Cheltenham take a step towards final

By theimps.tk
May 14 2006

If the Imps do get past Grimsby Town, it is likely that they will be facing Cheltenham Town in the playoff final. An impressive performance from the Gloucestershire side saw them beat radidly collapsing Wycombe Wanderers 2-1. However, Cheltenham did the double over City this season.

In front of a crowd of less than 6,000, John Finnigan opened the scoring for a visitors to the Causeway just before half time when he burst into the box and slootted the ball across goal and into the far post. That lead was doubled in the 75th minute when Steve Guinan, a striker who enjoys playing the Imps, struck a powerful shot from a difficult angle to beat Williams in the Wycombe goal. Wycombe did get a lifeline though as Mooney struck an unstoppable shot from inside a crowded area in the 93rd minute.

The return leg is on Thursday night and by then, Cheltenham will know who they will face should they progress. They would definatly prefer the Imps as Cheltenham secured 6 points against the Imps during the season following wins of 1-0 and 4-1. Cheltenham will be desperate to avoid meeting Grimsby after Grimsby secured the double over them with 1-0 and 3-0 scorelines. However, Grimsby would definatly love to avoid Wycombe after John Gorman's men did the double over them.

Cheltenham are definately favourites to progress not only due to their good form, but also the bad form of Wycombe. Cheltenham have won their last 3 and haven't lost at home since Bristol Rovers scored twice in added on time to win 3-2 there back in mid-January. On the other side of the coin, Wycombe have won just 6 times since the turn of the year and have lost 9 of their last 12 games and if they hadn't had their excellent start, they could easily have been relegated.

Personally, I would have to say I'd prefer to play Wycombe should we make the final. If it hadn't been for Alan Marriott's mistakes, we had easily taken 6 points of Wycombe instead of 3 and they were one of the worst sides I've seen this season, virtually everyone down the bottom, even relegated Rushden and Oxford were better than them and if they don't go up, they could be candidates for relegation next season. The only plus point if we play Cheltenham is that we haven't beaten them in nearly 6 years and everyone beats their bogey team eventually.

Of course this might prove irrelevant if the Imps don't turn it around on Tuesday night and win.