City low on numbers but high on entertainment.

 

I know we’re supposed to dismiss the Papa Johns Trophy but my friend Stewart and I rather enjoy the relaxed experience the games provide, particularly when the quality on offer is so high.

I’m always reminded of the days when we ran to a reserve side and could see the players skills for what they were untroubled relatively by the over zealous attention of burly defenders. It always occurred to me that the talent on offer was actually not that far removed from top level players but of course the difference was those at a more exalted level could display those skills in pressured play but our more humble players could not or at least could only do it in small doses.

Were we seeing the stars of the future in the Man U side? I doubt it personally but you never know. I recall watching a young slip of a lad on loan to Preston North End in a strip that was far too big for him, in a game at Sincil Bank, I can call it that because it still was. I think even I could tell that young David Beckham was destined for great things.

The thing is, these young players are taught to play in a certain way and I suppose the ethos is to allow them to develop free from the desperate need for points that they will feel in their professional career but, pretty though it was City totally dominated Man U for most of this game with passing every bit as good, as well they might you could say, but with attacking verve and purpose which led to a three-nil lead which, as has become the norm, City managed to surrender leading to a proper battle for the points at the end.

I hesitate to criticise the manager and I’m not doing really but right from the moment this fixture was announced, with not much notice, the big Apple signified his displeasure at having to play it and we thought that distain led to the selection, certainly as regards the bench of a minimum number of bodies available. City came unstuck as first Scully went off, in what we now realise was very much a pre emptive move with Saturdays game at Oxford in mind. Of rather more concern was Dan N’Lundulu’s unscheduled departure which looked more serious. This left City a man short. Appleton said he had no more academy scholars ready to come on but I bet the contempories of Billy Brooks would have loved to come on in front of 3500 and run around a bit even if they wouldn’t have a sniff of the ball.

Talking of the size of the crowd, that surprised us. To get a gate that some clubs even in league one would be pleased with shows that many of our fans, like us, want to come out and see Lincoln City, regardless of the competition.

Mini run comes to an end-Damn it.

 

I sat in the Selenity stand in the gathering gloom and didn’t everything look great? I’d dodged the crowds, sort of, missing the introduction of TJ to the crowd but got in for the entry of the players onto the pitch, which looked lush and healthy.

As expected there was a good turnout from Bolton. Although the crowd looked a little sparse in the Coop opposite, I was confident of a better gate than Saturday. It could hardly fail to be given that Fleetwood brought virtually no one and I was sure the home crowd would hold up. The new digital adverts around the playing area, you get them in all their glory from the Selenity, seemed to define the pitch and give a completeness to the stadium.

With the crowd almost in at kick off, I’d squeezed past the queue for the queue at the end of the country lane bit of Sincil Bank, it was a colourful and impressive sight and I couldn’t help marvel at how far the club had come in a relatively short space of time. The walk through the fan village, the amount of fans in the stand, the big time set up, it was all there. Then we lost.

That in itself of course is inevitable. It’s just I’d hoped we could go a bit longer and we’re so unused to it, in the flesh. I can’t decide whether Bolton Wanderers are a really good side. They were certainly better than Fleetwood. In the end though it all boiled down to City, or rather two players who I wont name fluffed their lines and the ball was in the net. Our net.

City didn’t play badly, there wasn’t much between the teams, despite the predictions of promotion from the victorious Wanderers fans. Just as City had changed the game on Saturday by putting in an improved second half performance it was Bolton that were better after the break. The Imps tried to shuffle the pack but, no luck this time. No Bishop to come on and one of our best performers from last year, Conor McGrandles doesn’t seem to have a full game in him at the moment, not to the same degree of excellence anyway. Similarly Sorensen is a really excellent acquisition but until he can be got up to speed for the full game we’re going to struggle.

We’re just going to have to come to terms, I’m going to have to come to terms, with the fact that there are any numbers of changes to be made to the team and in any case I’m not sure top of the league early on is particularly helpful. We tried that last year. It’s just that, having just missed out last time I was hoping for us simply to go one better this and as we all know it just doesn’t happen like that.

Incomplete City too much for Fleetwood.

 

We were saying at the game the playoffs really do a club no favours in terms of preparation for the next season. Fleetwood, whilst player for player not at the level of City, looked a more polished outfit. Having said that the Imps side they faced bore little resemblance to the one that will be playing in a few weeks but City eventually and with no certainty that they would, gradually began to ease into the game equalising and in the dying moments winning the match. I think it was deserved but if I were a Fleetwood fan, and that includes the very snappily dressed Fleetwood directors next to us in the Selenity (is it still called that?) I might have a different opinion.

There were a lot of unfamiliar faces in the posh seats so I presume they were from the north west and when Fleetwood got their noses in front with an absolute worldy free kick they celebrated wildly, as well they might.

It was a good job there were plenty of directors and other hangers on in the white seats because there were precious few in the away end. I know they aren’t well supported, another one of those clubs that seemed to just appear in the league propped up with someone’s money rather than supported by fans but I thought it was a poor effort attendance wise and contributed to a not ever so inspiring gate although there was a rip-roaring atmosphere despite the wide open spaces at either end.

As for City, well this isn’t the team we’ll be watching later on. We know that but, despite the frustration of watching the Imps, almost in slow motion grind Fleetwood down and eventually overcome them there was plenty to enjoy, no more so than Liam Bridcutt who was nothing short of majestic. It’s too much to hope he can perform like that week in week out. If he could, get your money on City to win the league.

For a long time though it looked as if it was going to be a long hard season, it was certainly a long hard game but there were bright spots to enjoy. Tayo Edun was a joy in the first half. Defensively, apart from that free kick the Imps coped reasonably. Scully was, well, Scully. He’s playing for the right team as he’s a proper imp and of course he showed what he can do with his equaliser that I’m yet to watch again but I’m looking forward to it and then that penalty. That took guts but it’s what he’s paid for but it was a lesson in straightforwardness. Decide where you’re going to hit it then do just that, hard as you can. Shame some rather more exalted players didn’t do that in the summer, we might have had even better memories of these weird times. There were others I’ll not name as you know who they are, cameo’s, vignettes of excitement. I’ve got a good feeling about the entertainment although unsure of where we’ll be at the end of the season.

I don’t know whether your memory goes back as long as mine but there was a TV show called Dallas where the scriptwriters sort of ran out of ideas with the plot so had this ridiculous notion of simply starting again, one of the characters declaring what had been going on had all been a dream. It felt like that yesterday. Same surroundings, a bit tarted up. Same seats, same familiar faces around us, same tension, same journey to the stadium, same pub. Glad to be back? You bet we were.