, however, he stopped Batista getting to the ball and it trickled in to the net and it was 2-2.

 

Just before the end and Marvin Robinson got through 1 on 1 with Batista and the striker, who had scored City’s 5^th in the last round, had the chance to make it 3-2 but his shot hit the bar and City came incredibly close. So it was extra time and just like the first half in normal time, Fulham quickly took a 2 goal lead again when quick fire goals from Resenior and Radzinski seemed to put the game beyond the Imps, however, just before half time in extra time, City won a free kick 25 yards out. With Keates off the field, Kerr stepped up and slotted a curling shot into the top corner of the net. Halfway through the second half of added on time, the Imps won a corner, after a scramble, the ball fell to Robinson who couldn’t miss this time and headed in from 1 yard out to make it 4-4. However, it would be heartbreak for City when Brian McBride scored in the final minute to make it 5-4 and finally put the game beyond the Imps.

 

3 days afterwards and City made the long trip to Torquay and took an 11^th minute lead from Gareth McAuley’s header and City controlled the first half but couldn’t extend their lead. It’s amazing how you can go from being so proud of your players to being ashamed in the space of 3 days. Another deflection took Garner’s speculative effort past Marriott before Alan Connell put Torquay in the lead a few minutes later, however, the worst was to follow. Beevers was sent off for a second yellow card offence 10 minutes from time and then in added on time, Morgan was stewarding the ball out of play when Alan Connell came from behind him in an attempt to win the ball, however, Morgan retaliated by kicking Connell in the back of the leg, whilst the referee was talking to Morgan, Alan Marriott came and kicked the ball and a grounded Connell and both were sent off.

 

A make-shift City side started the game against Stockport but even our reserves easily dealt with Stockport who were easily the worst team to visit Sincil Bank this year. Stockport failed to get a decent chance on goal, however, it took a while for the Imps to take full control of the match. Birch hadn’t scored in a while but he managed to weave himself in between several Stockport players before slotting past the goalkeeper for arguably his best goal for the Imps so far. His second of the game didn’t take long in coming, Asamoah did good work down the right before passing to Birch, who fired a first time shot high into the net and City won 2-0 with a very confident performance.