Bonjour! Yes, that’s right nos amis, we’ve mistimed our summer holibobs and come to you today live and direct from south west France. It has been a hard week, let us tell you. All that wine, cheese and infrequent sunshine; if only we could have been with you all in scorchio Stevenage instead. But, look, we had to take this one for the team. You geddit? At least we could talk to locals about their hopes, dreams and fears about the prospect of Stevenage v Lincoln City. The blank expression and Gallic shrug, we fear, said all we needed to know.
Stevenage v Lincoln City: The Lowdown
The Opposition:
Don’t let a little local hostility put you off, however. We’re still very much on the ball for this fixture and we suspect that has made your Friday. As per usual. Our guests this weekend are Lincoln City, if it hadn’t become apparent by now. We’re not familiar foes; three meetings is the current count. The first came in the FA Cup the season after our first Newcastle United adventure. And any hopes of a repeat campaign were crudely dashed by our Impish hosts; Lincoln running out 4-1 winners in our Round Two tie. It is still their only win against us.
The next time our paths crossed, we were of the same level. It was at Sincil Bank, in fact, that we recorded our first ever away win in the League. The return fixture at our gaff, for those who are being kept in suspense, also went our way; a 2-1 triumph smack bang in the middle of a six-match winning run that lit up our promotion push at just the right time. If you are in need of an extra dash of trivia to shake things up, one of our lynchpin midfielders during that season is now on the books at the Imps. That’s Michael Bostwick, for the sake of clarity.
Oh, and Jamie McCombe. Stop laughing.
The Form:
Lincoln are new to League Two, in as much as they were promoted back to the League after a six-year absence. To be fair, their title-winning campaign (their second Conference title, just like us) wasn’t exactly in keeping with the five that came before them. After relegation in 2011, the Imps had to settle for in and around lower mid-table. You’re only as good as your last campaign, however, and that’s what brings them back to us. And it’s been an alright start: a win, a loss and three draws is their return. So, they’re not easy to beat.
As for us? Well, we’re unbeaten. For what it’s worth. After five games, and that…
This is how it all shapes up, courtesy of kickoff.co.uk…
The Referee:
Is this season one big episode of First Dates when it comes to the men in the middle? Ay, chihuahua! Anthony Backhouse is this week’s newbies…
The Head-to-Head:
P3 W2 D0 L1 F16 A12; last result: Stevenage 2-1 Lincoln City, 19/03/2011
• BoroGuide’s Lincoln City club profile: If you’re feeling Impish this evening. LOLZ!
