Lincoln City are going well, Mariners not so well. Expect the unexpected.

I was reading comments by a Grimsby Town fan along the lines of their older fans not seeing the Imps as local rivals but harking back to the old days of jousting with the Sheffield clubs and other such luminaries. We could all do that but you have to go back a fair old way. Personally I think that’s pushing it a bit and certainly for most of recent memory we’ve been locked together even sharing the ignominy of non-league football. For clubs of Grimsby and Lincoln’s stature I do think that is a matter of some shame that it should come to pass, for both clubs.

Still, we’re not on our own with the likes of Stockport, York and Darlington cast into the depths we should perhaps rejoice that the good times have come back so fully. I think from Mariners supporters point of view they are fearful that Lincoln City are on the sort of roll that will catapult them some way ahead of their favourites. That’s not our concern although it is the cause of some amusement if only because I’m sure they enjoyed peering down on us from the heights of the championship some years ago. It would be nice to think something similar for the Imps might not be out of the question.

Still, first things first and the first big derby of the season needs to be negotiated and that, despite City’s recent form, is far from a foregone conclusion. Form really does go out of the window on these occasions and City will have to be on their mettle to emerge victorious but, leaving local rivalries aside this is precisely the sort of fixture that needs to be overcome if City are to return to a league position that seems only yesterday to me but was in fact some considerable time ago.

Early indications are good with City overcoming an iffy start, then winning well in the first home game against Swindon Town then that brilliant win at Port Vale to earn them an away tie at Blackburn. I’m expecting a big win or maybe a narrow one or possibly a draw. There again, could be, Grimsby Town will upset the odds.

I don’t know the answer to that and neither do you. Isn't life great?