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Vital
Fixture At Darlington
31st March 2006
Tomorrow, Lincoln City travel to Darlington for a fixture
that is vital to both club's hopes of securing a play-off
place.
Darlington are currently in eleventh position in the
League Two table and are seven points behind Peterborough
United, who occupy the final play-off place. Meanwhile,
Lincoln are level on points with Peterborough but The
Imps have a worse goal difference.
The task for Darlington is to win, as anything else would
condemn them to another season in League Two. In fact,
there is a belief among some Darlington players that they
already out of contention for the play-offs.
Darlington's Matt Appleby bemoaned: "It's an uphill task now. We've
got eight games left and we would need to win most of
them to even stand a chance."
The probable outcome of Darlington's season has been a
huge disappointment for their supporters. Last season,
Darlington came within a whisker of making the play-offs.
However, surprisingly negative tactics in their match at
Lincoln on April 30th 2005 meant that the game ended 0-0
thereby securing the point that Lincoln required to
safeguard their passage into the play-offs at the expense
of Darlington.
That match combined with this season has left
Darlington's manager David Hodgson facing criticism. The
overwhelming feeling is that Hodgson has failed to
sufficiently strengthen his strike force. This is despite
thirty-seven players having worn the black and white
shirts of Darlington this season, including ten loan
signings.
Lincoln's hopes of a play-off place remain intact but a
defeat could considerably worsen these hopes depending on
results elsewhere.
On Tuesday evening, Lincoln travelled to leaders Carlisle
United, where they were unlucky to lose 1-0. A positive
comparison from the Carlisle match is that Darlington
lost 5-0 at home to Carlisle just two weeks ago.
Last Saturday, Darlington lost 1-0 at relegation
threatened Barnet - once again, their lack of strike
power was their downfall. Meanwhile, Lincoln were
thrashing county rivals Grimsby Town at Sincil Bank, via
a 5-0 score line.
Lincoln have severe defensive worries, as yet another
defender has sustained an injury. Last Saturday,
left-back Paul Mayo fractured a bone in his arm and he
will at least the next four weeks.
Mayo now joins centre-halves Gareth McAuley and Paul
Morgan plus fellow left-back Jeff Hughes on the injured
list. Hughes is nearly at full fitness but it seems
likely that right-back Lee Beevers will continue to
deputise at left-back to prevent Hughes from rushing his
recovery.
These two clubs first met on 19th November 1921 when
Lincoln lost 4-2 at Darlington in a Division 3 North
encounter. The Imps claimed their first victory at
Darlington in 1925 but the following season, they lost
9-2.
In recent times, Lincoln are unbeaten on their last three
visits to Darlington. For a full historical round-up of
the major fixtures between these two clubs, please click here.
| Odds
for the game: |
| Darlington |
6/4 |
| Draw |
11/5 |
| Lincoln |
8/5 |
Odds supplied by Sportingodds, who regularly offer free and
special bets to their customers.
Please click the links to view cheap merchandise for Carlisle
United, Darlington, Grimsby
Town, Lincoln
City, or Peterborough
United
football club.
Click here for more Lincoln City news
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